Not as easy as it looks, is it? After looking as if he had all the answers a week ago, Thomas Tuchel has tumbled into a place Gareth Southgate knew all too well. This is the moment when anxiety rises and selection decision choices are questioned. Tuchel, a newcomer to international football, will have to ignore the noise and keep in mind that this is usually how it goes when England experience their traditional tournament stumble in their second group game.
The inevitable response to Tuesday’s goalless draw with Ghana will be people wondering why Tuchel left their favourite player out of his squad. Top pundits are bemoaning the absence of Trent Alexander-Arnold, Phil Foden, Adam Wharton and Cole Palmer. Not unfairly, there is an argument that England have too many similar types and needed a player to unlock the game at Boston Stadium.
It is a familiar debate. Southgate was accused of caution when he opted against using Jack Grealish and plenty of previous England managers have been criticised for not making the most out of the country’s more instinctive talent.
When we talk about Palmer or Alexander-Arnold, we could be talking about Glenn Hoddle or Joe Cole. In the case of Wharton, the frustration lies in England lacking line-breaking passes from deep midfield positions against Ghana’s low block. England had 78.8% possession, but played in straight, predictable lines. They had 19 shots, but barely threatened until late on.
There is cause for concern. One challenge Tuchel is yet to master is breaking down stubborn opposition. His Chelsea side dropped out of the 2021-22 title race because of an inability to seize the initiative against lesser opposition. Similarly it is worrying that Tuchel’s England toiled against Andorra, Albania and Latvia in qualifying.
Barring disaster in a knockout game against an underdog, though, England’s World Cup is unlikely to come down to how they play against a team as negative as Ghana. It is about a strategy for the very best.
Tuchel knows a group game against Ghana will be nothing like facing Brazil or Argentina. He has been telling us his plan for more than a year. He has spoken about England having to play to their strengths. If they lack craft that is partly a deliberate choice from Tuchel. He wants England to play like a Premier League side and the benefit of that approach was clear when they overwhelmed Croatia in their opening game in Group L.
Ghana posed a different challenge. For all the talk of playing with pace and intensity, this was a game with echoes of one of the more sapping grinds from the 2025-26 Premier League season. It was a contest of collisions, stoppages and negativity. It brought to mind a comment from Anthony Barry, Tuchel’s No 2, about the game becoming stuck in the middle area of the pitch.
“Everybody has so much information now,” Barry said last November. “They know how to set up – mid-blocks, deep blocks. We are really trying to focus on accelerating the game across those 24 metres.”
That proved an impossible task against Ghana – and yet there is still no point in assuming England’s historical difficulties in finding smarter angles and better movement off the ball can be fixed by one or two individuals. Tuchel was forthright at his squad announcement in May, saying that building the best possible team does not mean collecting the 26 most talented players. His approach is clear and worked against Croatia, who played a more open game and could not live with England’s relentless attacking and physicality after half-time.
This is what Tuchel will want England to replicate in a big knockout game. It will play more to Jude Bellingham’s strengths and those of the wide players. It means there is little point in holding up overlooked players as the missing ingredient, not least because the reality so often fails to live up to the fantasy. How many times has Wharton played well for England? He did not convince when he had his chance against Albania last November. He has not done more for England than Elliot Anderson, who is just as capable of fizzing those passes from midfield and has Manchester City willing to pay more than £100m for his services.
Tuchel is loyal. He has placed a lot of stock in those who have performed well for him. He gave opportunities to Foden and Palmer in March, but neither impressed.
There is an idea of Foden as a scheming, creative No 10 but he was rarely used as one by Pep Guardiola, has mostly underwhelmed for England and had a disappointing season for City. The sense remains that Foden needs to fit into a system. He is not a Bruno Fernandes or David Silva. He has never shown he can change the mood for England by coming on to run a game.
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Palmer is different; his maverick tendencies do seem suited to the off-the-cuff nature of international football. Yet while the Chelsea forward was influential from the bench at Euro 2024, he struggled for form and fitness this season, looks in need of a break and did not do enough to force Tuchel to pick him over Bellingham, Eberechi Eze or Morgan Rogers.
There was room for three No 10s. Tuchel has found room for flair, though. Is Bellingham anyone’s idea of a clogger? Is Eze not one of the most enjoyable players in England? And is Rogers, fresh from a fine year with Aston Villa, not worthy of his spot because of his unselfishness and connectivity?
The counter may be that Palmer could have been taken over one of the wide players, but that ignores how much of England’s confusion at Euro 2024 stemmed from the lack of speed around Kane and the creative players getting in each other’s way.
Tuchel has studied that tournament. He is keen to resist the English desire for a saviour. With Noni Madueke ineffective against Ghana, the pressure to start Bukayo Saka will grow. The winger is an obvious upgrade on his Arsenal teammate and has offered positive flashes from the bench. While Saka is making progress in his recovery from an achilles problem, and could start against Panama on Saturday, Tuchel is determined not to put pressure on him.
“I’m not engaging in that,” he said. “It’s not like Bukayo comes back and everything is solved, and I don’t want to put this on his back … It’s not the moment to shout for individual names to help us out. We’re in a good place, still.”
The German tried to cool the typical English hysteria after one disappointing day. As an outsider Tuchel can be realistic. He knows England are not at the technical level of the top sides. It is pointless trying to beat them at their own game. England have to lean into their identity. Their strengths were neutralised by Ghana, but they worked against Croatia.
England are not the best team in the competition, but they are dangerous. There will always be doubters. In the end, Southgate’s biggest mistake was to try to please the crowd and fit in all the fun guys. Tuchel will be doomed if he goes down that path.