There were times when this looked like the goalless draw with the USA at the 2022 World Cup, or the misshapen stalemate with Denmark in Frankfurt two years ago. For Thomas Tuchel, the worry was that the more passive patterns from the Gareth Southgate era had not quite been driven out of this team yet. The German was watching an England tradition, the difficult second tournament game, and as the hour approached it was possible to see Tuchel becoming increasingly agitated on the touchline.
England were predictable and turgid for long spells against a determined Ghana side who earned their point with an exhibition of purest Queiroz-ball. There was no caustic half-time interview from Anthony Barry, no stunning second-half surge. Instead, after the freewheeling attacking play that saw off Croatia last week, this felt familiar. This felt anxious. In the cramped football and sideways passing, this felt more England. They created nothing until a late flurry of chances, and when it was over it was tempting to wonder if the reaction from the crowd would have been more negative if it had been Southgate rather than Tuchel standing in the technical area at Boston Stadium.
It is not, of course, time to panic. England remain in control in Group L, a place in the last 32 all but secured after four points from two games, and this tedium told us little about how they will fare against elite opposition. Ghana did not come to play. They stuck 10 outfielders behind the ball, forming an impenetrable yellow wall, and where they had most success was in forcing England to play the game on their terms.
Initially it was tempting to assume England had control. A statistic flashed up on the big screen after 12 minutes, showing that Tuchel’s side had completed 95% of their passes. Ghana were defending almost from their six-yard box. Did they get out of their own half in the first half? Did they care? There was little sign they cared. Their manager, Carlos Queiroz, has form in this department. Sir Alex Ferguson’s former No 2 at Manchester United knows how to spoil the spectacle and he was in a typically pugnacious mood here, raging whenever a decision went against Ghana or an England player escaped without a yellow card.
It quickly became a horrible test for England. The starting wingers, Anthony Gordon and Noni Madueke, cut inside too much and ran down dead ends. Jude Bellingham grew irritable, rushed his passes and could not complain about being replaced by Morgan Rogers with 16 minutes left.
At times like these, then, it is easy to fall into the trap of asking the wrong questions. Would Cole Palmer have changed this? Was Tuchel wrong to find no room for Phil Foden? And why was Djed Spence on the pitch instead of a full-back with Trent Alexander‑Arnold’s eye for a pass?
It is tempting to leap to the conclusion that England, who were almost caught out by a couple of counterattacks as the second half became stretched, laboured because of an ingrained failure to trust their best creators. The argument will be that more ingenuity was needed with Ghana working to constrict the space between the lines, limiting Harry Kane’s influence and rendering Bellingham ineffective. Some will pine for a maverick like Palmer, who had a so-so season for Chelsea. Others will bemoan the absence of Foden’s connectivity in the No 10 position. There will be people accusing Tuchel of missing a trick by leaving out Adam Wharton, with his ability to fizz passes into the forwards from deep.
In reality, though, Foden and Palmer did not do enough at club level to merit selection in this squad. Tuchel has been clear about his choices. He wants intensity and ferocity. He has clarity in every position. He also has inventive players. You might have noticed that Bellingham was pretty good against Croatia. Room has also been found for Rogers and Eberechi Eze, two excellent No 10s, while few forwards have a better passing range than Kane.
That, though, means this performance was down to structural rather than individual failings for England. Surprised by how deep Ghana were, they struggled to respond. England needed to fizz their passes. They needed different angles and better movement off the ball. At half-time, John Stones walked on to the pitch to advise Marc Guéhi about speeding up his distribution from the back. On 60 minutes Tuchel started flinging his arms around. Elliot Anderson started well in midfield but after a while he started to play the safe pass. Declan Rice’s set pieces were poor. The decision to play Spence over Nico O’Reilly at left-back robbed England of width and adventure. There was a collective shortage of guile. Experience tells us it would not have been fixed by one individual.
Ultimately, these games can happen when the tournament format strips away jeopardy in the group stage. The frustration for England is they still have to win the group and may not be able to rest certain players against Panama on Saturday. Yet not breaking down a stubborn defence tells us nothing about what England can do when they have more space against better opposition. In fact, the bigger worry is that the back four again looked shaky in the second half. Jordan Pickford had a couple of nervy moments. Ghana got behind England and could have scored. France and Spain would have scored.