Thomas Tuchel’s half-time speech to the England team before their 4-2 win against Croatia has been heralded as ‘significant’ by captain Harry Kane, but the victory has exposed a deeper tactical question after it emerged that Declan Rice is carrying a hamstring injury.
The revelation that Rice has been managing a delicate hamstring since Christmas accounted for his 72nd-minute substitution against Croatia, introducing what i newspaper’s chief sports correspondent Kevin Garside called ‘an unwanted variable for Thomas Tuchel’. Though Rice insists he is ready to go against Ghana in England’s second match, Tuchel will want to protect against the threat of a fully blown hamstring, which would be terminal at this tournament.
“Tuchel's half-time speech inspired England's 4-2 win, but Rice's hamstring injury forces a midfield rethink ahead of Ghana match.”
While England’s second-half eruption settled the matter against Croatia, the first half was a reminder of how retrograde the national team can be. The refreshing half-time assessment of Tuchel’s assistant, Anthony Barry, alluded to the ingrained caution that continues to hold England back. The deployment of Rice and Elliot Anderson in a double pivot was essentially a defensive mechanism that required one of them to take up a more advanced position when in possession.
Their failure to break formation was the principal factor in England’s tepid first-half display, according to Garside, as they duplicated each other in the deep, leaving too big a gap in midfield to Jude Bellingham, which meant limited connection and minimal control. Tuchel reminded them of that at half-time with an attitude shift that sent them on their way.
Resting Rice against Ghana would be an opportunity to rethink the midfield. The safe play would be to select Jordan Henderson alongside Anderson. The more progressive option would be to start with Kobbie Mainoo, a shape-shifting No 8 comfortable on the half turn and a font of sharp, vertical passes.
Croatia found it too easy to move the ball through the middle in that dispiriting opening half, and out of possession too straightforward to press England into errors. The ball would pass from Jordan Pickford to the centre-backs to the full-backs and back again on a loop, triggering the inevitable punt up field. Then, turnover ball.
Mainoo’s attacking instincts and flair for rapid, directional changes take England closer to the continental model, providing central defenders an out ball through the middle as well as full back. This opens the pitch in a different way, creating new angles to release the wingers. It also makes it harder for opponents to read the play.
Tuchel’s half-time rally may have secured the points, but the coming days will determine whether he dares to reshape a midfield that can control as well as ransack the opposition.