Thomas Tuchel has defended his full-back selection after confirming Chelsea’s Reece James will miss England’s final group game against Panama on Saturday.
James was assessed by the Three Lions medical team after complaining about a hamstring issue following the 0-0 draw with Ghana and has not travelled with the squad to New Jersey from their Kansas City base as he undergoes an “accelerated rehabilitation programme” in the hope of returning to the team as soon as possible.
Tuchel is adamant James is set to be available for their last 32 clash, but BBC Sport claim he is a ‘significant doubt for the start of the knockout stages’.
James’ injury and the calf issue that forced Tino Livramento to return home from the United States has brought Tuchel’s full-back selection under scrutiny, with Djed Spence now the only recognised full-back available.
Nico O’Reilly has played most of the season for Manchester City at left-back but he came up through the ranks as an attacking midfielder.
Dan Burn can play at left-back but is recognised as a centre-back, while Ezri Konsa, Jarell Quansah and Trevoh Chalobah – who was called up as cover for Livramento – are all centre-backs who can play at right-back but rarely do for their clubs.
But Tuchel insists he’s happy with his selection and the options he has available.
He said: “Yes, I am [happy with my options at right-back]. I selected the team, so I’m very happy with everything with the characteristic of the players and strengths that they give us.
“We would love to have every single key player, we would love to have them available, it’s not available – we find solutions, it’s what we do. It’s a tournament, we move on.”
James and Livramento have woeful injury records and the decision to take both of them to the World Cup has already come back to bite Tuchel and England.
But the Three Lions boss is confident James will soon be back fit.
“It’s a minor hamstring issue, he’s not been able to train the last two days,” said Tuchel.
“He’s now on an accelerated rehabilitation program and we take it game by game, but we strongly believe that he will be available [during the tournament].”
In more positive news, Tuchel confirmed that Declan Rice (calf) and Elliot Anderson (glute) are both fit to face Panama, while Bukayo Saka (achilles) – who’s come off the bench in England’s opening two games – is ready to start.
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Another low block
The Three Lions will likely face another low block against Panama, and after struggling to break Ghana down, Tuchel was asked how he’s preparing his side for another test of their creativity and dynamism in the final third.
“It is normal that it is difficult for us to overcome these blocks,” he said. “We want to be active and did enough to win [against Ghana]. We had to do a lot to control the counterattacks, which we couldn’t twice and twice it was very dangerous.
“I haven’t found the recipe where: ‘They do this, then we do this and then we are fine.’ We will try to find a very active and aggressive approach against Panama but we cannot just be stupid and naive. We cannot just be open and put seven players on the last line and defend with three. It’s not serious enough.”
