Alan Shearer called out Marcus Rashford and Bukayo Saka for ‘not doing enough’ as England made hard work of getting Panama in their final 2026 World Cup group stage game.
The match in New Jersey, which finished 2-0 thanks in large part to Jude Bellingham’s goal and assist for Harry Kane in an improved second half, was painfully familiar for England so far at this tournament.
Boss Thomas Tuchel cut an angry figure on the sidelines, barking orders at Kane just three minutes in, and honing in on Rashford and Saka during the first hydration break.
For former England striker Shearer there was plenty that was going wrong in the opening 45 minutes but it was Rashford and Saka, two of the changes Tuchel made to the starting line-up after the 0-0 draw with Ghana, that were the focus of his attention.
‘I haven’t seen the stats but I can see it with my eyes that Rashford and Saka have been involved in a lot of what England have done but they haven’t done enough with it,’ Shearer said on BBC Radio 5 Live.
Bukayo Saka (left) and Marccus Rashford (right) struggled to take advantage of a starting spot
‘It’s been really disappointing from the first 10 minutes when we moved the ball with purpose and I expected us to carry that on but that hasn’t been the case.’
England took 45 minutes to find their groove in the opening 4-2 group win over Croatia, then found themselves out of ideas, particularly in wide areas, up against Ghana’s low block.
Here again at the MetLife Stadium, which is where England hope to be on July 19 when it hosts the World Cup final, it was the wide players that drew the most frustration from fans and pundits in the first half.
‘We lack subtlety, creativity and innovation. The players in wide areas, the final part of their game has been really poor,’ Gary Neville said on ITV Sport.
‘We are struggling badly to break them down. He may have to bring on two strikers and do something different.’
Fellow ITV pundit Roy Keane added: ‘England seem to have been dragged down to their level. Their top players haven’t turned up.’
England still have so much room for improvement but they have emerged as group winners and go into the knockout stages on the more favourable side of the draw, avoiding France, Germany, Netherlands and Spain.
Tuchel (left) and Shearer (right) both took issue with perormances out wide in the first half
Jude Bellingham was the difference maker as his goal and assist was key to beating Panama
The hope is that Tuchel’s charges will get better and better as opposition goes up in quality and teams defending in low blocks becomes less and less of a factor.
What the win over Panama did show was that Bellingham is comfortably performing as England’s best player in North America, with a third man-of-the-match award in his grasp through three games.
‘There is more to build on,’ Tuchel said. ‘You have to get so many details right and it’s an aggressive approach we take.
‘The tournament starts again now, it’s knockouts. Now we collect our strengths, collect our energy, build on what we have, the team spirit, the fighting spirit, the belief, and we will step up.’
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