“No one could see that coming,” said Thomas Tuchel. And yet absolutely everyone could. When he left out one of the world’s best right-backs, opted to replace a sidelined full-back with a central defender in his squad and left himself overly reliant on the fitness of a famously injury-prone player, it ranked among the most foreseeable storylines of the World Cup.
And so Reece James will miss England’s clash with Panama. A footballer with a history of hamstring injuries, who sat out two months towards the end of the season with one, has another. “Minor hamstring injury,” said Tuchel ahead of England’s final group stage game. James is in a race against time to be fit for England’s last 32 tie, should they get there. Potential opponents for them include Senegal, Colombia and Portugal; for a right-back the immediate test could be provided by Sadio Mane, Ismaila Sarr, Luis Diaz, Rafael Leao or Joao Felix.
It is the sort of task that could call for an out-and-out right-back. James has earned a status among the game’s finest. But so, in his inimitable, idiosyncratic way, does Trent Alexander-Arnold, whose omission strayed far beyond the realm of logic when Tino Livramento was ruled out of the World Cup and his replacement was Trevoh Chalobah.
And so two of the three options Tuchel is considering are centre-backs by trade. One, Ezri Konsa, appears Tuchel’s first-choice centre-back. Jarell Quansah does not but the Bayer Leverkusen man only started two games at right-back in his final season against Liverpool, a 3-3 draw against Newcastle and the Carabao Cup final against the same opponents, neither when Alexander-Arnold was fully fit and neither exactly successful.
Then there is Djed Spence, who is at least a full-back by trade, albeit one who operated on the left in the stalemate with Ghana. He is also the second-choice right-back for a Tottenham team who have finished 17th in each of the last two seasons. None possesses James’s quality on the ball or his capacity to produce a telling cross, pass or shot.
Tuchel nonetheless pledged: “We will find solutions. The thinking of calling Chalobah to free up Quansah on the right full-back position for us. I saw him playing very strongly there playing for Liverpool and he played enough in a back three – which is not so far from the position – in Leverkusen. And we have Djed Spence.
“Konsa played in that right-back position as well for us on a high level. No problem. We would love to have Reece as a key player, but he’s not available.”
If that is a surprise to Tuchel, if few others, there is a sense that history may repeat itself. In Euro 2024, England’s only natural left-back was a semi-fit Luke Shaw. Rewind a decade earlier and there were times when Glen Johnson was the only specialist right-back in World Cup squads; but there was a lack of options then.
Now there are more, even in an age after Kyle Walker and Kieran Trippier. Tuchel had turned decisively away from Alexander-Arnold, aided by James’s return to fitness. Now the 26-year-old did not travel to New York with England, perhaps scarred by his last trip to the MetLife Stadium. He captained Chelsea to victory in the Club World Cup final last summer, only for Donald Trump to gatecrash the celebrations.
Apart from James, Tuchel reported a clean bill of health. He has his first-choice midfield available. “Elliot Anderson was in full training,” he said. “Declan Rice was in full training. They felt both minor issues after the Ghana match, but have had time to recover.”
Each could be preoccupied by other matters, with Anderson set to complete a £116m move to Manchester City. “We had no distractions, no medical before the match,” said Tuchel. “We need Elliot in the right mindset.” England’s failure to beat Ghana means they do: victory is required to top Group L and head to Atlanta in the last 32.
Picking Rice comes with a risk, though, after he was cautioned in the stalemate in Boston. Tuchel is set to pick the Arsenal player even though the danger is he ends up suspended. “He’s experienced enough to handle it,” he said. “But we are aware of it. He has a yellow card. If he starts tomorrow, and I normally want Declan on the pitch, then he has to manage that and I think he will manage that.”
Another Arsenal player will occupy his thoughts. Bukayo Saka has been eased into the tournament after an Achilles problem. “We agreed with Bukayo and especially the medical team at Arsenal in tight cooperation that this is the way to build him up,” Tuchel said. “He is now, since many days, fully free of pain and discomfort and is ready to go and ready to start.”
There could be changes on the flanks, perhaps with Saka in for Noni Madueke and Marcus Rashford for Anthony Gordon. There will be one at right-back. And if Tuchel did not predict that, many another could have done.
