Thomas Tuchel has defended England’s decision to return to their Kansas City base between games, meaning a gruelling schedule of eight flights in 14 days.
His team put in a stodgy performance during Tuesday’s goalless draw with Ghana in Boston, before making the three-and-a-half hour flight back to Kansas immediately after the game.
England will fly back to the East Coast on Friday ahead of Saturday’s final group match against Panama in New Jersey. There is then the likelihood of three-day turnarounds before a last-32 tie in Atlanta and last 16 in Mexico City.
The danger for England is fatigue, but Tuchel said: ‘This was the reasonable option. We didn’t want to change hotels and we didn’t want to do the venue hopping. We wanted to have a base and this is, for us, the most valuable point. This is why we have done it this way.’
Tuchel’s medical staff will assess the condition of Declan Rice in the next 24 hours after he left the Boston Stadium with heavy strapping on his left calf. Elliot Anderson also took a blow to his back.
But England no longer have the luxury of a dead-rubber against Panama and need to win to be sure of topping the group.
‘Some players should be on the pitch but maybe the rotation will be more moderate,’ said Tuchel. ‘It’s not always fair if you just rotate your players in and say, “OK, let’s perform”. There is some fatigue in some players. We only have three days. We need to look at the players first (before picking a team).’
Tuchel also believes England have had it far tougher than other big nations when it comes to group-stage opponents.
‘I saw some second-round matches from big nations – sorry about the disrespect, but they were not the level of Ghana on the other side of the pitch,’ said the head coach.
‘So we have faced a very physical team, and Panama were good against them in the first game. Maybe it’s the least prominent name that we play against, but it will be tough. There is a long way to go and no-one won a World Cup with four goals per match and going for it all the time. We tried and tried but it’s difficult sometimes – there is no need to feel negative.’
Meanwhile, Tuchel wants to guard against the expectation in some quarters that Bukayo Saka will now come into the team and solve England’s attacking issues. The Arsenal winger has been managing an Achilles issue during the tournament.
Tuchel said: ‘He seems to be more and more ready and will hopefully push. He needs to have more sessions now to be ready for Panama.
‘But I’m not engaging in that (Saka the saviour). It’s not like Bukayo comes back and everything is solved. I don’t want to put this on his back. He is a top player, that’s why he is with us and we need him desperately, like every other player, in top shape and pushing.
‘But everyone is doing their best, and it’s not the moment to shout for individual names to help us out. We’re in a good place, still.’
Craig Hope
