Daily Mail football experts Craig Hope and Ian Ladyman took fans inside the England World Cup camp at an exclusive live Q&A in the heart of New York City on Friday night.
Speaking at The Churchill in Midtown Manhattan just 24 hours out from the Three Lions’ final group game against Panama, the pair lifted the lid on their experience in America so far, and detailed some of the issues facing Thomas Tuchel and his squad.
In their first two games, England beat Croatia 4-2 before limping to a 0-0 draw with Ghana, but are still in the driving seat to win Group L and progress to the knockout stages with relative ease.
That said, it hasn’t all been plain sailing, with a worrying injury to Reece James and other defensive struggles providing plenty for Tuchel to consider heading into Saturday night’s game in New Jersey.
On James’ injury, chief football reporter Craig Hope revealed: ‘He [Tuchel] has got a decision now. Reece James is definitely out of tomorrow, there were three players that didn’t train yesterday [Thursday]… that was Elliot Anderson, Declan Rice and Reece James.
‘Rice and Anderson have trained today [Friday], we don’t think he’s going to play Rice tomorrow. But Reece James is out of tomorrow, he’s probably going to be out of the last 32 game as well. And it’s a hamstring, you know… I think we’re dressing that up in a sort of positive way, really.
Ian Ladyman (left) and Craig Hope (right) entertain the crowd at the Churchill in New York City
Reece James’ tournament is in doubt, leaving Thomas Tuchel with a right-back selection issue
‘If it’s a hamstring, there’s a danger his tournament is going to be over. What does he do? Well, he’s got a choice. Does he put the centre-back Ezri Konsa there? But no, he wants Konsa in the middle with Marc Guehi now, we believe.
‘Does he play Jarell Quansah there, which we think he might do tomorrow. Or does he put Djed Spence over on that side? Spence has played the majority of the season at left-back.’
The right-back dilemma is not the only selection headache handed to Tuchel and his coaching staff ahead of the final group game, with Anthony Gordon’s lacklustre start to the tournament leading to fans calling for a change.
Thus far, Marcus Rashford has had to make do with a spot on the bench, after Tuchel favoured Gordon in his position on the left-hand side.
It is unclear exactly what the manager will do against Panama, but Hope gave an insight into his thinking, following a conversation with him at England’s training camp in Kansas City.
‘Thomas said, “Marcus is better as a substitute”, which I don’t think Marcus Rashford necessarily wants to hear, but I understand the logic behind it,’ he revealed to the audience. ‘You as fans and us as observers, we’ve almost got to change the way we look at the starting XI.
The Daily Mail pair answer questions from a live audience ahead of the England-Panama game
Marcus Rashford and Anthony Gordon are fighting for the same position in the starting XI
‘The starting XI, for elite managers at this World Cup, isn’t the be all and end all. If you have a runner like Anthony Gordon, who can almost be the pace-setter and run the opposition into the ground and tire them, then the player with quality… let’s be honest, Gordon’s got the will, Rashford’s got the skill… you then bring on Rashford and he punishes tired legs.
‘That’s Thomas’s plan, so while Rashford is pushing for a start, [Tuchel] did say to us, “don’t be surprised if I stick to the process, which is me wanting a player of Rashford’s quality off the bench”. From what I’m told, Marcus Rashford doesn’t like his answer, but he might have to get used to it.’
One other early concern in the England camp has come in the form of No 1 goalkeeper Jordan Pickford, who has put in some erratic displays.
With Dean Henderson and James Trafford waiting in the wings, Hope and Ladyman gave their thoughts on the situation – revealing exactly why Pickford has started the tournament in such bizarre fashion.
‘I’m concerned about the goalkeeper, strangely,’ football editor Ladyman began. ‘I think Jordan Pickford is a very, very good goalkeeper these days, he’s more than capable of playing in goal in a team that wins the World Cup, but he started this tournament – I don’t know if you guys have noticed – he’s started this tournament in a very strange way.
Jordan Pickford has had a nervy start to the World Cup with some erratic moments in goal
‘The way he came tearing out of his goal to clatter into the Ghana player in Boston worried me greatly.’
Explaining why, Hope explained: ‘He’s been instructed not really to go long and ping those balls like they enjoy. So Jordan Pickford loves to get one of his low irons out and ping one about 40, 50 yards.
‘The instruction is, we’re going to play out in little triangles from the back. So I think it’s quite in Pickford’s head, if he plays that short ball to a centre-half, even if the centre-half makes the mistake, it’s probably on Pickford, it comes back on him, for playing that pass in the first place.
‘That’s the instruction, and I think that nervousness has actually crept into his full game. All of a sudden, from having a goalkeeper we thought we could absolutely depend on, you’re looking at him as part of that unit at the back four that does instill a little bit of nervousness, and I agree.’
