Tuchel may regret leaving wildcard options at home

England lacked a Cole Palmer or Phil Foden to inject some spark into their Ghana performance, writes Richard Jolly

- RICHARD JOLLY AT BOSTON STADIUM

Thomas Tuchel was inches from being two from two; two games, two substitutes scoring.

Even when Nico O’Reilly’s header thumped against the bar, the rebound fell obligingly for Harry Kane. “Ninety-nine times out of 100,” Tuchel argued, Kane would score. And if so, the manager may have been seen as a catalyst with his changes. Instead, Kane skied his shot.

As it is, England have one goal from a replacement this World Cup; a potentially significant one, too, with Marcus Rashford’s late clincher against Croatia. And yet, as Ghana shut England out, narrow as the margins were, it brought into question Tuchel’s strategy for providing bench strength.

The German’s blueprint can be for more of the same, for like-for-like replacements. On the left wing, Anthony Gordon and Rashford share plenty of characteristics, and bringing on the Mancunian for the similarly speedy Merseysider worked well against Croatia. On the right, Bukayo Saka and Noni Madueke even share a club, the 2025 signing understudying Arsenal’s homegrown talent for Mikel Arteta and presumably doing so again on international duty when the brighter star is fit enough to start.