England's Left Side Struggles at World Cup: Tuchel's Concerns
Thomas Tuchel did not bother dressing it up. England’s left side, in his eyes, has gone missing at this World Cup.
The Three Lions boss delivered a blunt assessment of Anthony Gordon, Marcus Rashford and his rotating cast of left-backs, admitting that what once looked like a solved problem has quickly turned into a nagging weakness.
From “problem solved” to problem again
Tuchel thought the issue had been cracked in the final warm-up against Costa Rica. Gordon sparkled, the combinations down that flank flowed, and the German believed he had found a reliable “unit” on the left.
“I saw the game against Costa Rica and thought: ‘OK, left side is solved, this unit, they find their link,’” Tuchel said.
That confidence has evaporated over the first two Group matches.
Tuchel has been scathing about the lack of “connection and penetration” on that side, grouping together winger and full-backs in his criticism. Nico O’Reilly lost his place to Djed Spence for the draw with Ghana, but the upgrade he wanted never arrived.
“The unit on the left side hasn't provided the same quality as they did against Costa Rica,” he admitted. “It was not the same amount of connection, not the same amount of penetration, not the same amount of verticality, and this was the same in the second match.”
Rashford’s dilemma: impact player or starter?
Rashford sits at the heart of Tuchel’s tactical puzzle. The England manager insists the forward is “in a good place,” yet made it clear that, when starting, he has not matched Gordon’s influence.
“Marcus is in a good place, but when he started he was not as decisive as Anthony, that's just it,” Tuchel said.
The irony is that Rashford has often looked more dangerous when coming off the bench. Tuchel likes that weapon. He also knows it raises an awkward question ahead of the crucial clash with Panama: is Rashford an impact substitute or a trusted starter?
“He struggled to have the same influence for us from the start, and yet from the bench he was always pushing,” Tuchel said. “Marcus is just also very good from the bench, and it's sometimes nice to hold someone back.”
He still insists he trusts everyone involved on that flank – Rashford, Gordon, Eberechi Eze, O’Reilly, Spence – but his message was unmistakable: whoever plays, that side must “click a bit more and provide a bit more threat.”
No magic formula against the low block
Tuchel’s frustrations are not limited to one wing. The goalless draw with Ghana exposed a familiar modern problem: breaking down a deep, disciplined defensive block.
England dominated territory, but Ghana celebrated every foray over the halfway line and treated the final whistle like a victory. Tuchel, though, rejected the idea that the result represented a disaster.
“I don’t think it was a low,” he said. “We did enough to win the Ghana game and we also had to control their counter attacks. Twice they were dangerous.”
He spoke like a coach who has seen this movie many times in the Champions League and Premier League. Possession, pressure, but no breakthrough.
“It is difficult to accelerate the match against these low blocks,” he said. “It needs this one moment of quality and a bit more precision with the crossing. A bit more timing with the crosses, maybe a bit more awareness with the crosses.
“Who is arriving with the cross? Are we arriving aggressively enough with the cross? How can we shoot more from outside the box, have a deflection and force this goal in.”
Tuchel confessed he has not discovered the “perfect recipe” to unlock such opponents. There is no simple trigger, no guaranteed pattern.
“I haven’t found the recipe where ‘they do this, then we do this – and then we are fine,’” he said. “Maybe I am proven wrong but I don’t think anyone likes to play against Ghana.”
Panama next – and no illusions
Now comes Panama at the MetLife Stadium, with top spot in the Group still on the line. On paper, England face a side ranked 42nd in the world by FIFA, 23 places above Ghana. On the pitch, Tuchel expects another long, attritional night.
“We will try to find a very active and aggressive approach now against Panama but we cannot just be stupid and naive,” he warned.
He is braced for another massed defence: a back five, then a back six, at times even a back seven.
“We will face another deep block in another kind of formation. We now see a back five. For many moments in the match we see a back six, we see a back seven.”
The message to his players is clear: keep the faith, keep the balance. “The highs should not get too high. The lows should not get too low,” he said.
The noise around Palmer, Foden and Alexander-Arnold
Outside the camp, the debate has moved in a familiar direction. After a flat attacking display, attention turned to the names not in the squad.
Why no Cole Palmer? Why no Trent Alexander-Arnold? Why no Phil Foden-type schemer to unpick a packed defence?
Tuchel has heard it all before and refused to bite.
“I cannot engage this after a draw,” he said. “Spain had a draw. Brazil had their draw. Portugal had their draw.”
Instead, he revealed a different kind of message that landed on his phone – a warning from a “very famous” and “very well respected” coaching colleague when Carlos Queiroz took over Ghana.
“Honestly, we had a message from a very famous colleague, a very well respected colleague, after Ghana changed their coach. He texted us: ‘Your most difficult game is now the second game, I tell you that.’”
For Tuchel, that underlined the level of opposition rather than any flaw in his selection. He bristled at the idea that those left at home suddenly become the saviours.
“It’s a reflex, things don’t go well and then the guys on the bench are suddenly the winners or the guys at home are the winners. That’s not it,” he said. “The game needs to be played how it’s played. It played out to be difficult.
“They made life very difficult for us. We selected a group from the evidence that we had. It cannot be that you’re not selected as a player and suddenly you will be. This is not how it works. We want to step up in the next game.”
Step up they must. The Group, the rankings, the theories about low blocks – all of it now collides with a simpler demand: can England’s misfiring left side finally deliver when it matters most?
