So the indefatigable Declan Rice is not, it turns out, indefatigable at all. How could anyone be after 63 games and counting in the past 11 months?
Rice has only one speed, full gas. The revelation that he has been managing a delicate hamstring since Christmas, which accounted for his 72nd-minute substitution against Croatia, introduces an unwanted variable for Thomas Tuchel.
Though Rice insists he is ready to go against Ghana in England’s second match, Tuchel will want to protect against the pernicious threat of a fully blown hamstring, which is clearly a risk and would be terminal at this tournament.
The idea of resting Rice, whilst anathema to most, might actually represent an opportunity for Tuchel, a chance to accelerate the development of England into a team that controls as well as ransacks the opposition.
Whilst England’s second-half eruption settled the matter against Croatia, the first half was a reminder of how retrograde the national team can be, a passive ensemble emphatically removed from Premier League trends.
Caption: England’s Jordan Henderson and Kobbie Mainoo (left) could start on Tuesday (Photo: PA)The refreshing half-time assessment of Tuchel’s assistant, Anthony Barry, alluded to the ingrained caution that continues to hold England back. The deployment of Rice and Elliot Anderson in a double pivot is essentially a defensive mechanism that requires one of them to take up a more advanced position when in possession.
Their failure to break formation was the principal factor in England’s tepid first-half display, duplicating each other in the deep, leaving too big a gap in midfield to Jude Bellingham, which meant limited connection and minimal control.
Tuchel reminded them of that at half-time with an attitude shift that sent them on their way. Resting Rice against Ghana would be an opportunity to rethink the midfield.
The safe play would be to select head boy Jordan Henderson alongside Anderson. The more progressive option would be to start with Kobbie Mainoo, a shape-shifting No 8 comfortable on the half turn and a font of sharp, vertical passes.
Croatia found it too easy to move the ball through the middle in that dispiriting opening half, and out of possession too straight forward to press England into errors. The ball would pass from Jordan Pickford to the centre-backs to the full-backs and back again on a loop, triggering the inevitable punt up field. Then, hey presto, turnover ball.
Mainoo’s attacking instincts and flair for rapid, directional changes take England closer to the continental model, providing central defenders an out ball through the middle as well as full back.
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Sir Geoff Hurst: The one thing I would change if I could do it all again Michael Hincks: ITV’s World Cup coverage eclipses BBC in every way – except oneThis opens the pitch in a different way, creating new angles to release the wingers. It also makes it harder for opponents to read the play and therefore harder to defend against. This in turn leads to the greater control that Tuchel and his assistants would like to see.
Gary Neville aired his doubts about England’s ability to control the tempo against elite teams before the tournament began. It was remarkably prescient in setting out the lame first half in Dallas.
Against the midfield sophistication of the ronda-loving Spanish, the French, Argentina, Brazil, etc., Neville argued that England are essentially a counter attacking team, relying on pace out wide and grunt through the middle to force a way to goal. But that is always reactive, and relies on moments of individual brilliance from a Harry Kane, a Bellingham or a Bukayo Saka to gain a foothold.
Tuchel was appointed to change all that, to de-Southgate England into a more rounded, expressive unit capable of caprice and rotation as well as the lightning ambush from the flanks.
If the second half against Croatia is to have lasting significance then Tuchel has to follow through against Ghana with a selection meeting his expansive vision. And if Rice is to be rested, choosing Mainoo over Henderson would be the quickest route to nirvana.
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