England's Depth Dilemma: Tuchel's Selection Challenges
Thomas Tuchel stood in Dallas with a problem most England managers would have killed for in years gone by: too many good players, not enough minutes.
Against Croatia, that luxury played out most clearly down the left.
Gordon over Rashford – and why it worked
Tuchel ignored the noise. He started Anthony Gordon ahead of Marcus Rashford, despite a chorus demanding the Manchester United forward. Gordon, freshly anointed as Barcelona’s solution on that flank for next season, kept his England place.
On paper, 17 touches looks anonymous. On grass, it was anything but.
Gordon hunted. He pressed high, chased lost causes, dragged defenders into places they didn’t want to be. He darted in behind, stretching Croatia’s back line until the gaps began to appear. He didn’t have to score. He didn’t have to rack up assists. His value lay in the chaos he created without the ball as much as in the few moments he had it.
Rashford can do much of that too. Different profile, same purpose. He reads space, sprints beyond the last man, presses with intent. So when England’s legs began to tire after 72 minutes, Tuchel turned to him.
Thirteen minutes later, Rashford buried England’s fourth, the finish to a flowing team move that underlined why he remains one of the most dangerous substitutes in international football.
“Marcus is just pushing and pushing and pushing in training at the highest level,” Tuchel said afterwards. “I am very, very happy for him that he got his [goal] and I hope he stays hungry for the next one and the next one because he was absolutely impressive over the last 17 days and he really deserved his goal.”
Rogers, Bellingham and a “tough, tough” call
Gordon versus Rashford was not Tuchel’s only dilemma.
He has been open about his admiration for Morgan Rogers, the Aston Villa attacker whose rise has been so steep that a move to a bigger club already feels inevitable. Rogers is not Jude Bellingham – few are – but he offers something close to the same level of menace between the lines.
Tuchel admitted that the 22-year-old pushed hard to start against Croatia.
“The tough, tough decision was to take to say to Morgan Rogers that he will not start, because he deserves 100 percent to start, and he has done so well for us,” Tuchel said after the game in Dallas.
Rogers had to wait. When he finally appeared around the 70-minute mark, he immediately injected energy, buzzing in the pockets behind England’s front line. He did not score, did not assist, yet his fingerprints were on the decisive fourth goal, his decoy run pulling a defender away and opening the lane for the move to unfold.
There will be nights when he is not just a weapon off the bench but a central figure. On this evidence, he is ready.
Right flank sparks and Saka in cotton wool
On the opposite side, Djed Spence offered his own audition. Coming in for Reece James at right-back, the Tottenham defender played with intent, surging forward and giving England extra bite on the counter. Only a sharp piece of goalkeeping denied him a goal that would have capped a statement performance.
Bukayo Saka knows what it is to decide big games for England. When fit, he is one of the first names on the teamsheet. Right now, though, he is being handled with care.
After an injury-hit season at Arsenal and with an Achilles still being managed, Tuchel has chosen caution. Noni Madueke started against Croatia, while Saka was kept back, then unleashed for 20 carefully measured minutes.
Those 20 minutes were enough. He looked sharp, slippery in tight spaces, and slipped the assist for Rashford’s goal.
“Bukayo is ready and will get more and more ready,” Tuchel said. “I think once we go to the last game of this group, he will be ready. He was strong in training on Tuesday in small spaces. It was just a matter of if the game was open and was up and down.”
For the heavyweight clashes, Saka starts. That is not a debate. During the group stage, with England often holding the talent advantage, Tuchel can afford to let him build back to full throttle.
Big names, small minutes
Then there are the players who did not even cross the white line.
Ollie Watkins, who finished the season in devastating form for Aston Villa, stayed on the bench. So did Eberechi Eze, Arsenal’s mercurial creator, and Kobbie Mainoo, whose Manchester United performances would have him walking into most midfields at this tournament.
Not long ago, England’s attacking bench options in a World Cup semi-final were Danny Welbeck and Fabian Delph. That was 2018, when Sir Gareth Southgate had essentially two real game-changers to call on: Rashford and Jamie Vardy.
This is different. This squad is stacked.
There is a cost. These are not squad fillers. Almost everyone here is used to playing every week, used to being the star, used to influence. Tuchel acknowledged that the conversations have already started.
“Just yesterday, we had a conversation where I told him [Rashford] that I’m very, very impressed with his last 16 days, with how he was in camp, how he pushes on the pitch,” Tuchel revealed after the Croatia win. “He’s totally involved in every meeting. He’s very, very fast in translating a meeting onto the pitch.”
Of the 26 players in this group, only three – John Stones, Madueke and reserve goalkeeper James Trafford – were not regular starters for their clubs last season. For many, watching from the sidelines will sting.
Tuchel is convinced they can handle it.
“It is now four more weeks and in four weeks you can swallow it and digest it and buy into it. We selected the group because we were sure that they could do it and they all can,” he said.
Roles, hierarchy and the long road
Some know exactly where they stand.
Jordan Henderson is here as much for his voice and calm as for his 36-year-old legs. Ivan Toney’s primary value may come from 12 yards when the knockout tension bites. If Dan Burn or Jarrell Quansah are seeing serious minutes, something has gone wrong higher up the depth chart.
Tuchel summed it up before Croatia: he has “14 or 15 starters”. In other words, a core group all capable of shaping a game, all expecting to play.
In a World Cup played in draining conditions after brutal club seasons, that depth is not a luxury. It is a necessity. No manager can realistically flog the same XI through up to eight games in four weeks and expect them to stay sharp.
So the rotation will come. It has to.
If Bellingham’s legs need a breather, Rogers can step in. If Harry Kane is wrapped in cotton wool for a dead-rubber third group game, Watkins is waiting. Behind them, more talent, more options, more headaches.
The question is no longer whether England have enough quality. It is whether Tuchel can juggle egos, minutes and momentum so that, when July 19 rolls around, those “14 or 15 starters” still feel like one team chasing the same final.
