Been ruminating on the England performance v Norway. I mean, basically, who cares, they won, that’s surely all that matters.
The issue on the night (for us in the UK) though was in the midfield really. Rice simple wasn’t fit, and it was painfully obvious. The England midfield of Anderson at 6, Rice at 8, and Bellingham 10 is one of the best in the world, but it heavily relies - of course it does! - on all the parts working to full capacity.
So Rice had to come off. Here’s where the misfortune comes in - Henderson’s knackered arm after larking about in the Azteca meant he wasn’t available. I’m convinced he would have been the obvious choice to replace Rice, especially with half the game already done.
Tuchel’s mistake, which he acknowledged with his later decisions, was to bring on Eberechi Eze and push Bellingham back to 8. Trouble is, Bellingham is not in Rice’s class in that position, and what’s more, Eze isn’t close to Bellingham at 10. So rather than being deficit in one position, now it’s two.
With no Henderson to pick, Tuchel going to Eze instantly makes one wish that Adam Wharton was there - but also why Kobbi Mainoo is and wasn’t used. Tuchel clearly didn’t trust him for that situation, in which case, what situation does he trust him for?
Fixing the Eze mistake, Tuchel brought off Anthony Gordon and moved Eze out to the left wing. Bellingham goes back to 10 which fixes that, but with no Anthony, England lose their key “out” from defence. Should Tuchel have owned his mistake and brought off Eze? Would have been incredibly harsh but probably the correct decision.
Who replaces Anthony? Not Mainoo again, but a converted right back in a slightly unfit Reece James. He did ok, but it’s not a great look. In tournaments you do what you have to do, but again, a fit Henderson or a Wharton would surely have been preferable.
Eventually we ended up with Anderson’s fourth partner of the game, and the person who seemed to do the best in the job, Morgan Rogers. He is obviously not a Declan Rice, but did seem to bring a certain elegance to the role - and was more disciplined than when Bellingham was in there.
So the big question is what to do if Rice isn’t fit for Argentina? Unless Tuchel does an about face on Mainoo, it perhaps makes sense to give Rogers a proper run at the role. But I suspect he’ll put James in to start, with Anderson playing as the 8.
Personally, I would rather keep Anderson doing the 6 role he has almost perfected in this tournament and have a more obvious midfielder (like Wharton!) available to slot in given Rice’s potential, and Henderson’s, definite absence. Keep the best players in their best positions - including Bellingham at 10!
