England will head to Spain on Sunday for a Nations League shoot out with the World Champions. A win in Madrid could see Thomas Tuchel’s team progress to the quarter-finals next March as group winners.
It wasn’t always easy on Harry Kane’s big night at Wembley against Croatia, though. Indeed this was probably England’s worst performance since losing to Argentina in the World Cup semi-final last July.
Here Daily Mail Sport looks at the key issues emerging from last night’s tight squeeze.
Big night for Kane but questions for England
They came to celebrate Harry Kane and the England captain got his goal. Number 92 for the striker. Beneath all the fuss over England’s talisman, however, this came perilously close to being a step backwards for Thomas Tuchel‘s England.
The England manager has been saying since the last international break in September and October that he wanted his team to go to Madrid on Sunday in with a shout at knocking Spain from the top of this Nations League Group. Had Croatia been a little smarter in front of goal at Wembley last night, England would have been heading for a dead rubber against the world champions.
Harry Kane scored on his big night as England edged out a 2-1 win over Croatia at Wembley
It was a night to remember for Kane as he was honoured after receiving his record 126th cap
Three times in the last ten minutes of this game, Croatia had good opportunities to score a second goal and take a point from the game that would have been perfectly justified. So England crawled over the line but there was little here that was impressive with questions emerging once again about how capable really are when they don’t have the ball.
Kane put it well himself afterwards when he said: ‘You can’t always expect things to be perfect. Of course, we know we can improve on a few bits and we will need to if we want to win on Sunday.’
Tuchel himself will perhaps have quiet concerns. One of the German’s worries about this England team is that they sometimes struggle to take training performances on to the field and this was another case in point.
The ultimate target for this team is to win the home Euros in 2028 and the pressure will need handling in front of their own supporters if they are to do that. With that in mind, it’s good to know that the FA are interested in hosting the finals of this Nations League competition next summer.
If England make it through next March’s two-legged quarter-finals, they could do with some practice of playing high-stakes games at Wembley.
Who is really number one?
Asked last week on the day he announced his squad whether Jordan Pickford was still his number one goalkeeper, Tuchel was unequivocal.
‘He is,’ said Tuchel. ‘But the competition is on there as well. Like for the outfield players. And James Trafford will get regular starts now, that’s what we wanted. They shared the matches last time. There’s an opportunity that we maybe do this again.’
Morgan Rogers impressed after opening the scoring inside the opening half-an-hour
Jordan Pickford starting against Croatia could lead to James Trafford playing against Spain
With all this in mind, it was expected that Trafford would start this game with Pickford getting the gloves for the one that really matters in Spain on Sunday. That wasn’t the case, so we wait with interest to see what the England manager does in Madrid.
What nobody really wants is for a return to the situation we had in the 1980s when Ron Greenwood used to rotate between the late Ray Clemence and last night’s guest of honour Peter Shilton.
England’s back four is the one area of this team that can look unconvincing – they did again last night – and the last thing they need is not to know who their goalkeeper is from one match to the next. Tuchel is going to have to make a decision.
Branthwaite has work to do
Interesting that Tuchel chose to put Dan Burn into his team for this game, despite the Newcastle defender not being in the original squad.
With Marc Guehi and Ezri Konsa both absent with injuries, Everton’s Jarrod Branthwaite would have expected to play on the left of Jarell Quansah here. Instead, Burn leapfrogged him in the queue and maybe we should have paid more attention to something Tuchel said the day before the game.
‘Jarrad Branthwaite is doing very well but it’s a very different style of play for him from Everton towards us,’ said Tuchel.
Jarrad Branthwaite clearly has a way to go before he’s fully trusted to start by Thomas Tuchel
‘You can see that Dan Burn is straight away a big voice in training and is more used to the style with Newcastle from the last two seasons with Eddie Howe where they followed in a high press and to man-man. And of course he was with us at the World Cup so he is used a bit more to our style of play.’
That’s all very well and logical but – that being the case – why was Branthwaite chosen ahead of Burn in the original group of 25 last Friday? Burn, as it happened, had a very good game last night.
Could Saka miss the train?
Tuchel talks always about the value of players being in camp. ‘The train is leaving the station,’ is one of the England manager’s more memorable quotes of recent times. Players like Cole Palmer, for example, have learned to their cost that missing meet-ups with injuries can be costly.
Bukayo Saka is not in that category and has plenty of credit in the bank with the England manager. However, Tuchel’s fondness for Morgan Rogers is well known and Saka’s absence does give him a way of getting the Chelsea player into his team. Rogers may be a number ten at heart but he was effective once again here out on the right side.
The 24-year-old was one of England’s better players on a muted night against Croatia and he deserved his first half goal. He gives England a more direct, athletic dimension on the opposite flank to the more balletic offerings of Anthony Gordon. Food for thought for Tuchel at least as Saka continues his own battle against persistent injuries.
Bukayo Saka’s long-term place in England’s team could be under threat from Morgan Rogers
United should have moved for Hall
Newcastle United were pretty much an open door in the summer as they sold players left right and centre. Gordon to Barcelona to make sure the club was the right side of the financial guidelines and then Sandro Tonali to Tottenham and Bruno Guimaraes to Arsenal simply because the players made it known they wanted to go.
Strange, then, that Manchester United didn’t make a proper move for left-back Lewis Hall. Admittedly this wasn’t the most difficult match in which he will have ever played, but Hall was impressive once again.
With Luke Shaw so injury prone, Hall pretty much has the left-back berth sewn up for England but it feels as though he now needs to make the next step in his club career. United retain a nominal interest but who knows what incoming manager Mauricio Pochettino may think? It’s hard to work out why United didn’t try harder to sign him last summer. He has subsequently signed a new contract at Newcastle, of course.
Self-defeating abuse of White is madness and must stop
In case nobody has noticed, England are not over stocked with competent right-backs.
Trent Alexander-Arnold isn’t wholly trusted in big games by Thomas Tuchel, Reece James is always injured and Tino Livramento has also struggled to be available. Why, then, is a significant section of the England support so determined to drive Ben White away from the international scene?
White plays for Arsenal, the champions of England. He is a fine, versatile defender who would be gratefully received and appreciated by fans of most national teams in world football. He had issues with the previous England management regime and does not apologise for that.
He spoke about it this week and made it clear he didn’t wish to reopen old wounds. All that matters now is that he is willing and available. But – despite a plea from Tuchel before this game – England fans still booed him when he came on as a substitute last night.
It’s a disgraceful way to treat a footballer who can be an asset to his country going forwards and it’s something the England manager cares deeply about. Do we want to win the next Euros or not? Do we want our best players motivated and driven and part of the squad? Or do we want to faff about harbouring old grudges related to a situation in Qatar four winters ago that none of us really know that much about?
The choice is clear. If we are not careful, we will drive a good footballer away from the England set-up for good. It’s madness.
