Tuchel hits out at ‘not clicking’ England pair but at least they’re not fighting in training like Panama | OneFootball

Thomas Tuchel admits England’s left flank is “not clicking” after the England boss was asked if Marcus Rashford might be given the nod over Anthony Gordon for their clash with Panama.

After impressing in their 4-2 win over Croatia in their opening game, England were met with a stubborn low block against Ghana and could find no way through.

Gordon started both of those two games and has been ineffective in both, leading to suggestions that Rashford might start ahead of him on Saturday.

Tuchel said: “Marcus is in a good place, but when he started he was not as decisive as Anthony, that’s just it.

“We had a very good match against Costa Rica with Anthony and the unit, it’s more a unit on the left side than it is individuals or ‘the winger didn’t do enough.’

“The unit on the left side hasn’t provided the same quality as they did against Costa Rica. They were so good, I saw the game against Costa Rica and thought: ‘OK, left side is solved, this unit, they find their link.’

“Then Marcus came on the left side, together with Eberechi Eze and Djed Spence, and they did so well. So I thought: ‘Oh, we have two units. They know what they’re doing and they’re clicking.’

“It turns out we played the first match and they’re not clicking, I’m not even sure why, but 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.

“I don’t know the reason for it. I still trust all of them, I still trust them to get better. Marcus is just also very good from the bench, and it’s sometimes nice to hold someone back.

“He struggled to have the same influence for us from the start, and yet from the bench he was always pushing.

“I know many times we spoke about him and you said, “You trust him so much, but what is the output?’ True, but he tries and he’s there.

“He’s in a good place. He’s pushing, he’s a candidate to start, but the left side in general, no matter who plays, needs to click a bit more and provide a bit more threat.”

A Panama fight

England will need to win their final group game to ensure they finish in top spot and may have been boosted by a report from Express detailing a training ground fight between the Panama players.

Cecilio Waterman was seen shoving Jose Luis Rodriguez in the chest in their open training session before being restrained by teammates as he looked to escalate the disagreement.