Thomas Tuchel's reaction to Reece James injury exposes England's unnecessary risks


“Nobody could have seen this coming,” said Thomas Tuchel. And yet absolutely everyone could. By leaving out one of the world's best right-backs and opting to replace an injured full-back with a defender, Tuchel has left England overly dependent on the fitness of a notoriously injury-prone player. Thus, Reece James will be left out of England's clash with Panama. A player with a history of muscle injuries, who was out for two months at the end of last season due to one, now suffers another. "Minor thigh injury," Tuchel said before England's final group stage match. James is in a race against time to be fit for the round of 32, should the team get there. Possible opponents include Senegal, Colombia and Portugal; for a right-back, the immediate test could come from Sadio Mane, Ismaila Sarr, Luis Diaz, Rafael Leão or João Félix. It's the type of task that could require a professional right-back. James has earned a status among the game's best but, in his own peculiar way, so has Trent Alexander-Arnold, whose exclusion went beyond the bounds of logic when Tino Livramento was ruled out of the World Cup and his replacement was Trevoh Chalobah. Thus, two of the three options Tuchel considers are defenders by trade. One, Ezri Konsa, appears to be Tuchel's preferred starting defender. Jarell Quansah didn't, but the Bayer Leverkusen man started just two games at right-back in his final season, against Liverpool and in the Carabao Cup final, both draws against Newcastle, neither with Alexander-Arnold fully fit and neither exactly successful. Then there's Djed Spence, who is at least a full-back by trade, although he played on the left in the draw with Ghana. He is also Tottenham's second right-back, who have finished 17th in the last two seasons. None of them have James' quality on the ball or his ability to produce a decisive cross, pass or shot. Even so, Tuchel committed: "We will find solutions. We are thinking about calling up Chalobah to free up Quansah in the right-back position for us. I saw him playing very well at Liverpool and he played enough in a line of three – which is not that far from the position – at Leverkusen. And we have Djed Spence. "Konsa also played in that right-back position at a high level for us. No problem. We'd love to have Reece as a key player but he's not available." If this comes as a surprise to Tuchel if few others, there is a sense that history could repeat itself. At Euro 2024, England's only natural left-back was an unfit Luke Shaw. Rewind a decade and there were times when Glen Johnson was the only specialist right-back in World Cup squads; but there was a lack of options at the time. Now there are more, even in an era after Kyle Walker and Kieran Trippier. Tuchel had decisively parted ways with Alexander-Arnold, helped by James' return to form. Now the 26-year-old has not traveled to New York with England, perhaps traumatized by his last trip to the MetLife Stadium. He captained Chelsea to victory in the Club World Cup final last summer, only for Donald Trump to interrupt the celebrations.healthy. He has his starting midfielder available. "Elliot Anderson was in full training," he said. "[Declan Rice] was in full training. Both had minor issues after the Ghana game but had time to recover." Picking Rice comes with a risk, though, as he was cautioned in the Boston draw. Tuchel is about to select the Arsenal player, despite knowing the risk of suspension. "He's experienced enough to handle it," he said. "But we are aware of that. He has a yellow card. If he starts tomorrow, and I normally want Declan on the pitch, then he will have to manage that and I think he will do it." Another Arsenal player will occupy his thoughts. Bukayo Saka was gradually inserted into the tournament after an Achilles problem. "We agree with Bukayo and especially the Arsenal medical team in close cooperation that this is the way to prepare him," Tuchel said. "He has now, for many days, been completely free of pain and discomfort and is ready to go in and ready to go." There could be changes on the flanks, perhaps with Saka replacing Noni Madueke and Marcus Rashford replacing Anthony Gordon. There will be one on the right side. And if Tuchel didn't see it coming, many others could.

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