Rashford and Guehi Decisions Loom for Tuchel vs Ghana
Get the Sports newsletter
Daily sports — scores, transfers, the storylines from the leagues you actually follow. Free.
- Thomas Tuchel selected Ezri Konsa over Marc Guehi to partner John Stones in central defence against Croatia, with Konsa having now started 10 of Tuchel's 15 games in charge, third behind only Jordan Pickford and Harry Kane (12 each)
- Chris Sutton told BBC Sport Tuchel should drop Stones entirely and pair Konsa and Guehi together, arguing Stones "doesn't even have a club for next season yet" and lacks the athleticism for one-against-one situations against elite attackers
- Paul Robinson said Tuchel will rotate his squad for the Ghana match but stressed it will not be for performance reasons, noting that over eight games in 32 days in a potential final run, "reputation, name, who you play for" will not decide selection
- Marcus Rashford scored England's fourth goal in an 18-minute cameo off the bench, replacing Anthony Gordon on the left flank, and Sutton backed him to start against Ghana after noting Gordon's lack of match action at Newcastle late last season and his bottom-of-the-pile 5.54/10 BBC player rating
- The pre-tournament battle between Rashford and Gordon has a Catalan sub-plot: Rashford spent the season on loan at Barcelona, the same club that paid £69.3m to sign Gordon from Newcastle
- Despite England's attacking flourish, goalkeeper Jordan Pickford had to save Igor Matanovic's effort with the score at 3-2 before Rashford sealed the result, and Konsa was caught out of position for Croatia's second equaliser scored by Petar Musa
Why it matters: Tuchel's willingness to rotate means every England starter in Dallas is auditioning for the knockout rounds, and dropping Stones — a trusted leader — for Konsa and Guehi together would mark a significant shift in his selection hierarchy heading into the Ghana game.
