Guehi Pushes for England Recall After Croatia Errors
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- Marc Guehi was unexpectedly benched for England's World Cup opener against Croatia despite being widely expected as a first-choice centre-back under Thomas Tuchel.
- John Stones and Ezri Konsa both made errors leading to Croatia's two goals — Stones went to ground before the first, while Konsa misjudged a chipped pass before the second.
- Stones has played just five Premier League games for Manchester City in the past year, with City losing four of them, and was deployed at left centre-back against Croatia despite only 371 minutes there over the past three seasons compared to 1,151 on the right.
- Sky Sports' Jamie Carragher said Guehi should have been his first pick in the back four and would partner him with Stones against Ghana, while Gary Neville questioned whether the Konsa-Stones partnership could win England the World Cup.
- Guehi has ranked among the Premier League's top centre-backs since joining Manchester City from Crystal Palace in January — 10th for possession won in the defensive third, 4th for interceptions, 6th for forward passes and 5th for passes completed.
- Tuchel could shift Stones back to his more familiar right side alongside Guehi — the pairing used in England's first warm-up game against New Zealand — with Konsa potentially dropping to right-back to replace the injury-prone Reece James.
Why it matters: England won their opener, but the defensive cracks were real: Stones posted just one unsuccessful tackle and one clearance in 87 minutes, while Konsa won three of eight duels and made no tackles or interceptions — meaning Tuchel's loyalty to a rusty Stones, who started only five Premier League games and lost four for City in the past year, is now an active liability heading into the Ghana game.
