England vs Croatia: Thomas Tuchel’s selection dilemmas for World Cup analysed – four positions up for grabs | Football News

Jude Bellingham or Morgan Rogers? Bukayo Saka or Noni Madueke? Anthony Gordon or Marcus Rashford? John Stones, Ezri Konsa or Marc Guehi? Sky Sports’ News’ Rob Dorsett analyses the big selection dilemmas facing Thomas Tuchel.

Don’t expect too many changes for England’s World Cup opener from the starting XI that began the final friendly win over Costa Rica.

Thomas Tuchel was glowing in his praise of the standards and the intensity in that match. Jordan Henderson says it’s the best performance he has ever seen from an England side on the eve of a major tournament and he was watching on from the sidelines. Both of those things are significant.

However, Tuchel has been very difficult to predict throughout his tenure as England boss, for supporters, media and the players alike. And it is clear he still has some final decisions to make around some key positions in midfield, on both wings, and at the heart of the defence.

The biggest area of contention has been around his first-choice No 10, with Jude Bellingham and Morgan Rogers battling for the shirt.

On recent evidence – both in the two friendly matches against New Zealand and Costa Rica and, I’m told, in training – Bellingham has pulled ahead of his close friend. That points to the Real Madrid man getting the nod against Croatia

But don’t bet against Tuchel changing his mind, and reverting to the man who has been England’s mainstay throughout qualifying, where Rogers was very obviously to the fore. He is the only England forward to have featured in all eight qualifiers.

That friendly against Costa Rica saw Noni Madueke start on the right, with Bukayo Saka managing his minutes.

Since then, Saka has been adamant that he is fit and ready to play, but he also said he wouldn’t go against what the head coach has said, that he is not ready to play a full 90 minutes. However ready Saka feels, it will be Tuchel’s decision whether he plays.

Whether it’s Madueke or Saka starting on Wednesday night, that will depend entirely on the latter’s fitness.

On the left wing, it is clear that Anthony Gordon has made huge strides forward in his battle with Marcus Rashford.

But in and around the camp, all the talk is about how Rashford looks to be in the best physical shape, the most impressive form in training, and the most positive mindset anyone has seen for many years.

It’s hard to bet against Rashford, who has been a Tuchel favourite right from the moment he became head coach 18 months ago.

Perhaps the biggest area of contention is at centre-back, where the assumption for some time has been that Marc Guehi is a nailed-on starter, with either John Stones or Ezri Konsa alongside him.

Now, things don’t look so certain after Tuchel partnered Konsa and Stones together against Costa Rica. Whichever two of those three get the nod may come down to a late Tuchel gut feeling.

But more and more, the sense is that Stones will start, with either his Manchester City teammate alongside him, or the Aston Villa mainstay.

Remember, Tuchel traditionally leaves his final team selections very late. He likes to sleep on whatever he is thinking the night before the game, so that he has a clear mind to evaluate afresh on the actual day of the match.

What we can say with reasonable certainty is that most of England’s positions – probably seven of them – seem set in stone.

Jordan Pickford will begin his third World Cup in goal, Reece James is certainly the first-choice right-back, and Nico O’Reilly is likely to make his World Cup debut at left-back.

In midfield, Declan Rice and Elliot Anderson will make up England’s engine room, probably with Bellingham ahead of them, and, of course, Harry Kane at the point of the attack.

As for the other four? Tuchel may well still be making up his own mind.