Trust in Thomas Tuchel! Ghastly Ghana display DIDN'T prove England manager wrong on Cole Palmer omission - Three Lions still have enough talent to find answers and plot deep World Cup run

England had 80 percent possession against the Black Stars, completed nearly 600 passes, and mustered 19 shots. Only three were on target, though, and it took 36 minutes for them to create a chance from open play, when Declan Rice headed way over. In fact, England didn't really create a clear chance until the 87th minute, when Nico O'Reilly headed off the crossbar and Harry Kane blasted the subsequent rebound high into the seats behind the goal.

There was a whole lot of sideways passing while wingers Anthony Gordon and Noni Madueke were double-marked whenever they received possession. Jude Bellingham and Rice barely had room to breathe - never mind pass the ball - when they tried to drift between the lines.

"I am so proud of the way our players fought during the game, how much they stand behind the plan, the game plan," Queiroz said post-match. "When you have to defend, you defend. I cannot play samba when they play rock and roll."

Indeed, Ghana had almost zero interest in attacking. Queiroz acknowledged that the goal was to spend the first 45 minutes frustrating England, and that meant a deep low block, 11 men behind the ball, and no spaces on the outside. Sure, England were allowed to have possession, but only in wide areas or at the halfway line.

The result was something similar to those of the bad days of England teams past: Slow, lifeless and lacking in ideas. England looked afraid to take risks in a bid to get the game won.

Tuchel has taken plenty of heat, both from those inside the stadium and those on the other side of the Atlantic. Admittedly, though, this kind of response was always likely after England's first underwhelming result given the squad that the German boss selected.

Opinions were divided after Tuchel announced his initial squad, from which he omitted both Foden and Palmer, as well as expert passers of the ball, Adam Wharton and Trent Alexander-Arnold.

Instead, Tuchel went for a squad geared towards his 4-2-3-1 system, with a recognisable No.10, wingers that stay wide but can create off the dribble, and well-rounded full-backs who can fill the spaces in between. That means a lot of choreographed movements, and familiar runs. When Kane drops deep, the wingers sprint in behind. When Rice and Elliot Anderson drag their markers out of the middle, the pockets appear for Bellingham.

This is pretty basic stuff at the highest level of football, but it does run a bit counter to England's status quo, especially the latter days of Sir Gareth Southgate's reign. Southgate wanted his team to play 'off the cuff', and believed that getting all of his best players on the pitch would eventually lead to victory.

The results were impressive in terms of them reaching two Euros finals, but they also played pretty badly for long periods during all four of Southgate's tournament runs. Tuchel was the natural response, and it rubbed some the wrong way.

Southgate likely would never have left Palmer or Foden at home, despite neither playmaker having found their rhythm due to a combination of fitness issues and a drop in form.

Palmer did not carry Chelsea last term as he has done in the past while Foden has looked miles off the attacking midfielder who won PFA Player of the Year in 2024 ever since he picked up that prize. Tuchel has made it clear that form matters, and neither could justify their inclusion from that perspective.

Their talents, however, cannot be denied. Indeed, if you had to make a list of England's 'best' footballers, both Palmer and Foden would be pretty high up. In isolation, their game-changing abilities are extremely valuable.

Yet where, exactly, would they fit into Tuchel's systems-based approach? Bellingham is the first choice attacking midfielder, with Morgan Rogers and Eberechi Eze behind the Real Madrid superstar in the depth chart (and Rogers can also play off the left). Palmer is not a right-winger, anyway, and certainly not the kind that Tuchel wants. Neither is Foden.

On a couple of occasions in his post-match remarks, Tuchel referenced England's opening fixture against Croatia. That game, he said was "difficult" in its own way. England did make it look pretty hard for 45 minutes, but for 20 in the second half, some of the attacking football on display was immensely encouraging. It helped that the game was open, and all it took was a bit more intensity to seize the opportunity.

Bellingham scored a very good goal before England peppered the Croatia net for an extended spell. The final score was 4-2, but it could have been five or six. More importantly, though, it showed what England can do with this particular system. When the spaces are there, they can genuinely overwhelm an opponent.

For all of the talk about omissions, this is still a squad full of really good footballers. Bellingham might not be a traditional, shifty No.10, but he is still the player who broke some of Cristiano Ronaldo's goal-scoring records when he first arrived at Real Madrid. Kane has a shot at the Ballon d'Or (although much will depend on what happens this summer, while in Rogers, Marcus Rashford, Eze and Bukayo Saka, England still have plenty of individual difference-makers among their attacking ranks.

There are, in fact, too many to fit into the starting XI. Thus far, Tuchel has benched Rogers, Eze, Saka and Rashford. Very few other countries - perhaps only France and Spain - can call on that level of attacking talent off the bench. It is no wonder, then, that Tuchel has referenced the concept of 'starters' and 'finishers', and encouraged his side to engage in a healthy competition.

Indeed, if England are to fall short at this World Cup, they cannot complain that it was down to a lack of talented enough individuals.

During his post-match press conference, Tuchel alluded to the fact that he might have another plan to approach teams that offer a similar sort of defensive approach to that of Ghana.

"I had an idea in the last water break," he said, "but I was a bit hesitant. But I have an idea how we can maybe also commit a little bit more players through the middle. I don't want to explain it now here, because maybe we try it later in the tournament. But I don't think that we became predictable."

Whatever that mysterious plan is, then Tuchel might be wise to employ it. He's an excellent coach, but has yet to be tested on his adaptability in this role. Indeed, for all of his willingness to experiment with the squad during his early days as England manager, Tuchel identified a system, and stuck with it. Yes, there have been tweaks, but now the pressure is on to come up with some fresh ideas. Panama, England's third group opponent, will be equally happy to sit in and hit the Three Lions on the break when they meet on Saturday.

Tuchel has his squad and his system. Everyone should now trust that he has the ability to make the necessary adaptations to ensure England do not endure more disappointment in North America.

Click here to read article