Kyle Walker says maybe it is time for England team change as he names two stars who could shake up Tuchel's XI

3
MAYBE it is time for a change.

It might be the moment for Bukayo Saka to start the game and get some minutes in his legs for the knockout stages.

Advertisement

And maybe Marcus Rashford needs a chance too and we can see what the two of them bring.

Ghana did a very good job on both Noni Madueke and Anthony Gordon.

But to get behind them, we needed runners first and foremost – and we didn’t have that.

We had a lot of players coming to the ball and looking around, and pretty on the ball, when sometimes you need to penetrate the back line.

But you need players in the box as well.

The ball was going wide on certain occasions and sometimes there wasn’t even Harry Kane left in the box.

So the wide men are getting it wide and wanting to put crosses in and they’re aiming to no one.

Djed Spence probably came into the team for Nico O’Reilly, who is a more offensive player, because of Ghana’s counter-attacking ability.

Advertisement

WORLD CUP 2026 FREE BETS AND SIGN UP OFFERS

But England lost a bit going forward because Djed likes to come in on his right foot.

And then you’ve got Gordon also coming in on the left-hand side with his right foot.

So as a defender, it’s all good with the ball sitting in front of you.

They could have played there for another 180 minutes if the ball is just passed in front of you and side to side. You’re not really threatening the defence.

You need to get runners in behind.

Advertisement

And you need to make sure that even if it’s a shot from outside of the box, you’ve got a runner coming in from deep.

Then, all of a sudden, the defence starts to drop and, naturally, you can get closer to that goal.

Sometimes you need a runner to go past your wingers or striker too, like Reece James to get on his bike and start making the overlap.

It’s different to club football, though, where the tempo is slower.

The pace of the ball needs to be so quick and you need some sort of magic, a brilliant place of individual work from someone who creates the opening.

Advertisement

You need to take the game by the scruff of the neck and think a little bit more.

Jude Bellingham is probably in one of the toughest positions on the pitch in that No10 role when you are playing against a low block and trying to find space and create a little bit.

You’re the man who wants to get on the ball or to create the opportunities. It’s another learning curve for him.

It’s been going on for a number of years now where England have been coming up against the low block teams.

I’ve been there many times when it’s difficult to break the opponent down.

Advertisement

It’s okay when you’re playing at Wembley going through the qualifiers against a lesser team and you can pick off a few goals here and there.

But once these sides get to the World Cup, they’re here for a reason and Ghana showed how structured and organised they are.

It was a stellar defensive performance against a very good England team.

Alan Shearer said it right on TV, that this game was a reality check, but it’s a clean sheet.

For the fans, it’s a little bit deflating but let’s take the positives and not jump on the negatives.

Advertisement

So as a defender, I’m building on a clean sheet and I’m building on another point on the board to hopefully get qualified.

But as a fan, it’s different for me now because I’m sat there getting excited after the first game against Croatia, which is a good team with good players.

You’re sat thinking that this can be a really special tournament.

Then you come up against a good Ghana team that’s well organised.

You can see them celebrating at the end. It’s a victory to them, against a big scalp like England.

Advertisement

There’s a sense of going back to the drawing board a little bit for England but we need to calm down.

We drew games in the Euros and still went to the final.

The mood will be a bit low because they know the expectations of an England player when you pull on that jersey.

But nevertheless, it’s another point and let’s not forget that in tournament football, you take the point and you move on.

You try and stay positive, it’s not the end of the tournament.

Advertisement

It’s no cause for panic, you panic when you’re 1-0 down in the 89th minute in a knockout stage.

You don’t panic when you’ve got four points on the board in a group stage.

It’s not quite as straightforward as it was but we still need to make sure that we go and top this group.

Click here to read article

Related Articles