Thomas Tuchel has challenged four of his England forwards to 'show up' at the World Cup, expressing confidence that they will deliver when needed. The Three Lions finished top of their group after a 4-2 win over Croatia, a 1-0 victory over Panama, and a goalless draw with Ghana, but the performances have been inconsistent.
Tuchel's call to action
Speaking after the Panama match, Tuchel named Morgan Rogers, Anthony Gordon, Noni Madueke and Bukayo Saka as players he is still waiting on. 'On a certain level, we want these guys in a key moment to show up. Harry did it. Jude did it,' said Tuchel. 'I am convinced that Nico O'Reilly almost did it against Ghana (referencing his headed effort hitting the crossbar). I am sure Morgan Rogers, Anthony Gordon, Noni Madueke and Bukayo Saka will do it when the time is there, and we need that.'
So far, only Harry Kane (three goals), Jude Bellingham (two) and Marcus Rashford (one) have scored for England at the tournament. Tuchel emphasised that attacking contributions go beyond goals and assists, pointing to runs that create space for teammates. 'If you look carefully, sometimes it's just a run from someone else to open the space up for Jude so that he can shine,' he said. 'They work in units. Nico O'Reilly took an opponent out to create space for Jude in the first half.'
Bellingham and Kane key to England's hopes
Marcus Rashford, who started on the left wing against Panama, praised Bellingham's performance and acknowledged the importance of both the Real Madrid star and Kane. 'It's not surprising. That's the type of performance he's capable of,' Rashford said of Bellingham. 'We're for sure going to need similar performances from him, definitely the goals from H [Kane] if we want to do what we set out to do in this tournament.'
Tuchel also stressed the need for structured attacking patterns. 'We have to work in patterns to have a higher amount of attacking threat. If we all just play freestyle, no one knows what the other one is thinking. Jude is a part of it. We want to be consistently finding players in these spaces, and then they should take advantage with their quality. That is what we need and what we demand.'
