World Cup 2026: England manager Thomas Tuchel pushes for John Stones, Ezri Konsa and Mark Guehi to be recalled after matches against Croatia remain in doubt | soccer news

England’s attack was on fire against Croatia, but their defense in Dallas was much less convincing.

The centre-back partnership between Ezri Konsa and John Stones raised eyebrows ahead of England’s World Cup opening match. The fact that the selection left Marc Guehi on the bench, as well as mistakes from both starters in setting up the two Croatian goals, supported pre-match doubts.

“Are Konsa and Stones the partnership that can help us win the World Cup?” That was the question he asked. sky sports Wednesday half-time pundit Gary Neville ITVAfter watching Stones fall to the ground before Croatia’s first goal, Konsa misjudged a broken pass ahead of the second goal.

“(Midfielders Declan) Rice and (Elliot) Anderson will need to be better than they were in the first half to protect our defense,” Neville said.

In addition to the defensive errors, there was some shaky build-up play deep in England’s half, with Stones and Consa both guilty of giving up possession early on when faced with intense, high pressure from Croatia.

Stones and Konsa posted good passing accuracy numbers at full time, but their other stats didn’t read as well.

Stones made just one tackle in 87 minutes, which was not successful. He won four of his seven duels.

Konsa won three of eight duels, just one of five aerial duels, and did not make a single tackle or interception.

“We probably don’t have enough defensive presence to go all the way,” Jamie Carragher said. Sky Sports News The next morning, there was some pessimism about England’s World Cup prospects, boosted by their second-half attack against Croatia.

But that could change when Guehi returns to the starting line-up for Tuesday’s World Cup Group L match against Ghana. His statistics from last Premier League season show that he can be more combative than Stones and Konsa.

The Manchester City defender was Gareth Southgate’s first choice at the Euros two years ago. The perception of England’s strength at the time was exactly the opposite: strong in defense and weak in attack.

Guehi, now 25, has taken things to the next level since then. He joined City seamlessly when he moved from Crystal Palace in January, and his progress was highlighted by picking up an FA Cup winners’ medal for the second successive year in May.

Since making his Premier League debut for City in January, Guehi has established himself as one of the best players in the division, both defensively and ball-playing. Guehi ranks 10th in the defensive third in possession gained, fourth in interceptions, sixth in forward passes and fifth in passes completed during the period.

The important thing is that it was the Stones who suffered from the recruitment of Guehi. He couldn’t get into the City team ahead of him.

Stones, who leaves City when his contract expires this summer, has made it clear he is fit and available for selection during the build-up period. But City manager Pep Guardiola preferred Guehi. So should England manager Thomas Tuchel do that?

Stones made just five appearances for Manchester City in 2026. He has only appeared in five Premier League games for Manchester City over the past year, with City losing four of them.

However, Tuchel is a big fan of Stones and values ​​his experience, leadership, defensive skills and qualities on the ball, allowing him to take him to this World Cup.

So, if Tuchel wanted to include Stones, would he have made the mistake of starting him on the left of the centre-back pair against Croatia to accommodate Konsa, who is used to playing on the right?

Tuchel demonstrated the combination against Costa Rica in the final warm-up game. However, in this modern era of specificity, it is notable that Stones rarely played for that team at City.

Over the past three seasons, he has only played 371 minutes at left centre-back. He logged 1,151 minutes on the right side.

On the other hand, despite being right-footed, Guehi spent most of his career on the left side. He played particularly well on the left side of the back three at Palace.

Like Stones, Guehi has the adaptability to play in both zones and has also occasionally played as a right-sided centre-back for City. But these details can make a difference.

“If you play on one side for a long time and then switch to the other side, it can get a little tiring,” Guehi said. sky sports In December.

Bringing back Guehi and moving Stones back to the more familiar right side of the centre-back pairing could restore stability and stability to the backline. They were the duo of Tuchel’s choice in England’s first World Cup warm-up game against New Zealand, and they appear to be the duo of choice in this tournament as well.

So what happens to Tuchel regular Konsa?

The only players to have played more minutes for England during Tuchel’s reign are goalkeeper Jordan Pickford and captain Harry Kane. Guehi has actually started more games at centre-back for England partnering Tuchel and Konsa than he has partnered Stones.

It would be merciless for Konsa to lose their spot after just one World Cup match, which England won.

Another idea is for Tuchel to field all three players against Ghana.

Konsa played at right-back alongside Stones and Guehi at centre-back against Wales in October and it is clear that the Aston Villa man has the profile Tuchel is looking for in that position, beating out the likes of Trent Alexander-Arnold in favor of a physical defender.

Despite receiving praise for the way he stepped up in midfield in the second half of the game against Croatia, the knock-on then would come from Reece James out wide.

James appears to be Tuchel’s preferred right-back. He made five starts for Tuchel, the most of any player of this era.

However, given James’ injury history, it makes sense that his playing time needs to be managed early in this tournament. James has featured in England’s last two games against Costa Rica and Croatia, but before that he had not started consecutive games for Chelsea since March.

With England’s final group stage and Group L places yet to be determined, could the final group game against a weaker Panama team be the time to do so rather than against Ghana?

Many factors come into play. However, for England to go all the way by balancing attacking ability and solid defense, Tuchel will need to find the right combination at the right time through this World Cup.