England face Spain in the Nations League on Saturday, a 7.45pm BST kick-off that arrives with Thomas Tuchel’s squad under scrutiny on two separate fronts: the head coach’s public frustration with Cole Palmer, and his unapologetic reading of how England should play.
Tuchel has thrown Palmer’s England future into major doubt by questioning whether the Chelsea attacker wants to be part of his squad. The head coach did not hold back on Palmer’s latest withdrawal from international duty, warning that the 24-year-old has missed too many opportunities to play for his country. Palmer, who has 14 caps, pulled out of this week’s get-together because of a minor muscular injury — a decision that caused disappointment given he had been left out of Tuchel’s World Cup squad after struggling with form and fitness last season.
Anthony Gordon, meanwhile, has sided with Tuchel’s assertion that controlling games through possession is not part of English football’s DNA. England’s longstanding struggle to keep the ball when under pressure flared at the worst possible moment in July, when a place in the World Cup final was within touching distance and Argentina fought back with two late goals to go through. The pain of that semi-final defeat has not gone away, and there has been intense scrutiny of Tuchel’s role in Atlanta. His tactical choices were criticised, and he faced a backlash after saying “ball possession” was not in his team’s DNA.
Gordon thinks he will always be scarred by losing against Argentina, yet he refused to blame the defeat on Tuchel’s decisions and argued instead that wider cultural issues influenced the side’s collapse. Looking towards the Spain game, the 25-year-old admitted the team has an ingrained inability to control games, but argued that England should stop trying to copy other nations and lean more into their physical strengths.
Gordon also revealed surprise at being substituted when England were 1-0 up in that semi-final. Since his move to Barcelona he has gained an insight into the Spanish understanding of how to use the ball — an experience that sits alongside, rather than contradicts, his view that England’s own path lies with their physical attributes.