Let’s be honest about that Ghana game. England didn’t lose, but they didn’t win either, and the 0-0 scoreline somehow felt worse than a loss would have. Because at least a loss gives you something concrete to blame. A draw just leaves you in this fog where everyone gets to argue about their favorite scapegoat.
The loudest arguments right now are about players who aren’t even in Germany. Phil Foden, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Cole Palmer — the usual suspects. Twitter is absolutely drowning in the idea that if only Tuchel had brought one of them along, England would be cruising. That requires forgetting what actually happened the last time those guys wore an England shirt. Foden’s England career has been a confusing mess for years. Alexander-Arnold has never looked comfortable in a back four that doesn’t feature Virgil van Dijk. And Palmer had a genuinely rough 2025/26 season by his standards. But sure, they’d be the magic fix.
Djed Spence is not the problem
There’s been a pretty transparent attempt to make Djed Spence the villain here. He’s an easy mark — brash, divisive, and his inclusion in the squad was already controversial before a ball was kicked. The footage of Tuchel screaming at his right-footed left-back for not being Roberto Carlos is going to live on the internet forever. But here’s the thing that nobody wants to say out loud: Spence was comfortably England’s least alarming defender against Ghana.
He wasn’t great going forward. His reluctance to overlap with Anthony Gordon was a real issue, and when Nico O’Reilly replaced him, England suddenly looked way more dangerous on the left. But it was also at that exact moment that Ghana started to believe they could win the game. Ghana, who had barely threatened all match, suddenly looked like they might actually pull it off. That’s not on Spence.
Reece James, on the other hand, was genuinely awful. Ivan Perisic cooked him multiple times in the opener, and the Ghana game was more of the same. James has spent so much time in Chelsea’s midfield that he’s lost his instincts at right-back — the position where he was once arguably the best in the world. He should have been the one subbed off, not Spence.
The center-back crisis is real
The clamor for whichever center-back didn’t play the last game is getting predictable now. After Ghana, Marc Guehi and John Stones both suddenly looked like world-beaters — sitting on the bench. The minute either of them actually steps on the field, the old problems come rushing back. Guehi gets caught ball-watching. Stones forgets where his man is. Ezri Konsa appears to be the only one Tuchel trusts, and even he nearly gave away a penalty with a desperate lunge from the ground.
Dan Burn exists. Trevoh Chalobah got called up and then instantly forgotten, including by Tuchel. Nobody is pretending Jarell Quansah is the answer. An England defense that went through qualifying without conceding a single goal has suddenly become a shambles. Jordan Pickford looks genuinely rattled back there, and who can blame him?
The attacking issues against Ghana are frustrating, sure. But they’re also kind of irrelevant. England isn’t going to face a parked bus like that every game. What they will face, especially in the knockout rounds, are teams with actual attackers who will look at this back line and salivate.
England’s attack — even missing the guys at home — is still good enough to win this thing. The defense, though? That’s not getting fixed by Cole Palmer or Phil Foden. That’s not getting fixed by calling up another center-back who’ll look good on the bench for 90 minutes. That’s a structural problem, and the clock is running.
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