Roy Keane didn’t hold back after England topped their World Cup group on Saturday. The former Manchester United and Ireland captain watched the Three Lions beat Panama 2-0 in New Jersey and came away with a blunt assessment of Thomas Tuchel.
“I don’t think he has a clue what his best XI is,” Keane told ITV. “That’s not good. Defensively, he’s chopping and changing. It’s not just the wide players… other positions.”
England went scoreless in the first half before Jude Bellingham and Harry Kane found the net after the break. Tuchel made five changes from the draw against Ghana, swapping out the injured Reece James for Jarrell Quansah (who also picked up a knock) and rotating his forward line with Morgan Rogers, Bukayo Saka and Marcus Rashford joining Kane up top.
Keane’s frustration with the attack
Keane was especially critical of the attacking group. “The onus is on the attacking positions. There are too many England players not doing enough. Too many question marks where it’s a toss of a coin (for selection). These lads don’t do it.”
It’s not the first time Keane has taken aim at this England squad. But the timing is interesting — England just won the group with a game to spare. Still, Keane sees a team that looks unsettled heading into knockout play.
Bellingham sees the glass half full
Bellingham wasn’t having any of the negativity. After scoring his second goal of the tournament, the Real Madrid midfielder was focused on the bigger picture.
“First job achieved,” he said. “We came here to do it in sections. We got through the pre-camp games, and we’ve done the first objective: to top the group. We knew what level we wanted to achieve, we did that in the second half.”
When asked whether he preferred his goal or his assist for Kane, Bellingham didn’t hesitate: “The assist. Good combination of play, to give it to Harry again. Everything he deserves, you see the effort he puts in as a captain, his quality speaks for itself.”
Kane’s goal was his 11th in World Cups, passing Gary Lineker as England’s all-time leading scorer in the tournament.
What’s next for England
England will face one of four teams — Senegal, DR Congo, Algeria or Austria — in the round of 32 on Wednesday at 5 p.m. BST in Atlanta. Tuchel has a few days to figure out who’s healthy and who’s in form. Whether that’s enough time to settle on a first-choice XI is the real question.
Keane doesn’t think so. And if England stumbles in the first knockout round, the noise around Tuchel’s lineup decisions is only going to get louder.
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