After England's disappointing draw with Ghana in Boston, manager Thomas Tuchel must find a way to win against Panama in New York on Saturday if his team are to have the best opportunity of winning World Cup Group L.Here Mail Sport identifies four problems Tuchel must fix between now and the weekend.The defenceRemember the England team that didn't concede a goal during World Cup qualifying? Eight games, eight wins, 22 goals scored and none conceded. The opposition was modest but England quite rightly took pride in their frugality.Here in America – now that the real stuff is upon us – Thomas Tuchel's rearguard all of a sudden looks as though it's been thrown together. Djed Spence was brought into England's defence but their issues from Dallas remainedA back four of Reece James, Ezri Konsa, John Stones and Nico O'Reilly rocked like a cowboy at a rodeo against Croatia in Dallas last week. Two of them subsequently didn't make the cut for the game with Ghana in Boston yesterday as Stones and O'Reilly made way for Marc Guehi and Djed Spence. Things didn't improve.Incredibly, England had 79 per cent of the possession against the African side here but still we came away worrying about how shaky England and their suddenly erratic goalkeeper Jordan Pickford looked whenever Ghana did manage to advance forward. That felt very strange.On two occasions in the second half, England were desperately lucky. First when Pickford ran out of his area and clattered into Ghana's breaking Prince Adu. Then, when Ezri Konsa tackled the same player from behind in the penalty area.Had either decision gone against England on the field, VAR would not have intervened. Pickford would have been sent off and Konsa would have been deemed to have conceded a penalty. The latter incident really could turn out to be a big moment in this tournament in that it may yet help England win their group.England manager Thomas Tuchel will make one simple change for the final group game against Panama in New Jersey on Saturday. O'Reilly will surely return for Spence. Selecting the Tottenham full-back was a mistake.But what about Pickford?There was a time – back in 2018 when England reached a World Cup semi-final under Gareth Southgate in Russia – that Pickford was all reflex and not enough brain. He was too emotional for international football and his lack of calmness would often threaten to spread through his defence.Over the years, the 32-year-old has matured. He has calmed down and grown into one of the best goalkeepers in the Premier League. Here in America, though, we have seen shades of what we thought had been overcome.Pickford has looked skittish and erratic. Maybe he needs a couple of big saves to settle him down. England need that too given that his deputy, Dean Henderson of Crystal Palace, can be just as up and down. Jordan Pickford has looked skittish and erratic - despite maturing over the yearsWide areas Barcelona's Anthony Gordon walked through the interview area wearing a big smile as England prepared to leave and fly back to their base in Kansas. Maybe the value of a point in Group L had been under-estimated by everybody outside of Tuchel's squad.The England manager's message in the post-match press conference had been of the 'keep calm' variety and perhaps with good reason. England remain at the top of their four-team table.They have huffed and puffed in wide areas over their two games so far, however. There have been moments of quality and of progress but there has also been enough evidence that Tuchel hasn't quite got his formula right.In selecting his squad for this tournament, Tuchel made it clear how his England were going to play. He chose a plethora of traditional wide players and left his safe breakers – the likes of Phil Foden and Cole Palmer – at home. So now that he is here, he has got to prove that was the right way to go. He has to make it work.Gordon, for all his bonhomie on Tuesday, has really struggled over two games and will make way for Marcus Rashford against Panama in New Jersey we would suspect. Is Rashford 100 per cent fit, though? Despite seeing action as a substitute, there are rumours that he may not be. Anthony Gordon has really struggled over two games and will make way for Marcus RashfordThe same goes for Bukayo Saka on the other side. England have been nursing the Arsenal player through the early stages of this tournament. And though he came on to make a real impact against Ghana – almost scoring with one sweeping low shot – it remains unclear whether he will be able to start against Panama.His club mate Noni Madueke enjoyed a good start to the tournament against Croatia but less so on Tuesday. His passing and crossing was erratic and his relationship with his right back Reece James was not as productive as it had been in Dallas.It would feel appropriate to start with Saka and Rashford in New Jersey on Saturday. They feel like the best pair. Whether Tuchel feels able to use one or both from the start is harder to ascertain. Harry Kane laments a missed chance in the goalless draw that showed up England's issuesSet piecesWhen the chips were down late in the game in Boston, the cavalry didn't arrive.Tuchel has spent a year telling us how important set pieces would be at this World Cup but when England needed one to come off, it didn't work out.England had nine corners over the course of the 90 minutes against Ghana and a number of free-kicks. But whereas the header Harry Kane scored from a corner against Croatia a week ago came from a beautifully executed training ground routine, there was no sign of such intelligence or detail against Ghana.Declan Rice didn't enjoy his best game from dead ball situations. The Arsenal player's accuracy was not of its usual high standard. Equally, England's target men didn't find the space usually created by blockers and decoy runners.Indeed England only managed three shots on target all game and not a single one until almost the hour mark. At least two of those came from shots from outside of the penalty area. England made little of their nine corners over the course of the 90 minutes against GhanaAnd what of Tuchel's set piece specialists? The England boss has the likes of Dan Burn and Ivan Toney in his 26-man group but both remained on the substitutes' bench as the clock wound down in the rain.Indeed Tuchel's use of subs – so flawless against Croatia – was less assured here. Rashford, for example, was only given seven minutes plus added time to have an impact.If someone like Toney isn't going to come on with England needing a goal and in the territorial ascendency, when is he?
The FOUR problems Thomas Tuchel must fix - after England were exposed
After England's disappointing draw with Ghana in Boston, manager Thomas Tuchel must find a way to win against Panama in New York on Saturday.











