Article #45611

The England coach’s squad is based on picking players in their right positions, setting up a series of one-on-one battles

For Thomas Tuchel there is a fringe benefit to Anthony Gordon’s surprise move from Newcastle to Barcelona. “It is excellent,” the England manager said. “It is such a nice trip for me to watch matches. I can only encourage people to go to nice places.”’

Tuchel was in playful mood after England’s first World Cup warm-up match on Saturday – the 1-0 win over New Zealand in Tampa – even if he was not happy with aspects of the performance. It was wholly one-sided but, time and again, his team’s final action was uninspiring. Tuchel complained that his players lacked positional discipline and as a consequence the shape was too narrow, especially in the first half.