Tuchel's Tactical Masterclass: England's Depth Shines Against Croatia

Thomas Tuchel did not just beat Croatia in Dallas. He made a point.

On a sweltering night when England’s 4-1 win underlined their status as genuine contenders, the real story ran along the touchline and through the team sheet. This was a statement about power in reserve, about a squad built not around 11 stars, but 26.

And nowhere was that clearer than on the left.

Gordon over Rashford – and why it worked

Tuchel ignored the noise. He picked Anthony Gordon ahead of Marcus Rashford, despite the clamour for the Manchester United forward and despite Barcelona already moving for Gordon as Rashford’s heir at club level.

On paper, Gordon’s numbers looked underwhelming. Seventeen touches. No goal. No assist.

On the pitch, he was exactly what Tuchel wanted.

Gordon sprinted, harried and repeatedly darted in behind, stretching Croatia’s back line until it frayed. He dragged defenders into places they did not want to go. His game was about disruption as much as incision, about making space for others as much as using it himself.

He did not need to be the finisher. His job was to tilt the pitch.

Rashford can do that work too. He presses, he reads space, he loves the run beyond the last man. He is not a carbon copy of Gordon, but in this England side he can serve the same purpose.

So when England needed fresh legs and a new edge after 72 minutes, Tuchel turned to him. Thirteen minutes later, Rashford swept in the goal that finished Croatia off, the final touch to a flowing team move that justified the manager’s patience.

“Marcus is just pushing and pushing and pushing in training at the highest level,” Tuchel said afterwards. “I am very, very happy for him that he got his [goal] and I hope he stays hungry for the next one and the next one because he was absolutely impressive over the last 17 days and he really deserved his goal.”

Selection vindicated. Trust rewarded.

Rogers, Bellingham and the “tough, tough” call

The left flank was not Tuchel’s only headache.

Morgan Rogers has forced his way into this conversation. The Aston Villa forward, already being linked with a move to a bigger club, has become one of the most intriguing weapons in this squad. Tuchel has been open about his admiration, and he did not hide how close Rogers came to starting against Croatia.

“The tough, tough decision was to take to say to Morgan Rogers that he will not start, because he deserves 100 percent to start, and he has done so well for us,” Tuchel admitted in Dallas.

When a manager talks like that, it usually means the player is doing everything right.

Jude Bellingham remains the superior all-round footballer, the heartbeat and the headline act. But Rogers is not just a spare part. When he came on around the 70-minute mark, he buzzed between the lines, constantly available, constantly moving, constantly asking questions.

He did not score. He did not assist. He did something else.

For England’s decisive fourth goal, Rogers’ decoy run tore a hole in Croatia’s defensive shape, dragging bodies away from the danger zone and opening the lane that England exploited. It was the kind of movement that does not show up in the basic stats but wins the approval of coaches and teammates.

There will be nights when he is more than an impact sub. On this evidence, he will be ready.

Depth in every direction

The rotation did not stop there.

At right-back, Djed Spence stepped in for Reece James and looked like he had been waiting months for this chance. He surged forward, drove England up the pitch and almost capped his performance with a goal, denied only by sharp goalkeeping. His cameo underlined the point: this is not a squad padded with passengers.

The same applied to Bukayo Saka. Fully fit, he is one of England’s best, a guaranteed starter. But after an injury-hit season at Arsenal and with an Achilles issue to manage, Tuchel is refusing to gamble. Noni Madueke got the nod from the start, while Saka was kept in reserve.

When he finally entered the fray, he changed the temperature of the game in 20 sharp, intelligent minutes. One assist, threaded perfectly for Rashford’s finish, and a reminder of what England have waiting in the wings.

“Bukayo is ready and will get more and more ready,” Tuchel said. “I think once we go to the last game of this group, he will be ready. He was strong in training on Tuesday in small spaces. It was just a matter of if the game was open and was up and down.”

For the biggest nights, Saka starts. During the group stage, with England often superior on paper, Tuchel can afford to manage his load, not just ride him.

And still, some of the most dangerous names in the squad did not even step on the pitch.

Ollie Watkins, fresh from a superb season with Aston Villa, stayed on the bench. So did Eberechi Eze, the mercurial Arsenal playmaker, and Kobbie Mainoo, whose Manchester United form would put him in the XI for most nations here.

They watched. They waited. They will not wait forever.

From Welbeck and Delph to a 26-man threat

The contrast with recent history is stark.

Not long ago, in that 2018 World Cup semi-final against Croatia, Gareth Southgate looked along his bench and saw Danny Welbeck and Fabian Delph as his attacking alternatives. Beyond Rashford and Jamie Vardy, the cupboard was almost bare.

This is different. This is depth on a different scale.

Tuchel knows the other side of that luxury. These are not squad-fillers. These are regular starters at their clubs, used to influence, minutes and responsibility. They want to play. Some are already asking why they are not.

“Just yesterday, we had a conversation where I told him [Rashford] that I’m very, very impressed with his last 16 days, with how he was in camp, how he pushes on the pitch,” Tuchel revealed. “He’s totally involved in every meeting. He’s very, very fast in translating a meeting onto the pitch.”

Of the 26 in this England squad, only three – John Stones, Madueke and reserve goalkeeper James Trafford – were not regular starters for their clubs last season. That is a lot of ego and expectation to manage in four intense weeks.

Tuchel is backing the group to handle it.

“It is now four more weeks and in four weeks you can swallow it and digest it and buy into it. We selected the group because we were sure that they could do it and they all can,” he said.

Some know their role. Jordan Henderson, at 36, brings experience and presence as much as legs. Ivan Toney offers a specialist skill: cold-blooded penalties when the knockout pressure hits. If Dan Burn or Jarrell Quansah are heavily involved, it likely means something has gone wrong elsewhere.

Tuchel was asked before Croatia who his starters were. His answer was telling: “14 or 15 starters.” In other words, a core, not an XI.

He will need them all. The conditions are draining, the club seasons that preceded this tournament were brutal, and no side can realistically expect to go unchanged through up to eight games in four weeks.

A luxury England have never truly had

The key is that England can rotate without losing their edge.

If Bellingham needs a breather, Rogers is waiting. If Harry Kane can sit out a dead-rubber third group game, Watkins is ready to run the channels and finish chances. If Saka is being protected, Madueke can stretch the game. If Rashford is not starting, he is still capable of arriving late and killing a contest.

These are not compromises. They are variations.

This, more than the scoreline against Croatia, is what will frighten rivals. England no longer rely on a narrow band of match-winners. They can change games from the bench, protect their stars, and still look like themselves.

The question is no longer whether they have enough talent. It is whether Tuchel can keep that talent aligned, hungry and united all the way to July 19.