Jarrell Quansah was sent off injured in England’s 2-0 World Cup win over Panama in New Jersey, further raising concerns about Thomas Tuchel’s lack of options at right-back.
Thomas Tuchel is concerned about England’s lack of right-back options
The way to break England’s right-back curse is to stare Thomas Tuchel in the face. Tottenham’s Jed Spence is likely to replace the absent Chelsea captain Reece James (hamstring), but it is certainly time for Tuchel to consider shuffling Ezri Konsa into the backline.
He has already settled into the role smoothly at Aston Villa, with Transfermarkt’s records suggesting the 28-year-old has played as a right-back 66 times in seven different competitions over his career.
In fact, Villa won four of their five Champions League games, including a huge 1-0 win over Bayern Munich with Konsa free-scoring as a full-back.
Going into the knockout stage, there is a strong argument that Tuchel still does not know his best central defensive combination, despite Konsa and Marc Guehi leading England to two successive clean sheets.
The controversial German left Guehi, considered the Three Lions’ best defender heading into the World Cup, on the bench against Croatia, and his back line looked dysfunctional in the first half, conceding two goals against Arlington.
Guehi has shown his quality in good time and is now looking set to shoot in, but England’s defense, which conceded 13 shots against Panama, will be even stronger if the former Crystal Palace captain, Stones and Konsa are all in the same line-up.
Not only that, but they will soon become more of a set-piece threat, with Jude Bellingham scoring the first goal from a corner kick in New Jersey on Saturday, and they will be better equipped defensively.
In particular, Konsa and Stones (who scored two goals from dead balls against Panama at the 2018 World Cup) can be troublesome in either box.
The former is also close friends with Bukayo Saka and the two know each other well, so there is no need to worry about a possible lack of chemistry on the right flank.
Jarrell Quansah’s ankle-twisting injury does not appear to be serious and he is likely to recover and return to the competition if England are not eliminated against the Democratic Republic of the Congo on Wednesday.
Ezri Konsa has the quality to be a right-back in the England national team
But the Three Lions cannot afford to constantly chop and change, which would prevent Tuchel’s star players from forming a bond on the pitch.
They need a template that works, and while James’ return is a question mark, they must find the next best option for the upcoming games.
Tuchel was wise to use the game against Panama to draw attention to Quansah, but he is not 100 per cent convinced by Spence’s comments after the 25-year-old was caught barking orders twice (once in training and once against Ghana).
Spence is a solid full-back who has speed and can lock up pacey wingers. But so is Konsa, who was previously drafted by England for the Euro 2024 quarter-finals against Switzerland in Düsseldorf.
Jarrell Quansah was forced off with an ankle injury during England’s match against Panama (Image: Eddie Keogh – The FA/The FA via Getty Images)
If the Three Lions head into the quarter-finals, all eyes will likely be on deactivating Vinicius Junior against Brazil in Miami.
Vinicius has scored four goals in three appearances at this World Cup, so playing against him will be a completely different proposition.
Of course, there won’t be any real discussion until England are on the ground. That’s because, based on his past two performances, it’s not beyond the realm of possibility that he could be packed up and sent home within the next week.
But if England are to achieve their goals as they hope, they need a permanent right-back solution. Konsa is the perfect candidate.
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