Jamie Carragher has blasted Thomas Tuchel over his ‘bizarre’ decision to call up Trevoh Chalobah after Tino Livramento suffered injury, insisting it has left England short at the World Cup.
England scraped through the last 32 after Harry Kane’s dramatic late double rescued a 2-1 win over DR Congo, setting up a tricky test with World Cup co-hosts Mexico at the Azteca Stadium on Monday morning.
After a promising 4-2 victory over Croatia in their first game, the Three Lions have looked unconvincing despite topping the group and reaching the last 16, sparking concern over the crucial meeting in Mexico City.
The right side of defence has been a problem area for Tuchel and his side since first-choice right-back Reece James was sidelined with a hamstring injury after England’s 0-0 draw with Ghana, a week after his deputy Livramento was forced to withdraw from the tournament because of a calf problem.
As the tournament hadn’t started at the point Livramento suffered an injury in training, Tuchel was able to call up an additional player to his ranks and chose Chelsea centre-back Chalobah, rather than a recognised right-back, in a decision that raised many eyebrows among fans and pundits at the time.
Djed Spence, who was initially called up to deputise for Nico O’Reilly at left-back, was shifted over to the right-hand side against DR Congo, who scored after just seven minutes by exploiting that area of the pitch.
Jamie Carragher has blasted Thomas Tuchel over his ‘bizarre’ decision to call up Trevoh Chalobah (above), insisting it has left England short at right-back at the World Cup
England nearly crashed out of the World Cup before a late comeback against DR Congo
Carragher has criticised Tuchel over his decision to call up a centre-back rather than natural right-back when he had the chance, insisting it has left England with an unnecessary headache heading into Monday’s clash with Mexico.
He told Sky Sports News on Saturday: ‘This all just goes back to Thomas Tuchel’s decisions around the right back area. It’s just not been right from day one with the squad that’s been picked.
‘It’s not been clever after the event. He picked two very injury-prone players at right back, he brought another right back if you like, Djed Spence, but at left back. But I think to bring Chalobah in when there were injuries in that position was a bizarre decision. He’s not a right back, so you’re going to leave yourself short.’
Some fans and pundits have suggested that midfield stalwart Declan Rice, who filled in at right-back towards the end of England’s nervy 2-1 win over DR Congo, should be used to solve the crisis by starting the game there against Mexico, but Carragher disagrees.
‘No, I wouldn’t start Declan Rice at right-back,’ he added. ‘Look, England have got a slim chance of going all the way in the World Cup, I don’t think playing Declan Rice as the right-back from now until the end of the tournament would be the solution.’
‘To be honest, I think you’d leave yourself so empty in midfield. I thought Elliot Anderson, in the one game when Declan Rice wasn’t in there, found it tough dealing with opposition’s counterattacks and that was against moderate opposition as well.
‘For me, Declan Rice would play in midfield. (Tuchel) has got a decision to make. I think a lot of criticism Djed Spence has had on the back of the last game is a little over the top.
Carragher admits England’s chances of going all the way are ‘slim’ ahead of facing Mexico
‘He didn’t have his best game, I must say that, but I don’t think anyone has come out of this tournament so far with flying colours other than Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham. I think a lot of the problems that arose in the last game were not so much the back four but how easy it was to get at the back four.
‘We know we haven’t got an abundance of world class players defensively, now that’s probably the weak area of our team, but there was a lot wrong with England in that first 20 minutes and how easy it was to get at the back four.’
