The Sports Guru
England keep having most of the ball and not enough of the danger, and the problem keeps living in the same place: the wide areas. Alan Shearer has put his finger on it, and this piece works through his argument about Thomas Tuchel's wingers, why the issue has not gone away, and what England might do about it as the games get harder.
There is a version of England that controls a World Cup match for ninety minutes and still does not really threaten to win it, and so far at this tournament it has been the version on show. Thomas Tuchel's side have had the ball, the territory and the possession statistics, and they have struggled to convert any of it into the thing that actually matters. Alan Shearer, watching closely, has located the fault clearly enough. England's problem is out wide, and solving it is, in Shearer's words, "probably the biggest call for Tuchel."
It is not a new complaint, which is part of what makes it worrying. Width is supposed to be where England are richest, the position in the squad where the talent runs deepest. Instead it has become the area where the most ball is wasted, and a manager who arrived promising clarity is still hunting for the right combination on the flanks with the knockout rounds approaching.
The Ghana Game Laid It Bare
Shearer's diagnosis crystallised around the goalless draw with Ghana, a game England dominated for possession and lost for ideas. He "didn't think Gordon or Madueke were positive enough" on the day, and was blunt about the consequence: "they didn't attack their defender enough when we got the ball out to them out wide." A winger who receives the ball and declines the one-against-one is a winger doing half a job, and against a packed defence half a job is no job at all.
The numbers that matter, in Shearer's reading, were the ones that did not happen. He called England's crossing "really poor" and said that "in open play the service from the wingers was pretty much non-existent." That is a damning phrase for a team built to feed a centre-forward. If the width does not stretch the opposition and the deliveries do not arrive, a striker can run all night and touch the ball twice in the box. England's attack has been starved at source.
The Saka and Rashford Question
The obvious response was to turn to more proven names, and Shearer made that case too. He felt Bukayo Saka and Marcus Rashford "have definitely done enough when they have come on in both games to get a chance to start," the logic being that impact substitutes who change matches should not keep being asked to change them from the bench. It is the eternal selection argument, and on the surface it pointed to a simple fix.
Except the fix did not entirely take. After a squad selection that already raised eyebrows, England beat Panama 2-0, and yet Shearer still found cause to criticise both Rashford and Saka for the wide display. That is the detail that should concern Tuchel most. When the problem persists across different personnel, it stops being about which winger starts and becomes about how the team uses its wingers at all. Changing the names treated the symptom. The cause sat somewhere else.
A Problem of Mindset, Not Just Personnel
This is where Shearer's argument becomes most useful, because he does not stop at the team sheet. He warned that England would keep facing the same examination they got against Ghana, "seeing most of the ball and trying to find a way through a packed defence," which is the defining challenge for any tournament favourite. Sides will sit deep against England and dare them to be patient and precise. Possession without penetration is exactly what those opponents want.
His prescription was about attitude as much as selection. England, he suggested, "might have to change our mindset, as well as some of the personnel, and show more urgency by moving the ball quicker and taking more risks." Quicker ball movement drags a low block out of shape in a way that slow, sideways possession never will, and risk is the price of breaking lines. It is a harder fix than swapping a winger, because it asks the whole team to play with more daring, but it is the one most likely to work against the defences England will meet from here.
What Tuchel Has to Weigh
Tuchel arrived having framed England as challengers rather than favourites, and the caution in that message looks more pointed now. He has the players to hurt teams from wide areas. What he has not yet found is the structure and the tempo that turn that talent into chances. The choice in front of him is not simply Saka or Gordon, Rashford or Madueke. It is whether to keep faith with a controlled approach that has kept England solid but blunt, or to accept Shearer's challenge and ask his side to play with more speed and more jeopardy.
The knockout rounds tend to make that decision for a manager, usually at the least convenient moment. England can keep having the ball and hoping a moment arrives, or they can change how they attack and try to manufacture the moment themselves. Tuchel still has time to choose, but the longer the width stays this quiet, the louder the question becomes.
Verdict: The Talent Is There, the Threat Is Not
England are not in trouble in the table, but they are in a familiar trap, dominant in possession and tame in the final third. Shearer has named the issue without flinching, and his point about service from the flanks being "pretty much non-existent" is the kind of line that follows a manager around a tournament. The wingers are good enough. The crossing, the urgency and the willingness to take a defender on have not matched them. Tuchel's task now is less about who he picks out wide and more about what he asks them to do once they get there. Solve that, and England look like contenders. Leave it, and they look like a team waiting for a problem to solve itself.
Frequently Asked Questions
Shearer believes England's biggest issue is their lack of threat from wide areas, calling it "probably the biggest call for Tuchel." He argued the wingers have not been positive enough, have not attacked their defenders when given the ball, and that the crossing and service in open play have been poor. The result is a team that dominates possession but struggles to create clear chances against defensive opponents.
Shearer felt Anthony Gordon and Noni Madueke were not positive enough in the goalless draw with Ghana, saying they did not attack their defenders when receiving the ball wide. He also believed Bukayo Saka and Marcus Rashford had done enough off the bench to start, yet after the 2-0 win over Panama he still criticised both for the wide display, suggesting the problem ran deeper than individual selection.
Shearer argued that England may need to change their mindset as well as some personnel, showing more urgency by moving the ball quicker and taking more risks. The idea is that faster, more direct play is more likely to break down the packed defences England keep facing than slow, controlled possession. His prescription is about attitude and tempo, not just which winger starts each game.
England drew 0-0 with Ghana in a game they dominated for possession without creating enough, then beat Panama 2-0. The results have kept them competitive, but the performances have repeatedly exposed the same weakness in wide areas. Shearer's analysis reflects a wider concern that England are controlling matches statistically while failing to turn that control into the chances a tournament contender needs.
England are built to supply a clinical centre-forward, and that supply largely comes from the flanks. When the wingers do not beat their man or deliver accurate crosses, the striker is starved of service and the attack stalls. Against opponents who defend deep, width and quick ball movement are the main ways to create space. Shearer's point is that England's wide players have not yet provided enough of either.
Sources: Alan Shearer's analysis of England and Thomas Tuchel's search for width at the World Cup, his assessment of Anthony Gordon, Noni Madueke, Bukayo Saka and Marcus Rashford, and his comments on England's mindset and service from wide areas, as set out in his BBC Sport column and cross-checked against his published comments on England's games against Ghana and Panama.
