Tuchel must end England experiments before they end their World Cup dream

For once, show some appreciation for World Cup hydration breaks. In both halves, they enabled

Thomas Tuchel

to fix the

England

mess he had created.

This pulsating rollercoaster ride in Atlanta

must serve as the wake-up call Tuchel needed because his loyalty to certain players and

partnerships nearly sent the Three Lions packing.

They now need to utilise every single marginal gain within their power if they are to usurp

Mexico

. If they play like they did for 75 minutes, they'll depart the Estadio Azteca with their tails between their legs after a one-sided beating.

That starts with selecting the correct starting XI, something Tuchel is yet to execute. There's an argument he still doesn't even know his best line-up and that, at this stage of the tournament, is undeniably a cause for concern.

It's no wonder England look so vulnerable defensively when there have been so many changes. It did not take long to expose that this was the first time this backline had played together, either.

Djed Spence failed to deal with Chancel Mbemba's curling ball into the area and the gaping hole he had vacated while following Sunderland's Noah Sadiki enabled Brian Cipenga to drive past

Jordan

Pickford.

Spence's reaction was telling. It was everybody's fault but his. In truth, he actually had a point because Noni Madueke had switched off and failed to track Cipenga.

There was also something to be said about whether Spence could have communicated and potentially passed Sadiki over to Ezri Konsa.

Nonetheless, these were structural issues that stemmed from a lack of familiarity and a lack of time directly working together on the training field.

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You have to ask why Spence, for instance, did not start against

Panama

when it was clear England were going to be counting on him in the absence of

Reece James

. Madueke, who has blown hot and cold in North America, had no real desire to defend and the same applied to

Marcus Rashford

.

It left the full-backs exposed and that's part of the problem with this England side: there are a lot of tactical and personnel issues, relationships on the pitch that are not natural and just do not marry up.

Still, Tuchel seems absolutely set on them. Spence, to his credit, grew into the game but the right-back situation has been a total mess since Tuchel first selected his 26-man squad.

He claimed "nobody" had seen James' hamstring strain coming, which lacked self-awareness given the

Chelsea

captain missed 14 games due to injury last season after also sitting out of the 2022 World Cup and European Championships in 2021.

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To make matters worse, Tuchel picked Tino Livramento, who missed 28

Newcastle

games, as his understudy and he picked up a muscle problem which ruled him out of the World Cup pre-tournament.

In came Trevoh Chalobah, a centre-back who has not played a single minute, over

Trent Alexander-Arnold

and attacking weapons Cole Palmer and

Phil Foden

, who were holidaying in Ibiza and Marbella.

When blunt England were struggling to crack through DR Congo's resolute defence, not selecting or calling either felt like a monstrous mistake.

The Three Lions ironically looked better when

Declan Rice

was shifted to right-back as while both he and Elliot Anderson are top midfielders, as a pairing, they lack variety.

The team which got England over the line was far more balanced, and this game must mark a line in the land for Tuchel's mundane experiments.