Picking a squad is the job of the manager, whether we like his decisions or not. Thomas Tuchel will now stand or fall by those decisions.

It was ever thus Ron...

While there are now rumbling about the lack of cover Thomas Tuchel has at right-back, in at least one previous tournament his predecessor Gareth Southgate was criticised for taking too many.

That was the charge laid at Southgate following his selection for Euro 2020, a tournament at which England ended up finishing as runners up, when he had four right-backs at his disposal - Kyle Walker (Manchester City at the time), Kieran Trippier (Atletico Madrid at the time), Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool at the time) and Reece James (Chelsea).

In his decision to take four right-backs to the Euros, Southgate said: "We're here to play nine games. We know we already have some injury doubts in the group...

"We need adaptability, good players, good professionals, tactically savvy players. We're fortunate to have old and young players who fit those categories."

Image source, Getty Images

England boss Thomas Tuchel was criticised for leaving out a number of players from his 2026 World Cup squad.

He picked Reece James and Djed Spence as regular right-backs, as well as Newcastle United's Tino Livramento as cover.

Livramento can play on the right or the left, but the 23-year-old dropped out of the squad because of a calf injury, with Tuchel calling up Chelsea centre-back Trevoh Chalobah as his replacement.

With James a doubt for the match on Saturday, Tuchel may now have to turn to an alternative, which possibilities including Spence and Jarell Quansah.

Tuchel had Trent Alexander-Arnold of Real Madrid and Burnley's Kyle Walker in his provisional squad but didn't select them to travel.

Arsenal's Ben White was also in the provisional squad, but missed the tournament through injury.

Image source, Getty Images

England

Fair to say Eberechi Eze covered a lot of ground in that news conference!

We mentioned earlier that Reece James is a doubt for Saturday's match against Panama after picking up a hamstring issue in Tuesday's draw with Ghana so we're going to return to that talking point now.

England

And finally, England midfielder Eberechi Eze was asked whether his wife's job as an intensive care nurse puts things into perspective for him: "Yeah, I think so.

"I've got a special wife and a special best friend. She does help me stay grounded and focused on the things that are important.

"It definitely helps my perspective."

England

On the ban on covering your during in-play confrontations at this World Cup, Eze said: "I haven't really seen any of the conversations around that. I understand the rules and what they're saying about it, it's important that you take care and you understand what you're doing.

"As a player you do do it often because you're having a normal conversation, you're not using it to do anything malicious so I think as long as your hearts in the right place, that's the main thing.

"I guess [that you have to be extra careful with new rules], but I'm sure there's a bit of discretion and understanding from the referees and the people involved with making those decisions."

England

Reflecting on the other teams at the World Cup and who he's enjoyed watching, Eze said: "There's a lot of good teams in the tournament. There's so many games, there's a lot of big performances going on.

"I've enjoyed watching Ivory Coast, they've been incredibly strong and positive which has been good to see.

"Spain I'd say they are pretty similar to the team that we faced in the final. They manage the ball really well, they look after the ball, and they have really strong effective players in attack.

"So I guess that's something that we'll come to and potentially face, but very focused on what we're doing in the group and the route to get there."

Image source, Getty Images

England

On whether playing with two number 10s would work in this England squad, Eze said: "I think that's an option. It's something that the manager has spoken about before. It's definitely something that we've got.

"But the manager chooses the team and they do so much research and analysis to find out what the best way is to attack an opponent.

"So trust in what they're doing and the way that they think because they're the ones making the decisions."

England

In response to whether any future games would suit his style of play if they mirrored Ghana's approach, Eze said: "I don't know if other teams will play that way. It's not easy to play that way for 90 minutes, they did an incredible job.

"But yeah, for sure, when you have a team that's sitting back and is not too interested in how much of the ball they have, it does suit attacking players to be in tight spaces to be creative and take risks.

"And that's something that I'm good at."

England

England midfielder Eberechi Eze was asked whether choosing not to read what's said after games is especially true for England games, where scrutiny is at its highest: "I would say so. For me it's no different.

"I try not to take too much interest in what people say about what we're doing. We're the ones inside, we're the ones putting in the work in the arena.

"So I try to enjoy that bubble that we're in and focus on what we're doing, because at the end of the day we're the ones that are going to go on and do it.

"That's the mentality that I have."

England

On how the draw against Ghana impacts their approach to the final group game against Panama: "I don't think it makes a difference for us. Personally, I think we'll set out to win regardless.

"You go into the game with the same mentality, the same focus. You're not going to drop your focus regardless of what happened in the last game.

"We've got the same goal, the same aim and we'll be going to achieve that."

England

On how well manager Thomas Tuchel has implemented a Premier League style with this England squad, Eze said: "Pretty well. You can see the intensity, passion and spirit that we play with.

"Whenever we play a game we have that level of dominance and we try to impose ourselves on every game and you can see how difficult it is for our opponents to play against us. That energy and spirit.

"Adding to that, the quality we have in this team makes us really difficult to play against."

England

On whether he is surprised that former Crystal Palace teammate Michael Olise is having a good tournament for France, Eze said: "No, not at all. I've played with him for a long time and we would speak about these types of things.

"So I'm not surprised that he's doing it at the highest level and enjoying his football."

Image source, Getty Images

England

On the importance of Declan Rice avoiding getting another yellow card against Panama as that would result in him being suspended for the last 32: "Yeah Dec is a smart player and he knows what he's doing so I'll leave him to do what he does."

England

England midfielder Eberechi Eze on how Declan Rice is after injury niggles: "I would say it's Dec innit.

"He plays football, he wants to play football and wants to play every game. He will do whatever he can to help the team.

"When you watch him play, you don't see him playing as if he's carrying something, you see him enjoying himself and having fun so I'm sure he's okay."

England

On where he musters the strength to go again after a long domestic season, Eze said: "For me personally I don't need much more motivation than the competition that we're in. I love playing football, I enjoy playing football.

"Of course, you need the time to rest and have a break and I'm sure that will come after this.

"But for me I'm positive, I'm motivated and I enjoy playing football, ultimately, so I'm not too pressed."

England

On whether he has had a physiological boost after winning the Premier League title with Arsenal before travelling for the World Cup: "For sure. I think having players in the team who have won things and achieved things definitely gives you a different type of confidence, belief, trust in what you're capable of.

"I'm sure it's helping me, it's helping the other players in the team.

"You can see the confidence that we have at the moment."