Thomas Tuchel has disclosed he never contemplated withdrawing Harry Kane against Ghana, despite the England captain finding it difficult to impose himself on the World Cup fixture. Kane managed just 19 touches against the African nation — his lowest tally in a major tournament while completing the full 90 minutes.
A resolute Ghana outfit stifled England and proved unable to penetrate Carlos Queiroz’s deep defensive setup. Tuchel turned to the likes of Bukayo Saka, Eberechi Eze, Morgan Rogers, and Marcus Rashford but kept faith with Kane despite having alternative options available.
The former Chelsea and Bayern Munich manager acknowledged it proved challenging for his side to create openings but expressed confidence in leaning on Kane.
“Change Harry Kane in a game that is stuck and 0-0? !” he said. “Taking Harry off, no?”
Expanding on his talisman, he added: “Everyone is pushing and I think we had three different goalscorers in the first match and to rely on Harry is just a natural thing because he loves responsibility and he takes it. “He was not involved as much as we like to, it was just so, so narrow. Our two central defenders were responsible for the build-up, and then it was basically eight against 10.
It was difficult to find space. “The little moments that he had was just unlucky and the last one is normally a clear goal and that would have got us a deserved win. We rely on Harry because we can, because he’s our forward, but we don’t over-rely on him.”
Panama could yet offer Tuchel the chance to hand Toney or Watkins some game time, with neither player having featured so far. “I have no idea. Panama is in four days,” he said.
Aston Villa striker Watkins opened up about his role ahead of the clash with Ghana. “I think the expectation for me is people don’t see me playing, obviously they see Harry playing, but I know what I can bring to the table,” he explained.
“I watch the game when I’m on the bench, I can see the game opens up. It’s a completely different game when you start a game of football than when you finish it.
“I’ve experienced that as a substitute, there are so many more opportunities when you come on. A lot of people are tired, they lose focus and sometimes it can be better to be a substitute than to start the game.
“I’ve spoken about it so many times before. I said I was going to score that day and I did.
“It’s the best feeling to come on and change the game and I’m hoping to do that again this tournament.”