Alan Shearer calls out two of England’s big-name stars for ‘not doing enough’ as Thomas Tuchel’s team struggled to break down World Cup minnows Panama
Alan Shearer criticized Marcus Rashford and Bukayo Saka for “not doing enough” as England worked hard to secure top spot in their World Cup group by beating Panama.
Goals from Jude Bellingham and Harry Kane in a much-improved second-half display secured victory for the Three Lions in New Jersey, but boss Thomas Tuchel cut a frustrated figure on the sidelines at times.
The German was seen barking orders at Kane after just three minutes and focusing on Rashford and Saka during the first fluid break.
Former England striker Shearer was equally disturbed by the performances of Rashford and Saka, two of the changes Tuchel made to the starting line-up after the goalless draw with Ghana.
“I haven’t seen the stats but I can see with my own eyes that Rashford and Saka are involved in a lot of things England do but they don’t do enough,” Shearer said. BBC Radio 5 Live.
Bukayo Saka (left) and Marccus Rashford (right) struggled to take advantage of the starting spot
‘The first 10 minutes where we moved the ball consciously were really disappointing and I expected us to continue that but that wasn’t the case.’
England spent 45 minutes finding their footing in a 4-2 opening victory over Croatia but then found themselves running out of ideas against Ghana’s low block, especially out wide.
It was again the wide players who drew the most disappointment from fans and pundits after a first-half display that saw England hope to return to the MetLife Stadium, where the Three Lions will host the World Cup final on July 19.
‘We lack sophistication, creativity and innovation. “The players out wide were really bad in the last part of the game,” said Gary Neville. ITV Sport.
‘We are trying very hard to break them. ‘He might need to bring in two strikers and do something different.’
Fellow ITV commentator Roy Keane added: ‘England appear to have been dragged down to their level. Their best player hasn’t emerged yet.’
England still have plenty of room for improvement, but they emerged as group winners and advanced to the knockout rounds on the more advantageous side of the draw, ahead of France, Germany, Netherlands and Spain.
Tuchel (left) and Shearer (right) had problems with their performance in the first half
Jude Bellingham was the name that made the difference with the goal and assist he scored in the win over Panama
The hope is that Tuchel’s attacks will get better and better as the quality of the opposition improves and teams defending in low blocks becomes less and less of a factor.
The win against Panama saw Bellingham comfortably established as England’s best player in North America, retaining his third man of the match award for three matches.
“There is still a lot to build on,” Tuchel said. ‘You need to get a lot of details right and that’s an aggressive approach we take.
‘The tournament starts again now, there is a knockout. Now we will gather our strength, we will gather our energy, we will develop what we have, our team spirit, our fighting spirit, our belief and we will take our steps.’
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