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With Reece James and Jarell Quansah injured, do England have a right-back crisis?
It’s been a little while since England last had a proper injury problem to deal with during a major tournament. Reece James’ strained hamstring and Jarell Quansah’s twisted ankle probably don’t combine to match the gravity of David Beckham and Wayne Rooney’s respective broken metatarsals in years gone by, but even Thomas Tuchel has admitted that he’s worried about England’s right-back ‘crisis,’ as just about every newspaper headline has described it.
Both James and Quansah are major doubts for the last 32 tie against the Democratic Republic of Congo on Wednesday, while Newcastle’s Tino Livramento has already been sent home due to a calf injury. It’s certainly a headache heading into the knockout rounds – but is it a legitimate crisis, or a storm which England should be able to weather?
Is England’s right-back crisis really a crisis at all?
Reece James (left) is a major doubt for Wednesday's game due to a hamstring injuryplaceholder image
Reece James (left) is a major doubt for Wednesday's game due to a hamstring injury | Getty Images
Assuming that James (who faces a “tight race” to be fit according to Tuchel) and Quansah (likely out for “a matter of days”) are unavailable for the game against DR Congo in Atlanta, England’s head coach has two obvious choices: Djed Spence and Ezri Konsa.
Neither make the majority of their appearances in that position but both have done the job for Tuchel before, with Spence coming on as a substitute for James against Croatia in England’s opening group stage game. Konsa, meanwhile, has excelled in the role in a number of friendlies, most recently during the 3-0 defeat of Wales last October.
Both have attributes that recommend them for the right-back position against different opponents. Spence is lightning fast and adept at pressuring opposing players all the way up and down the field. Konsa is less speedy, but is an outstanding one-on-one defender who lets little past him. Depending on how England expect DR Congo to line up, either could suit their tactical needs.
Spence seems more likely to get the nod based on recent selections, not least because Konsa is earmarked for a centre-back role, but if Tuchel is less worried by the raw pace of Wednesday’s opponents than he is by the technical quality of their attacking players, then shifting Konsa to the right while bringing John Stones back in at centre-back is scarcely a stretch of the tactical imagination. Even picking Stones himself at right-back is a concept which falls within the bounds of credulity.
Predicting precisely how DR Congo will set up isn’t necessarily straightforward. For their first two group stage games they played in a 3-5-2 system with Sunderland’s Arthur Masuaku providing almost all of the width, but for their more recent victory over Uzbekistan they switched to a 4-4-2. Tuchel will have to puzzle out their approach but has the appropriate tools at his disposal to deal with either system.
England would miss James’ experience and well-rounded skillset if he doesn’t make it, while Quansah has clearly impressed Tuchel enough to sneak ahead of both Spence and Konsa in the pecking order despite being no more of a natural right-back than either, but this should not be a disaster for England on paper – at least in the context of one match.
Should things go south, or should James’ injury prove to be sufficiently serious to keep him out of more than two games, then the decision to replace Livramento with another centre-back, Trevoh Chalobah, will come under scrutiny. There will always be some supporters who struggle to fathom the exclusion of Trent Alexander-Arnold, for starters.
Right now, England’s right-back issue is a headache but hardly a fully fledged crisis. It may be upgraded to that status if James misses more time and England are left without a frontline right-back against the tournament’s best teams, but that hasn’t yet happened and the message from England’s training camp is that James will return. Perhaps the bigger concern right now, however, is not one specific position but the state of England’s defence as a whole.
England’s defence has looked shaky regardless of who’s played
Consecutive clean sheets have masked England's defensive frailtiesplaceholder image
Consecutive clean sheets have masked England's defensive frailties | Getty Images
England may have progressed to the knockout rounds with relative ease but their back line has been a source of some jangling nerves. Against Croatia, they struggled to deal with the high press and consistently conceded possession in dangerous areas. Against Ghana and Panama, a combination of questionable positioning and some jittery individual moments left them vulnerable on the counter-attack. Whoever plays at right-back, England need them to add an air of composure which has been worryingly absent.
DR Congo are likely to create some chances. They created more shooting opportunities than Portugal during their 1-1 draw in the opening round of group stage games, while Newcastle’s Yoane Wissa seems to have found some form at long last.
The 29-year-old has now scored three goals in three games, and is looking far more like the forward who was so effective at Brentford than the injury-stricken striker who has struggled at St. James’ Park – and he has been getting service consistently. Colombia demonstrated that it is possible to shut the Congolese attack down for long periods, but it won’t be straightforward.
Should England’s defence be as shaky in Atlanta as they were in Group L, then it’s extremely likely that DR Congo will be handed some presentable chances – and they too can form the kind of rigid low block that England have struggled to break down. If England concede first on Wednesday, they could be in for a long 90 minutes.
Picking the right full-backs will make life easier, but the most apparent concern is less which specific player is selected or who is sufficiently fit to feature but whether England can collectively find some calm under pressure. If they can’t, then the identity of the Three Lions’ right-back may be of secondary importance.
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