EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- We're at the stage of the World Cup where the pressure is starting to tell. It can do funny things; a thin dividing line between causing tempers to fray, or to fuel success. Panama's final training session boiled over after cameras caught Cecilio Waterman and José Luis Rodríguez being separated in training. Elsewhere, we've seen Scotland manager Steve Clarke storm off from a post-match interview, Sweden's Anthony Elanga slump to the ground in desolation at an early exit, only to find out his team had qualified for the round of 32, while South Africa bottled an avalanche of criticism after their opening round loss to reach the knockout stages.
England are dealing with their own pressure. But they're used to it. We've already come full circle this World Cup with England. They started off with a disjointed first half against Croatia, and then a remarkable second-half performance, which got everyone very excited. Then came another version of England, trying and failing to move the immovable object, which was Ghana's defence. They pushed, prodded, pulled and panicked, but nothing got through. The 0-0 draw took us right back round to where we started: a group with tonnes of excitement around them, but also that unavoidable pressure of expectation. Sixty years of hurt, near misses, frustrated fans, false dawns, etc. All the best, Thomas.
This Panama match needs to be managed carefully by Thomas Tuchel, and injuries are starting to play a role in selection. Rotation will be tempting, given England need just a point to finish top of the group, and players are battling heavy legs in this endless season. But Tuchel needs to find that balance between keeping players fresh while not making too many changes so momentum and form suffer.
That fatigue has caught up with Reece James, who will miss the match on Saturday in New York and is a doubt for their round of 32 match. This is suboptimal. Right-back is an area England are light in. James' injury record hardly makes easy reading: he missed the last two major tournaments through injury, and has weathered hamstring troubles over the past couple of seasons. When Tuchel named his squad back on May 22, one of the surprising omissions was Trent Alexander-Arnold. It looked like Newcastle's Tino Livramento won out there as England's alternate at right-back (a player who missed the last parts of the season through injury), but then he was ruled out on the eve of the World Cup.
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Instead of picking an alternative natural right-back, Tuchel turned to centre-back Trevoh Chalobah as his replacement. With no right-back in the squad bar James, that left Djed Spence, Jarell Quansah and Ezri Konsa as cover. Spence plays predominantly on the left for Spurs, while Quansah and Konsa have been centre-backs for Bayer Leverkusen and Aston Villa, respectively. James' injury presents a test of depth, Tuchel's judgement and individual versatility. "We'd love to have Reecey, he's a key player, we'll find solutions, that's what we do," Tuchel said.
Expect further changes for Panama. Though the other 25 players trained as normal on Friday, they have been monitoring a couple of other issues. Declan Rice walked out of the Foxborough Stadium with his calf heavily strapped after the 0-0 draw with Ghana, and while Tuchel said he's good to start, they may restrict his minutes as he's on a booking, and another yellow card would see him miss their round of 32 match. Elliot Anderson was also being monitored, but Tuchel says he is fit. Anderson has had a busy week, with Manchester City closing in on his signing from Nottingham Forest for a fee of £116 million ($153m). So, any changes will be at Tuchel's discretion.
"Everyone can start," Tuchel said. "The difficult thing is that we can't start with everyone."
England fans travelled to New York in expectation, but also with a touch of neurosis over painful past campaigns. The reaction after the 0-0 Ghana result were tales around how their growing optimism was abruptly checked by the poor performance. They talked about the scars of previous major tournaments and similar scenarios. Tuchel and his group are adamant this is a new England, and not one carrying the baggage of past glorious failures, but the Panama match is key in this group taking another step forward.
They're likely to top Group L and will face one of the third-placed teams from Group E, H, I, J or K. At the time of writing, it looks like Senegal or Congo DR could be their challenge in the round of 32, but that could well change over the coming 24 hours. England also have to top the group, of course, and to do that, they have to find a way to get back to scoring ways.
Tuchel is expecting another tricky and potentially frustrating test against Panama. In his pre-match news conference on Friday, he pointed out how Ghana had to wait until injury time to win their match 1-0 against Panama, and Panama restricted Croatia to just two shots on target as they lost that 1-0. "It's a difficult match that's difficult to break down, they don't allow many chances," Tuchel said. "I see a well-coached, well-drilled team with a clear identity."
England lacked creativity against Ghana and the ability to unlock the low block. Rice and Anderson work wonderfully in tandem, while Jude Bellingham is the complete attacking midfielder, but sometimes from the bench you need that dab of something a little different. Perhaps it's time to give Kobbie Mainoo a chance just to see how that operates. He has the deft touches and vision to unlock defences, while you can see Morgan Rogers, so often a Tuchel favourite during qualification, also getting gametime. Perhaps it's also time to see Bukayo Saka start.
"He's an incredibly talented player, and his level of understanding of the game is insane," Saka's Arsenal and England teammate Eberechi Eze said of him. "I feel like he's a player who makes the right decision a lot of the time, and he's so effective, so efficient. He is a special player."
Madison Square Garden on Thursday evening was like Alexandra Palace. A home from home. England fans packed the place out for the U.S. Darts Masters, with Luke Littler, Luke Humphries and others on show. The travelling England fans sang the songs, wore the familiar dress and danced along to darts' adopted anthem Planet Funk's "Chase the Sun." That also happens to be England's goal music here at the World Cup. The fans didn't have a chance to celebrate with it in Boston, but they'll be hoping for plenty more opportunities on Saturday evening in New York. England should win by a couple, but pressure does strange things in these tournaments.