This was a training game - England & Tuchel now need to get serious
England head coach Thomas Tuchel's pre-World Cup experimentation must surely end here and now. Tuchel's long examination of the options open to him continued on Saturday with the sight of two separate teams, one for each half, tackling a low-key friendly against New Zealand in T
England head coach Thomas Tuchel's pre-World Cup experimentation must surely end here and now.
Tuchel's long examination of the options open to him continued on Saturday with the sight of two separate teams, one for each half, tackling a low-key friendly against New Zealand in Tampa's searing heat.
The clock is ticking down to England's opening tournament game against Croatia in Dallas on Wednesday, 17 June.
With the Tampa game out of the way, Tuchel should be ready to reveal more of what he hopes will be his winning hand.
It was perfectly understandable that Tuchel wanted to give England's squad time to get minutes in the bank in testing, strength-sapping conditions.
What it meant was that the 1-0 win - Harry Kane the goalscorer again - came from effectively a glorified training session carried out under the guise of international football.
This was the first time since June 2004, when England played Iceland before leaving for the European Championship in Portugal, that they have played 22 different players in a match.
England play their final friendly before the World Cup starts when they face Costa Rica in Orlando on Wednesday â and that is when Tuchel has the chance to wheel out the big guns.
