A big couple of training sessions lie ahead for Thomas Tuchel in Kansas City. England are still finding themselves at this World Cup, still searching for combinations and still locating that exact click. And some might be wondering about their reactions when not everything goes immediately as planned.
It’s the low block and bus-parking that could prove troubling for Tuchel’s ideal identity as the tournament wears on, with England evidently short on quality when met by stubbornness and asked to give an opponent’s will to defend a real going over.
The issues going in the other direction and a fragility to counter-attacks, are a worry after the two opening games of a gentle group but they don’t become quite such an issue if England play with more risk in possession, which their manager has been asking them to.
Potential knockout opponents will have studied the Ghana draw and noted the visible frustration of England’s protagonists – and why that came about. Harry Kane was agitated with markers, with the referee. Jude Bellingham was involved in a frank exchange with the Black Stars’ boss Carlos Queiroz after a late challenge towards the break, clearly provoked by an annoyance at making heavy weather of it all.
They cannot allow themselves to be thrown off course quite so easily. Going far into the tournament will only be possible with calm heads and clinical minds.
The emotion on show on Tuesday came with the nature of the game. England weren’t afforded the licence to roam free in a way that Croatia had allowed. Teams deciding to do that shouldn’t be news, and plenty will opt for similar when met with the firepower and threat at Tuchel’s disposal.
England could not find their way through a yellow wall of Ghana players in Boston
The niggling and exasperating elements of England’s goalless draw will have been pleasing for any rivals watching
The niggling and exasperating elements of England’s goalless draw will be pleasing for the watching rivals. Congest the game and then break quick looks like a decent blueprint unless Tuchel can iron out the creases over at Swope Soccer Village in the short period before flying off to New Jersey for Panama on Saturday.
‘Frustrated a little bit with how they defended, how they set up,’ was Bellingham’s assessment of Ghana. ‘It's important for us not to get too negative, not to get too het up on it. My message has just been to make sure we stay positive, keep the good atmosphere we've got going. It's not the end of the world.’
It most certainly isn’t and England should still top Group L, meaning a favourable draw against a third-place team in the last 32 – and likely another opponent willing to sit in and make life difficult. Likely last 16 foes Mexico may also adopt that policy. And Bellingham talked up the idea that an early test like Ghana, with their insistence on camping in their own penalty area, could stand them in good stead.
That may come to pass, just as long as they learn from Boston. Learn that the ball needs progressing quicker, that the well drilled are only truly unnerved when moved about and toyed with. Learn not to chase. Tuesday needed somebody to control their tempo, to pilot a measured onslaught with craft and guile. That ingredient went missing. A bit of patience, ignoring the overriding tension inside their bodies.
Tuchel refuted suggestions that anybody got themselves under the skin of his side, although the decision-making at crucial moments and the occasional flashpoint pointed towards Ghana having done their jobs in that respect.
‘I know that England like open games and we didn’t make it easy for them to play against us,’ a boisterous Queiroz said. ‘One of the goals in our tactical approach was to frustrate the best skills that England have in the squad. Corner kicks, diagonals into the box, on the wings. We controlled all the penetration movements.’
Queiroz was in his element, somewhat mischievous.
How England choose to counter these ideas will be to continue keeping the pitch wide. Fundamentally, what they devise here seems sound – especially when the full backs find channels inside to inflict damage, such as when Nico O'Reilly made a 'box-crashing' run late on only to hit the bar with his header.
Nico O'Reilly (3) added to England's attacking threat when he came off the bench - but his header came crashing off the bar when he had made a trademark run to the back post
England toiled to create proper chances until very late in their second game, largely once Bukayo Saka was introduced on the right
Harry Kane didn't drop deep that often against Ghana, as his heatmap reveals - there needs to be a more coherent link-up behind him moving forward
There were flickers, especially early on, yet the general display in Boston felt more about individuals. Individuals not quite hitting their combinations with others and not quite reaching their own performance level. It did look more like players still needed to fully understand each other’s game than a tactical issue.
Kane, interestingly, hadn’t dropped quite as deep or as often yet there needs to be a more coherent link-up behind him moving forward. Bellingham should be thriving up there alongside the Bayern Munich striker.
What might prove a tough ask over the coming days is not drifting to thinking of the squad selection – no mercurial Cole Palmer, for example – while remembering how England toiled to create proper chances until very late in their second game, largely once Bukayo Saka was introduced on the right.
But this is what Tuchel has picked and what he believes can deliver a second star. It needs fine tuning, it does have its flaws, and the key will be quite how quickly they can be corrected.
