Why England's 0-0 Draw v Ghana Wasn't SO Bad

England have just drawn the second game of a major tournament for the fourth time in a row

but I'm here to tell you why that Ghana game shouldn't scare anyone. From England's electric transitions in Texas to struggling to break down a low block

these game steeds are part and parcel of a major tournament. I'm Jacob Oswald, 442's resident tactician

and this is what we've learned from England's World Cup so far. Prince Adil with a chance

All ten outfield England players are in Ghana's half year. They're creating little wide triangles

specifically on the right-hand side to create an overload to then get in beyond the Ghana fullback

The problem England had was, well, Ghana just didn't engage with them

So that ability to get in beyond and get into that space by pulling them out, well, it just didn't happen

As a result, we saw Mark Gehie and Esri Konza playing sideways or forwards just to then receive it back

whilst Ghana passively watched, protecting the final third. Mark Gahid, for example

played more passes versus Garner than any other player in a single game

in the 2026 World Cup. But as we look at his pass map, the majority of them were sidewards

and on the halfway line. At halftime, Garner had only played four more passes than Esri Conta

But as we know, possession isn't everything. And in fact, with England, possession's more of a negative

Here, Saka receives the ball and England have that triangle. But because Croatia are man-to-man

and engage so heavily, England are able to move the ball in the space quickly and get in behind

the Croatia fullback. Now, that's England's biggest attacking threat, baiting the opposition out to

come and press them before them playing very, very quickly into the space and beyond, almost

having their own fabricated transitions. Yeah, Ghana don't fall for that same bait one bit

They have zero intention to press or risk giving up space to try and win the ball back high

Which does explain a lot about England's pretty dull display. The attack map against Ghana shows England's highest concentration of play being on the centre circle

But why is it that England have seemingly struggled to adapt to more passive opposition

But it's another scare for England. Well, when we look at Tuchel's squad and how he built this team, a lot of things stare right back at you

We have wingers who are runners, runners full stop. Madueke and Gordon, who started both games

want to burst into the space beyond the opposition's fullback and they complement Harry Kane's movement deep into midfield

by stretching the opposition's defence, which opens those pockets for Kane to drop deep

The problem is, against those low blocks, opposition teams just don't follow the wingers

They then crowd out Harry Kane, who only had 19 touches against Ghana and it leaves you with a team who look like they lacking balance and look like they missing a lockpick to unlock these low block defences However Nico O

can be the difference maker in these types of games. With balls from the right with Rhys James

and Bukayo Saka, someone who's going to crash into the back post from that left hand side

is England's way to beating these low block teams. Against Croatia, all eight of England's

open play crosses came from that right hand side for this exact reason Thomas Tuchel has a clear

goal of overloading the right hand side to open space for the left hand side partnership to arrive

into at the back post obviously we didn't see that in full effect against Ghana and that was

partially because O'Reilly was dropped with him having a few struggles against Croatia when it

came to playing out from the back and a big problem is that Bakayo Saka is still getting

back to full fitness but once we get Bakayo Saka back and I feel like Thomas Tuchel may have learned

a thing or two about who he wants at left back well then England have that new dynamic for these

low block sides which can be the difference maker and it nearly was against Ghana which will be

important when Tuchel's setting up his knockout team the team that we see playing against Ghana

I don't think will be the team that we see go through the rest of the tournaments. Video aside

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link in the description click it and find out more but for now back to the video i think the back

line speaks for itself for tuchel we're probably going to see nico o'reilly come back into that team

and i think in the long term it's going to be guay hi and konza for the rest of the tournament

whilst obviously reese james keeps his spot at right back the midfield as well is completely

fine although they're always going to be discourse because we've got a lot of big characters in there and a little bit of controversy about the squad selection initially but for me that sticks the

way it is we then look on the wings now for me i'm going with bakayo saka at right wing as soon

as he is fit i think madame has been okay but against those teams who are going to sit a little

bit deeper he just doesn't have the keys he doesn't have the tools to unlock those type of

defenses then obviously you've got harry kane who keeps his place up front and then on the left

it's got to be Rashford for me. I like Anthony Gordon but I think it fair to say he basically been not there at this tournament At the Croatia game I generally thought is Gordon actually playing in that first half Now don get me wrong that

presumptuous and we're hoping that Tuchel sees the things that we've all seen in these two opening

games and I do think he's going to get a lot of criticism for the Ghana game and probably

rightly so. I think specifically with Jed Spence he got that completely wrong. At half time Anthony

barry actually came out and said this was a side that has sat deep probably deeper than we actually

expected and i think that that largely depicts why england struggled so much against ghana o'reilly

was getting the ball by the touchline against croatia and that that's fine but it meant england

struggled to play centrally because o'reilly consistently miss hit passes into the middle

when he was under pressure bringing in jed spence opens up new angles to play those central passes

His ability to operate naturally on the inside with his right foot offers more comfortability for those incisive passes into the middle

But because Garner didn't actually go out and press England, he sat really, really deep

Well, Jed Spence became more of a hindrance rather than an advantage or an escape mechanism

And therefore, it gives you the question that, well, should Nico O'Reilly have probably started

And yes, in hindsight, he probably should have. actually Thomas Tuchel, a big clip of him shouting at Jed Spence to pass and goal went everywhere

after the game. The problem is those pass and goal moves, that attacking movement, that's not in Jed

Spence's game. When he's at left back he's a defender, he's a really good 1v1 defender, not an

attacker and therefore it just made England a little bit awkward when they were trying to go

from the mid third to the final third. However Jed Spence being in a position where he's coming up

against this disgustingly low, low block, well, that's not going to be a regular thing for England

and therefore their problems that they had, well, it's not going to be a common occurrence

I've got a question for you. How many times do you think England will face a really deep low block

throughout the full 90 minutes of a World Cup game in this tournament? Well, the answer is not that many

There's a high chance that England end up facing off against Mexico at the Azteca

Now, Mexico are a side who find that balance between those low block football and the high pressing intensity football

They've won the ball in the final third four times per 90. That's 1.5 more than England in this tournament

Now, will Mexico full throttle press England for 90 minutes like Croatia did

No. Will they sit inside their own box for 90 minutes like Ghana did

Also, no. England in every single stage of this tournament will have to do a little bit of everything

but something I can guarantee is that teams will go at England in the knockout in every single game for a sustained period of time at some point in the game which gives England the space to do those transitional movements those quick attacks into space that we know is england biggest strength but thomas to go must

pick his team for the panama game now this this is what i would love to see but in reality it's

probably going to be something a little bit different i expect to see john stones come in

for esri konza i also expect to see nico o'reilly come in at left back over jed spence rashford

Mainu and Rodgers replacing Gordon, Elliot Anderson and Drew Bellingham are also things

that I expect with Harry Kane probably not seeing out a full 90 minutes in this one

That's no disrespect to Panama but with England's place in the knockouts all but secured I expect

Thomas Tuch will want to rest players because those knockout games well they'll more than

likely mirror that Croatia game which was really really tough in terms of intensity. There was 82

duels competed in in the Croatia game and England played just 26% of their passes in the final third

That sort of thing takes a lot out of a team no matter if you're Spain, France, England, Cape Verde

it takes a lot out of you to being in an end-to-end game like that but it's why England can go all the

way. Low blocks are a pain absolutely but Spain faced the same thing when they came up against

Cape Verde and they drew 0-0 yet they're still tournament favourites and that's because the

reason for both Spain struggling against Cape Verde and England struggling against Ghana is that

they're built very similarly in the sense of they're made to go up against other top nations

teams where it is going to be end to end that's where both of Spain and England are at their best

England's midfield build is a Swiss army knife that allows for constant shifts in formation to

deal with better sides who press high and have the ability to shift the temple England have the same

and can keep up with those better sides in and out of possession

Space is England's friend at this World Cup, and against those top, top sides

space is something that they will have almost in abundance when it's an end-to-end game

The Cape Verdes of the world can make it really tough for you, but to go and win the whole entire tournament

you need to be good against the big boys, not just the little boys. As Gareth Southgate taught

were multiple big, big wins under him just to falter against the first big nation

that we would play in that tournament. Don't get me wrong. England have some issues that do need fine-tuning

and a few fixes that need to happen if they want to go all the way. But if just one of those big chances went in against Ghana

well, you'd all still be in the pub right now singing World in Motion. And that's not a criticism of anyone

But you've just got to put everything into perspective in a cup competition in this magnitude

It's still coming home, ladies and gentlemen. Don't you worry. I've been Jacob Horsfall

This has been 4-4-2. It is absolutely boiling in England. And as you can see, I progressively got more sweaty

I'll see you all in the next one. Peace