Gary Neville slams Thomas Tuchel's major England decision as 'something badly wrong'

Gary Neville has slammed Thomas Tuchel's decision to deploy Jarell Quansah at right-back for England's World Cup campaign, suggesting the situation indicates that something has "gone badly wrong" in the squad's preparations.

The former Manchester United defender's criticism centres on the lack of specialised cover in the right-back position. Reece James remains sidelined through injury, whilst fellow right-back Tino Livramento has also left the squad due to an injury. Djed Spence is the only remaining natural option at the position, but Tuchel has deployed him more regularly on the left flank.

With Quansah filling the gap for England's Group L finale against Panama, Neville expressed serious reservations about the choice. "The one position I think I am pretty qualified to speak on is right back and if you had said to me a couple of months ago that Quansah would be playing right-back for England in a tournament I would say something has gone badly wrong," he said.

Neville questioned Tuchel's recruitment strategy, highlighting the manager's selection of "players who are injury prone" in James and Livramento, whilst notably excluding Trent Alexander-Arnold. "He's not brought Trent Alexander-Arnold who obviously is someone with world class quality for what reasons we can only imagine," Neville stated.

The pundit acknowledged that Quansah could cope against Panama but insisted he cannot be relied upon in knockout stages. "Djed Spence is the only real option at right-back," Neville explained. "Quansah is not an option going into the games further into the tournament."

Fellow ITV pundit Roy Keane supported Neville's assessment, warning that knockout football demands specialist players. "When you start getting into knockout games you don't want a jack-of-all-trades. You need masters at these positions. That would be the worry going forward," Keane said.

Tuchel made five changes to his starting eleven for the Panama encounter, with Bukayo Saka, Morgan Rogers, and Marcus Rashford also coming into the side. England must win and match Ghana's result to secure top spot in Group L.