Thomas Tuchel's Cautious Approach with Bukayo Saka Ahead of Panama

Thomas Tuchel is walking a tightrope with Bukayo Saka – and he knows it.

The England head coach needs his Arsenal star at full throttle as the tournament sharpens, but he also knows one wrong step with that Achilles and the whole plan can unravel. So for now, it’s caution with intent, not panic.

“He seems to be more and more ready,” Tuchel said, outlining a carefully managed return. Saka has been eased back, minutes drip-fed rather than dumped on him, as the forward edges towards full sharpness. The target is clear: Panama. Two more training sessions. No shortcuts.

“He’s getting there, and there’s more and more training sessions, so he needs to have more sessions now. Two sessions to be ready for Panama,” Tuchel explained. “It’s not only about Bukayo, but it was good he got some minutes under his belt. Hopefully, there is no reaction and he is good to go.”

That last line carries the weight of England’s attacking concerns. After a laboured outing against Ghana, in which they mustered only four shots on target, the spotlight inevitably swung towards Saka and the familiar question: can he be the man for the big moments?

Tuchel refused to bite.

“We need it from everyone. I’m not engaging in that,” he said when asked if Saka has the mentality to ignite England’s frontline. This was not a manager about to pin his hopes, or his problems, on a single winger.

“It’s not like Bukayo comes back and everything is solved, and I don’t want to put this on his back,” he continued. “He is a top player, that’s why he is with us. We need him desperately, like every other player, in top shape, and pushing. But everyone is doing their best, and it’s not the moment to shout for individual names to help us out. We’re in a good place, still.”

That last sentence might raise eyebrows among those who endured the Ghana game. The performance was stodgy, the tempo flat, the cutting edge dulled. Yet Tuchel sees a different picture from the technical area – a team still forming its patterns, still building towards the latter stages rather than burning out in the group.

What he will not do is rip it all up for Panama.

England’s 6-1 demolition of the same opponents at the 2018 World Cup lingers in the memory, but this is a different tournament and a different team. Panama have lost both games here 1-0, stubborn and awkward, and Tuchel has no intention of turning this into a trial-and-error selection exercise.

The German is not planning wholesale changes. He may tweak, not tear down.

Manchester City’s Nico O’Reilly could come back in at left-back in place of Djed Spence, one of the few positions where a switch feels genuinely live. Beyond that, Tuchel’s instinct is to protect the structure that, in his eyes, still holds firm despite the noise around the attack.

“I am not shy to do some rotation now,” he admitted. “Some players should be on the pitch but maybe it will be more moderate. It’s not always fair if you just rotate your players in and say: ‘OK, let’s perform.’”

That line tells you plenty about his thinking. Continuity over chaos. Partnerships over experiments. The centre-backs, for example, have earned his trust.

“I like for example the centre-backs. They were good together,” Tuchel said, highlighting one area he has no desire to disturb. He also singled out Elliot Anderson, whose display against Ghana hinted at a player growing into the shirt. “I like Elliot Anderson, he had a step forward and a good performance, maybe a bit better than against Croatia.”

The numbers against Ghana were underwhelming, but Tuchel clung to the signs beneath the surface. England created half-chances. They delivered dangerous balls. They forced set plays. What they did not do was land the punch that would have changed the entire feel of the contest.

“We created half-chances, we created deliveries and set plays but couldn’t score from it to change the characteristics of the game,” he said. “I know it’s not an easy watch. Maybe I watch it differently from the sideline as a coach. I know what we wanted and what we had to take care of.”

There is an honesty there, but also a defiance. Tuchel is not about to chase aesthetics at the expense of control. He has built his career on structure, on teams that grow into tournaments, on the idea that you don’t win anything in June by playing like it’s a cup final every three days.

“There is a long way to go and no one has won a World Cup with four goals per match and going for it,” he said. The message is clear: this is a campaign, not a highlight reel. “We always want to go for it and our responsibility is to bring everything to the table. We tried and tried but it’s difficult sometimes and there is no need to feel negative.”

So England move towards Panama in a curious place: criticised, yet calm; blunt in front of goal, yet unshaken in belief. Saka edges closer to full speed, the spine of the side remains largely untouched, and Tuchel doubles down on continuity when the instinct outside the camp is to demand change.

The question now is simple. Does his faith in the process survive another 90 minutes if the goals still don’t come?