England’s right-back crisis: Reece James, Djed Spence, Ezri Konsa – who starts in World Cup quarter-final against Norway? | Football News

England’s defensive defiance in Mexico City was magnificent. But next comes the reality check: Norway in Miami with a patched-up back-line.

England’s players have had two days off to switch off, and recover both physically and mentally from all that Mexico City took out of them. Thomas Tuchel told them to ignore football completely, relax with their friends and family and decompress fully.

The players have done exactly that – sunbathing, popping to the local coffee shop, and enjoying the lovely lake and park that is immediately outside their hotel. We bumped into Tuchel doing that on a bike, and also the late defensive hero from the Azteca Stadium, Dan Burn.

But now is the time to park the bikes and focus the minds. The attention shifts very quickly away from recovery and relaxation and it turns instead to the impending battle with Norway – and Erling Haaland – on Saturday.

The struggle is most keenly felt in the right-back position where it feels like England are back to square one.

Even before an English player had kicked a ball at this World Cup, there has been a crisis on the right side of defence. Tuchel has glossed over it, tried to protect morale and his own mistakes in selection.

In Tino Livramento and Reece James – his only two specialist right-back picks – there were two players with terrible fitness records. Calling up a centre-back – Trevoh Chalobah – to replace Livramento seems ill-judged.

But there is mitigation aplenty too. To see one right-back injured in a tournament is unfortunate. To lose three to injury and one to suspension is cataclysmic.

So here’s the state of play. James, England’s first choice, has not trained for a fortnight after straining his hamstring, but he is – slowly – on the mend.

It is possible he could play some part in the quarter-final against Norway on Saturday, but almost certainly not for 90 minutes and playing him risks his recovery, and possible relapse. You sense that one more tweak, and his World Cup is over.

Djed Spence is nursing a minor injury too, and missed some training in the build up to the last 16 tie. He looked far from comfortable when he came on late in the game in Mexico City. How his recovery goes over the next few days is vital to his chances of being available from the start on Saturday.

Jarrel Quansah is suspended and unavailable. Full stop. England have still not made a decision on whether to appeal against his red card against Mexico, but even if they do at this late stage, it is very unlikely FIFA’s disciplinary committee would overturn it.

And so England are down to the bare bones.

Tuchel cannot make a decision now, until he knows more about the state of James and Spence. But if neither is fit to start, the right-back role will almost certainly fall to Ezri Konsa, who ended the game there in a back five against Mexico.

The Aston Villa man is perfectly adept in that position, but to put him there against Norway would mean another complete re-jig in defence, with John Stones coming into centre-back.

Again, he did that to great effect late on in the Azteca Stadium, but he is still feeling his way back into top level competition after so little football for so long. Remember, he started England’s World Cup opener against Croatia, but struggled, and was dropped for the second game against Ghana.

England’s stubborn, relentless defence was nothing shy of magnificent in the second half adversity of Mexico City and the statistics were by far the most impressive of the five games England have played at this World Cup.

They played 47 minutes with 10 men, and yet they conceded 0.01 non-penalty xG on target in that time. That is off-the-scale good.

But Raul Jiminez is no Haaland. England’s defence will be tested more fully against Norway than at any other stage in the tournament so far – and it is terrible timing that England’s defence is more stretched now than ever before.