On the day Thomas Tuchel named his England World Cup squad, he made a passing comment that has come to fruition.
As England dug in to beat Mexico at the Estadio Azteca on Sunday night, having been a player down for most of the second half, Tuchel turned to his substitutes’ bench — and got every single change right.
More pertinently, their performances added meaning to the words Tuchel uttered on May 22.
The England head coach referenced a “speciality team”, which he then qualified as a “special operations team”.
At the time, Tuchel was responding to a question about Ivan Toney’s call up, but in the same answer he spoke about several other players and positions and why they will all have an important part to play during the tournament.
Against Croatia, DR Congo and Mexico, Tuchel saw the “special operations team” come to life, with his second-half changes proving decisive.
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