‘Bizarre’ - Carragher blames Tuchel for England’s defensive chaos

Former England defender and football pundit Jamie Carragher has launched a scathing assessment of Thomas Tuchel's handling of England's defence, claiming the Three Lions' defensive struggles at the FIFA World Cup 2026 are largely the result of poor squad selection.

England have endured a difficult start to the tournament at the back, with injuries forcing Tuchel into several changes and exposing a lack of depth in key defensive positions.

Speaking about England's ongoing defensive issues, Carragher argued that the problems were avoidable and stemmed from decisions made before the tournament even began.

According to the former Liverpool defender, Tuchel's choices in the right-back department have left England unnecessarily short of options.

"This all just goes back to Thomas Tuchel's decisions around the right-back area. It's just not been right from day one with the squad that's been picked," Carragher said.

He also criticised Tuchel for selecting players with questionable fitness records.

"He picked two very injury-prone players at right-back," Carragher added.

Carragher reserved particular criticism for Tuchel's decision to call up Trevoh Chalobah after Tino Livramento suffered an injury.

The pundit argued that Chalobah is not a natural right-back and questioned why England failed to bring in a specialist replacement.

"He brought another right-back, if you like, Djed Spence, but at left-back. But I think bringing Chalobah in when there were injuries in that position was a bizarre decision. He's not a right-back, so you're going to leave yourself short," Carragher explained.