England's Plan B? Still Missing After Ghana Standoff

Thomas Tuchel’s side went 57 minutes without a shot on target. Let that sink in. Sky Sports' Laura Hunter noted it; a first in this tournament where neither team managed an accurate effort in the opening half. Not exactly thrilling football, was it?

Carlos Queiroz had Ghana drilled. Their plan? Kill England's rhythm. They sat deep. Stayed compact. Walked away with a clean sheet. One of only four teams still to concede in this competition, by the way.

Harry Kane touched the ball just 19 times. His lowest in a major tournament when playing the full 90 minutes. Kane himself admitted he was just 'waiting for the ball to bounce my way'. It never did. Queiroz shut down England's biggest threats. Plain and simple. It worked.

Morgan Rogers, Marcus Rashford, Bukayo Saka, and Nico O'Reilly gave them *some* life late on. O'Reilly even hit the crossbar in the dying moments. Kane then skied the rebound. Declan Rice mumbled something about Ghana's organisation. Fair enough. But as Hunter pointed out, this feels disturbingly familiar. Scotland, USA, Denmark, now Ghana: four utterly dull draws. Every single one in England’s second group game at a major tournament.

Don't panic, they say. England still made back-to-back European finals despite those group stage duds. Whatever. Panama on Saturday will park the bus too. And if Tuchel can't figure this out, expect the noise about Cole Palmer and Phil Foden sitting on the bench to hit a crescendo.