Bukayo Saka, Declan Rice and the fitness worries that may shape England’s World Cup

Bukayo Saka and Declan Rice joined the England camp after the Champions League final Richard Pelham/Getty Images

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Thomas Tuchel was pointedly careful, after England drew 0-0 with Ghana, not to put too much pressure on the possible return to the starting XI of Bukayo Saka.

“It’s not like Bukayo comes back and everything is solved,” Tuchel said, making sure not to make Saka out to be the potential saviour of this England campaign. “I don’t want to put this on his back. He is a top player, that is why he’s with us. We need him desperately — like every player — in top shape and pushing. It’s not the moment to shout for individual names to help us out.”

On one level. it made total sense. Piling pressure and expectation onto a player who arrived at a tournament with an injury is an integral part of the England tournament experience. It would certainly not help Saka to build him up like that.

At the same time, there is no avoiding the fact that the fitness or otherwise of Saka has become one of the dominant stories of this England campaign. He came off the bench against Croatia and Ghana, and it remains to be seen whether he is fit enough to start against Panama on Saturday.

There are also questions about the fitness of Saka’s Arsenal team-mate Declan Rice. England’s vice-captain left Gillette Stadium with strapping on his left calf, having suffered a dead leg. He had been substituted with 18 minutes left in the Croatia game. And it has not felt yet, two games in, as if we have quite seen the best of Rice, the player who drives the tempo for the whole team, just like he does for Arsenal.

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It may feel like a long time ago, now we are in the midst of the World Cup, but the Champions League final was less than one month ago. In an interview with ITV Sport last week, Rice said the schedule was “crazy” and that there had been an “obscene amount of games”.

On the other hand Rice — ever the optimist — said before the Ghana game that he had come to the World Cup with “bundles of confidence” and a “spring in his step” after Arsenal won the title.

For Saka, it was a difficult end to a thrilling season. He has been suffering with Achilles tendinitis which required careful managing in the second half of the season. He missed the England friendlies in March and did not start a single game in April. He was still capable of top performances — like Arsenal’s crucial 3-0 win over Fulham on May 2 — but did not always look at his best. He was taken off after 83 minutes of the Champions League final, for Noni Madueke.

The Champions League final meant that Saka, like Rice, arrived late for the Florida preparation camp and he made a brief substitute appearance against Costa Rica. Even since then, his condition has had to be managed. He came on as a substitute against Croatia for the last 18 minutes and was lively, breaking forward down the right and setting up Marcus Rashford’s goal to make it 4-2. But he did not take part in training two days later, following his own individual programme instead.

Saka is making progress and, as Tuchel said before the Ghana game, he is now free of pain, no longer feeling the discomfort of before. But he was on the bench again for Ghana, coming on for the last 25 minutes as England struggled to find a way past their opponents’ deep, narrow defence.

When Tuchel spoke afterwards, he was more bullish on Saka’s prospects of a return. He said that Saka seemed “to be more and more ready”, and the most important thing would be how he trained between the Ghana and Panama games. “He needs to have more sessions now,” Tuchel said. “Two sessions to be ready for Panama. 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.”

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England certainly looked like they needed Saka, or at least a full-strength Saka, during the game at Gillette Stadium. If they are going to face more narrow, deep blocks this tournament, then they need their best one-v-one winger in the game.

Madueke has been England’s main outlet both games so far and while he caused Croatia plenty of problems with his running, Saka has always had the edge in terms of productivity. But Saka has not started for England since last November now and if he comes back in for Panama, he will need to quickly get back up to speed with his team-mates.

Rice is a slightly different case. He has barely missed a game all season but he revealed to ITV last week that he had been managing “neural pain” in his hamstring through the second half of last season. And it has looked, watching Rice in England’s two games so far, like he has not quite been at his physical peak.

Tuchel knows what he wants from Rice and that is constant movement and energy. The era of Rice as a No 6 is long gone. He is a rampaging No 8 now and England need that if they are to be effective this summer. Tuchel has spoken time and time again about how he wants to lean into the athleticism of his players and play intense, physical football. That is impossible without Rice. There is no real replacement for such a distinctive player.

Declan Rice has lacked some sharpness in England’s first two games (Buda Mendes/Getty Images)

So there is a fear that if Rice is not at his best for whatever reason, then the whole team could be unbalanced. Tuchel withdrew him with 18 minutes left against Croatia, initially moving Jude Bellingham back into the ‘double 6’ before shifting Reece James there. Against Ghana, Rice played the full 90, against a difficult opponent, but it still feels as if there is more to come from Rice this World Cup.

Rice said before the Ghana game that the fact of playing in Europe for the last six years meant that his body was “conditioned” for tournament football and long seasons. He said that he was “mentally in a very good place, and physically really good as well”, and that he wanted to maintain this through the whole tournament. It feels, as Tuchel considers his team for Panama, and despite what he said after Ghana, that England’s chances at this World Cup could hinge on seeing the very best of their two Arsenal stars.

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