Nico O'Reilly came off the bench to impress for England in their World Cup group stage match against Ghana, but his performance may have complicated manager Thomas Tuchel's thinking regarding the Manchester City star's role.
O'Reilly's Impact Off the Bench
Despite being dropped to the bench for the second group game, O'Reilly made a significant impact when introduced in the final stage. The 21-year-old played incisive passes in the final third and saw a header crash back off the post, showing his attacking intent.
According to Simon Bajkowski, Chief Manchester City Writer, O'Reilly's cameo provided more evidence for Tuchel that the youngster needs to be part of England's plans for the rest of the tournament. Having become a major influence for Pep Guardiola at Manchester City, international football is not proving a step too far for the Collyhurst youngster.
Tuchel's Tactical Dilemma
The obvious suggestion would be to bring O'Reilly straight in for Tottenham's Djed Spence, given he offered more going forward in much less time. However, Spence and Marc Guehi appeared to have been brought back in to deal with counter-attacks after O'Reilly had looked flaky in the opening win over Croatia.
It was Anthony Gordon who lost his man on that left side for Ghana's best chance of the game, and otherwise England were solid. O'Reilly still feels like the best bet at left-back for the rest of the tournament, particularly given there is no Lewis Hall in the squad to offer competition.
O'Reilly's Versatility
Aside from speed - and even then it's a pretty close battle - and more experience of being a defender, O'Reilly is ahead in every category. But his work further forward late in the game may have put ideas into Tuchel's head to use him as one of England's finishers rather than starters, using his energy later in the game to overpower tired defences and create more chances in the opposition box.
Much was made of how well the substitutes did in the first game against Croatia, and O'Reilly was the pick of the bunch against Ghana.
O'Reilly's Future Position
Speaking earlier in the week, O'Reilly spoke of how he still sees midfield as where he will end up playing. "I think in the future I will be back in midfield," he said. "My profile, everything fits there and maybe a box to box midfielder but left-back I have been enjoying it and it has got me here now to a World Cup."
Tuchel will have to consider how O'Reilly's profile fits into the England team for this tournament as he looks to put all of the pieces together. One thing that is clear from Tuesday night is that the 21-year-old definitely needs to be a key part of it.
