England manager Thomas Tuchel described his decision to start Dan Burn ahead of Jarrad Branthwaite in the 2-1 win over Croatia at Wembley as a "51% decision", while revealing that Eddie Howe's tactics influenced his team selection.
Burn, who played alongside Anthony Gordon, Lewis Hall and Elliot Anderson, was brought into a 4-3-3 formation for the UEFA Nations League fixture. The narrow victory set up a top-of-the-table meeting with Spain in Madrid on Sunday.
Tuchel on Burn's selection
Speaking after the match, Tuchel said: "Dan came late into the camp and Dan is just Dan. He is a fantastic guy to have, he is always a standard-setter in training."
"And he always lives up to the highest standards in terms of how to socialise on and off the pitch and how to get things going and push everyone. We opted for him, and it was maybe a 51% decision between him and Jarrad."
Tuchel explained that Burn's familiarity with his Newcastle United teammates was a factor: "We had some changes in the back four. We knew that Dan played in a similar kind of style to go into opponents' half, and a man-man, he played with Lewis Hall and Anthony Gordon and he did it for Eddie Howe in the Champions League."
"It was a similar approach so we thought it could help because we had new faces and new partnerships in the back four we went for him."
Burn's performance and Hall's progress
Despite the positive selection, Tuchel acknowledged Burn had a difficult moment in the match. Croatia's equaliser came from Petar Sucic after poor judgement from both Declan Rice and Jarell Quansah.
Tuchel said: "He had a bit of an awkward moment when we conceded the goal, a bit unlike him. But overall, a good performance, vocal and brave, and dangerous from our set plays, so well done."
When asked whether Lewis Hall was close to securing the left-back position ahead of Euro 2028, Tuchel responded: "He is doing what he needs to do, so keep going."
