Thomas Tuchel has been doing his best impression of a man trying to stay calm while quietly panicking, and honestly, who can blame him. The England head coach has told his squad to dream big ahead of the World Cup, which is the kind of bold, chest-out statement every manager makes. But in almost the same breath, he admitted that Bukayo Saka is being managed with a little bit of care, which is the kind of thing that makes England fans nervously check their phones at two in the morning.
Saka has been one of the best players in the Premier League for a couple of seasons now, and England's attack genuinely looks different without him. He is the sort of player who makes the team tick, the one who defenders have to account for even when he is not directly involved. Tuchel clearly knows this, which is why the careful management language is being used rather than anything more reassuring.
The worry for England supporters is that Saka has had his injury concerns over the past year or so, and arriving at a World Cup with a key player not quite at one hundred percent is far from ideal. It is not a disaster by any means, and plenty of teams have won tournaments with players carrying knocks, but it adds a layer of uncertainty that nobody really needs.
What Tuchel has done well here is manage expectations without completely dampening the mood. Telling England to dare to dream is smart because it gives the squad belief while keeping the pressure at a reasonable level. He is not promising anything, but he is not playing things down either. It is a decent tightrope walk from a manager still relatively new to international football.
Whether Saka comes through fully fit and firing will probably have a massive say in how far England go. If he is sharp and available, England have a real chance. If he is limping through games or sitting them out altogether, it gets a lot harder very quickly. Tuchel will know that better than anyone.
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