{"id":919,"date":"2026-03-31T18:31:17","date_gmt":"2026-03-31T18:31:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sportings.com.ng\/?p=919"},"modified":"2026-03-31T18:31:17","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T18:31:17","slug":"ben-white-gets-green-light-to-start-vs-japan-as-thomas-tuchel-admits-england-concern","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportings.com.ng\/?p=919","title":{"rendered":"Ben White gets green light to start vs Japan as Thomas Tuchel admits England concern"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"article-body\">\n<h2 class=\"LeadText_lead-text__wd_PA __className_cc3189\" data-testid=\"leadtext\">Arsenal defender Ben White made his England return as a substitute in the draw with Uruguay when some supporters booed him onto the field, but he is set to start against Japan<\/h2>\n<p><button type=\"button\" class=\"SlideViewerButton_slide-viewer-button__BDJoG\" aria-label=\"Open image viewer\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\" aria-controls=\"image-lightbox\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"ImageEmbed_image-embed__0T8WX ImageEmbed_image-lead__Ti3qQ\" data-testid=\"leadimage\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-articleid=\"36945154\">\n<div class=\"ImageEmbed_image-container__2AIQm\">\n<figure class=\"Figure_figure__Uce4f\" style=\"--figure-aspect-ratio:1.5\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Ben White is back in the England fold after being recalled by Thomas Tuchel\" loading=\"eager\" sizes=\"(max-width: 508px) 508px, (max-width: 615px) 615px, 1200px\" src=\"https:\/\/i2-prod.mirror.co.uk\/article36945154.ece\/ALTERNATES\/s1200f\/0_GettyImages-2268687614jpgWh.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i2-prod.mirror.co.uk\/article36945154.ece\/ALTERNATES\/s508\/0_GettyImages-2268687614jpgWh.jpg 508w, https:\/\/i2-prod.mirror.co.uk\/article36945154.ece\/ALTERNATES\/s615\/0_GettyImages-2268687614jpgWh.jpg 615w, https:\/\/i2-prod.mirror.co.uk\/article36945154.ece\/ALTERNATES\/s1200f\/0_GettyImages-2268687614jpgWh.jpg 1200w\"\/><\/figure>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"ImageCaption_caption__j7HRu\" data-testid=\"image-caption\">\n<p aria-label=\"Ben White is back in the England fold after being recalled by Thomas Tuchel\" class=\"ImageCaption_caption-title__ccyQU\" data-testid=\"caption-title\">Ben White is back in the England fold after being recalled by Thomas Tuchel<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<p><\/button><\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Ben White has been given the green light to start against Japan &#8211; even after being booed by England fans.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Arsenal defender White made his first appearance for England in three-and-a-half years against Uruguay after quitting the World Cup in 2022. White got booed even after scoring on Friday night and conceded a penalty but Thomas Tuchel insists that he has shown no bad reaction in training and he has also spoken to his teammates about the whole situation.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">England boss Tuchel said: \u201cHe has our support and I think he feels our support and the support from the group. I understand that it happened to some other players already and hopefully we got it out of our system and if he plays tomorrow, there&#8217;s a chance &#8211; because it would make sense to play a lot of players who have fresh legs and didn\u2019t start the first match.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">\u201cHe is one of them \u2013 and if he has a good training session he\u2019s in the mix. I\u2019m not involved in all the meetings and talks that go on without the coach and I was in a lot of meetings looking at Japan and stuff.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">&#8220;So I am not fully aware but I think so \u2013 that\u2019s my guess. He was good, again good in training and good in the group.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"HeadingThree_heading-three__PBHLs  __className_caa687\">Tuchel&#8217;s forward concerns<\/h3>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Tuchel has admitted that he is concerned about the output of his forwards.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">England captain Harry Kane is having another red-hot season with goals but Tuchel voiced concerns about the numbers of his other forwards like Bukayo Saka, Noni Madueke and Eberechi Eze among many others.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Three Lions boss Tuchel said: \u201cI understand the point. I love my players. I really love the quality of our players, especially the offensive players but the numbers, the pure numbers of our players on the wing and wherever \u2013 except for Harry \u2013 are not the outstanding numbers we would normally expect.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">\u201cSo what is the reason for that? Is it according to the league that the defenders are so strong that it\u2019s difficult and it\u2019s difficult to score and assist.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">\u201cI would love them to have more numbers, meaning Bukayo, Noni, Ebs, Anthony Gordon, even Cole Palmer, even Morgan Rogers. Not Jude but Phil Foden. Who is producing, like Harry, these outstanding numbers? Who\u2019s deciding games? It\u2019s just a fact and tells me that we have to do it as a team.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><span data-testid=\"readmore\" class=\"ReadMore_readmore-prefix__xS44r __className_13e0b4\">READ MORE<!-- -->: <span class=\"ReadMore_readmore-link__eF9pN\">Thomas Tuchel breaks down worrying Declan Rice issue as England boss makes World Cup admission<\/span><\/span><span data-testid=\"readmore\" class=\"ReadMore_readmore-prefix__xS44r __className_13e0b4\">READ MORE<!-- -->: <span class=\"ReadMore_readmore-link__eF9pN\">Euro 2028 tickets to cost less than a car park spot at World Cup as UEFA commit to pricing<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"HeadingThree_heading-three__PBHLs  __className_caa687\">Tuchel wary of elite<\/h3>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Tuchel admits England will not be among the \u201cheavy favourites\u201d at the World Cup because of their record against top opponents.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">The only top two teams England have failed to beat under Tuchel are Senegal and Uruguay and the England boss has therefore has yet to beat a side from the top 20. Japan are 19th in the FIFA rankings while England\u2019s first World Cup opponents Croatia are 11th.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Tuchel said: \u201cI wasn\u2019t aware but it plays to my narrative that we don\u2019t arrive as heavy favourites in America. It\u2019s just how it is. But we will arrive as competitors for the cup and we have the right to believe and to dream and we wanna make it possible.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">\u201cI wasn\u2019t aware and in tournaments it can be a huge factor that involvement in the league and cups can be very tiring. This is maybe one of the reasons in tournaments and we will face it. It\u2019s just the reality.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\"><em><a aria-label=\"\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/chat.whatsapp.com\/Feq1SEG6mXDIZGTTnek7oz\" rel=\"nofollow\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"\">Join our new WhatsApp community<\/a> and receive your daily dose of Mirror Football content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don&#8217;t like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you&#8217;re curious, you can read our <a aria-label=\"\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.reachplc.com\/site-services\/privacy-policy\" rel=\"nofollow\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"\">Privacy Notice.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Arsenal defender Ben White made his England return as a substitute in the draw with Uruguay when some supporters booed him onto the field, but he is set to start against Japan Ben White is back in the England fold after being recalled by Thomas Tuchel Ben White has been given the green light to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":920,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-919","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arsenal"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportings.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/919","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportings.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportings.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportings.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportings.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=919"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sportings.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/919\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportings.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/920"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportings.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=919"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportings.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=919"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportings.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=919"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}