Morgan Rogers can replace Anthony Gordon for England, says Gary Neville ahead of World Cup clash with Panama

Gary Neville believes that Morgan Rogers should come into the England team for the game against Panama in place of Anthony Gordon but is otherwise preaching calm after a frustrating goalless draw against Ghana at the World Cup.

England were held 0-0 in Group L as they failed to build on a thrilling 4-2 victory over Croatia in their World Cup opener. While progress to the knockout stages is assured, Neville makes the case for two changes to Thomas Tuchel's team against Panama.

"I do not want to pile in on Anthony Gordon because he is a really good player and, to be fair, he has had two difficult games. But I did not think that Marcus Rashford should have come on. I actually thought it should be Morgan Rogers," Gary Neville tells Sky Sports.

"We are talking about this Rogers or Jude Bellingham debate about who plays there. Well, Bellingham's going to play number 10. I actually like the idea of Rogers coming off that left-hand side. I think he's just got a little bit more.

"I don't mind [Eberechi] Eze there either, but I prefer Rogers just because he has got a little bit more legs in him. But I think someone who maybe can just sort of connect on that left-hand side a little bit better for us, someone with a little more game intelligence.

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"Rashford and Gordon are explosive. They're the players that, really, if you're counter-attacking, you'd want them on the pitch.

"But if Panama are going to be very difficult to break down, you are going to need players with a little bit more invention, a little bit more subtlety in the game. I think that is Rogers or Eze on that left-hand side. I don't think it's a Gordon or Rashford argument.

"If we were playing France or playing Spain, I would say Gordon or Rashford. But just because we are playing Panama, I would like to see Rogers off the left-hand side a little bit. I don't think it has to be that he plays in the centre. We can move him to the left.

"So I would like to see a little bit of a change there. I like Djed Spence a lot, I have a lot of time for him. I can see that he works hard. But I think Nico O'Reilly would probably come back in. So I would like to see Nico O'Reilly and Morgan Rogers off that left-hand side.

"The rest of the team, I'm pretty comfortable leaving it as it is. I don't think you should throw the baby out with the bathwater just because you've not been able to break Ghana down."

Verdict on the draw with Ghana

Neville was not particularly surprised that England struggled to find a way past Ghana, having worked with their head coach Carlos Queiroz before. The Portuguese has a reputation for being defensively-minded and was seen as instrumental in Manchester United's 2008 Champions League success as an assistant to Sir Alex Ferguson.

"I didn't get hugely excited after the Croatia game, and I don't get actually that down after the Ghana game. Carlos Queiroz was our coach at United for two or three years. There aren't many better at organising a team defensively than him.

"Against [Lionel] Messi, [Thierry] Henry and Ronaldinho in 2008, Manchester United kept a clean sheet against them for 180 minutes because he orchestrated the performance. That is what he does; he's a brilliant defensive coach. So when Thomas Tuchel after the match said that he wasn't surprised by the outcome of the game, I think he knew it was going to be really tough.

"We knew before the tournament that Thomas Tuchel had selected a profile of his squad that was quick runners on the outside that ran past Harry Kane, and that maybe players that played in pockets and were a little bit more creative like [Phil] Foden and [Morgan] Gibbs-White and [Cole] Palmer, they were being left behind.

"Probably because of form, but also just because of their profile not fitting what Thomas Tuchel wanted. So I don't think it was a huge surprise, the game against Ghana. What I think England will do is learn from that game against Ghana.

"Maybe put more crosses in, get more bodies in the box earlier in the game. I am not saying throw the kitchen sink but take a few more risks and make sure our set pieces are better. I thought our set pieces against Ghana were the most disappointing thing."

Are England better against better teams?

Given that England appeared much less effective when breaking down a low block, there is a feeling that Tuchel's team might fare better in the latter stages of the tournament. The top teams are unlikely to focus on defending as deep as Ghana did.

"When Croatia started high pressing against us, I suspect at that point Thomas Tuchel and his coaching staff were rubbing their hands because when you go punch for punch against a team, I think we're quite good at that, we can take anybody on.

"You saw the electricity in our counter-attacks, you saw the way in which we flooded forward from deep positions. The Croatia game was perfect for us. A team that maybe haven't got the physicality and organisation of Ghana, going punch for punch.

"But there were little things in that performance that would worry me. I know it was a great game to watch, and for the neutral it was exciting. But the coaches might have liked parts of the Ghana game a lot better than the Croatia game.

"If you remember Anthony Barry's interview at half-time against Croatia, he was angry. And I was a little bit worried about how vulnerable we were. So let's not rewrite history and think that everything was perfect against Croatia. It wasn't.

"What we have got to do is get the balance of the electricity that we had against Croatia in those 20-minute periods, and then get that defensive organisation and better control that we had against Ghana."

Are England missing Palmer's creativity?

The omission of a number of key creative players was the major talking point when Tuchel named his squad and that chatter has inevitably increased after failing to score against Ghana. Neville believes this is the price that Tuchel must pay for his controversial call.

"We said after the game that this will be the beginning of the 'we should have brought Cole Palmer' conversation. Thomas Tuchel has set himself up, and he knows this.

"He is experienced enough to know that if England don't succeed in this tournament and they fall short in terms of creativity in moments against big teams, he will be criticised for leaving the players at home that he did, [Morgan] Gibbs-White and Palmer.

"Not so much Phil Foden. I think people were pretty unified that he shouldn't come because of the form of the season. But the other two, I think there was debates whether we should take them in a 26-man squad.

"I do think that Cole Palmer and Morgan Gibbs-White, in a 26-man squad, you should probably have them there. But he was very definite about what he wanted. He wanted a certain profile of player.

"And I'm not surprised that that conversation has begun after Ghana, that Cole Palmer should be here because he would have been able to open up and unlock that Ghana defence.

"It's a bit too early for that right now. But yeah, it's something that's going to come back. Thomas Tuchel's going to have to face that criticism and that scrutiny if obviously England don't progress in the tournament and fail to score in certain matches."

Rice injury is a worry for England

Declan Rice appears to managing an injury. He was withdrawn against Croatia and was seen with strapping after the Ghana game. The Arsenal midfielder has described his own schedule as 'obscene' having made 55 appearances for the Gunners this past season.

Neville believes that losing Rice would be a major blow.

"After the first game, when he was substituted, when we were only one goal up, we were 3-2 up against Croatia, he came off with 60-odd minutes gone. When Thomas Tuchel brought him off, I was worried. I said it pretty quickly. Declan Rice doesn't come off.

"Steven Gerrard doesn't come off for Liverpool. Roy Keane doesn't come off for Manchester United. Patrick Vieira doesn't come off for Arsenal. When you're 3-2 up in the first game of a World Cup, they only come off if there is a problem.

"So I never bought into this idea that we were managing his minutes, we were looking after him. I think Declan Rice has got a little bit of discomfort there. In my experience, these players are the ever-presents, the constants, the ones everybody looks up to.

"I was worried after that first game. I'm equally as worried now. Because Declan Rice, along with [Jordan] Pickford and [Harry] Kane is one of the three that we can't really replace. The rest of the squad, there isn't that big a dip in quality if they are injured."

"Declan Rice is a concern for me because he's so important to us."

What should England be working on now?

Whatever happens next, England will need to improve if they are to win the World Cup for the first time since 1966. How do they do that? Asked what he thinks Tuchel will be working on in training, Neville pointed to set pieces as a key aspect to focus on.

"I just think working on set pieces, working through four or five different treatments of corners and set pieces, wide free-kicks, that would be something that they'll be doing, I'm sure. They've obviously worked on it before the tournament.

"If you think how many set pieces England are going to get… I mean, I actually thought that we worked a really good one the other night, and I thought Elliot Anderson's header at the back post, I thought he should have done a lot better with that."

"Patterns of play, combinations in wide areas, how they get into those areas to get deliveries into the box and more importantly how do we get two things - how do we get those bodies in the box whilst not exposing ourselves to the counter-attack?

"Against deep defences - Ghana, Panama, and we may face it again in the last 32 - set pieces are going to be really important. That unlocks the door for us. But how do we get into wide areas when the team's so compact and narrow that we're playing against?

"How do we get around them and how do we put balls into the box and get what will be good runs in there and fill the box? So for me, they would be the things that I thought we should maybe do a little bit better against Ghana that we didn't."

(c) Sky Sports 2026: Morgan Rogers can replace Anthony Gordon for England, says Gary Neville ahead of World Cup clash with Panama