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A 2-0 win over Panama was unremarkable, a 2-1 victory of Democratic Republic of Congo when coming back from a goal behind for the first time since England won the World Cup caused headlines, but still it feels like there is an England which has yet to appear at the World Cup.

Two goals in the last fifteen minutes from Harry Kane – his fourth and fifth of the tournament – clawed a victory from the African side who had caught Thomas Tuchel’s England unaware by breaking from their expected low block and playing with a healthy abandon. Brian Cipenga snuck between lines of players all confused as to who should be marking him, to blast a shot past Jordan Pickford in England’s goal after seven minutes.

Djed Spence took much of the criticism as Cipenga sloped in on the far side of the penalty area – and one is always going to be criticised for covering the man who did not score and leaving the man who did – but the goal was symbolic of a wider problem with the England team and the Elite Manager who has taken over.

Elite Manager is a curious phrase, and one which lack proper definition, but perhaps it is defined best in this game an in contrast to England’s last World Cup win over African opposition at the Al Bayt Stadium Qatar, against Senegal in which Gareth Southgate’s England seemed imaginative and unstoppable as opposed to Tuchel’s more rigid, and less creative outfit.

Elite

Tuchel set up his England team to play against a DR Congo side who would sit in a low block and try counter, in the same way that Ghana had done in the group game a week ago which ended 0-0. That DR Congo did not lay in the shape of the deceased that Tuchel draw out for them is what gave them an early advantage and shows the problem manager’s like Tuchel – and other Elites such Pep Guardiola, or Luis Enrique – have when they elevate managerial preparation to an art form as they do.

Indeed, in both the games with Panama and DR Congo Tuchel’s changes mid-game have been decisive. Bellingham’s shift in the final group game opened up a tough defence, and moving Declan Rice to the right back berth to create an Arsenal three of Bukayo Saka, Eberich Eze and Rice, paid huge dividends. Those gains though come at a tremendous cost.

That cost best illustrated in the game with Senegal four years ago where the admittedly better Senegal team challenged England with their own deep running and England’s eleven – Jude Bellingham especially impressive – were able to solve those problems in situ. Even Gareth Southgate’s fiercest critics would acknowledge that his great strength came from empowering his players.

Empower

Empowering them to challenge the fear that came with playing for the national team, empowering them to believe in their teammates, and empowering them to be able to solve problems on the field. As the fear was creeping back into Tuchel’s side – Marcus Rashford’s failed trap just before the first hydration break was straight from the 1-2 to Iceland – so is the sense of collective responsibility which came to fixing issues on the field when they arise.

If there is a problem on the field Harry Maguire is not there to fix it, or Jordan Henderson, or Kieran Tripper, or John Stones, but rather the chap that played left back for Spurs and a guy who was at Bristol Rovers under Joey Barton are waiting to find out what the Elite Manager is telling them they need to do, as for that matter are Jude Bellingham and Harry Kane.

This is not a criticism of the players for not rebelling as Uruguay’s side did under Marcelo Bielsa just a recognition that Tuchel has asked the England squad to buy into his methods and when his methods are misfiring, they await instructions.

Good

In both the games with DR Congo and Panama those instructions have come, and the fear has been banished for now at least, but dare one suggest that should England not win the World Cup the shape of the failure is already obvious, and it will be in the fact that as with Sven-Göran Eriksson’s exhausted England left looking to the Swede for how to beat Brazil in Japan 2002, so Tuchel’s side will be looking to the manager.

This is the reality of being good for England at the moment. The French come forward with a kind of mechanical flair which one can only dream about over the channel, but that should those players all enjoy a collective off day then Didier Deschamps has no system to impose to bring them to victory, no solution over and above “Allez sur le terrain et jouez” and if they are not champions that will be why.

Being good for England is about a manager solving problems – be must be thankful that he gets two mini-half times to do that – and the players trusting to his abilities. Jude Bellingham and Harry Kane are lorded as the most impressive forces in doing so because often Tuchel’s solutions are around finding some space to insert Bellingham into to allow him to provide a ball to Kane, and so they get the headlines while other struggle.

Immobile

Declan Rice looked immobile as Tuchel’s planning for the DR Congo team left him with far too much pitch to cover and too many options to try decide between. Rashford’s beat-the-man mantra is coming from the coach. For England being good is about doing what Thomas says, and one hopes that Thomas is able to afford the thanks for the players who are left exposed like pawns to be taken in the chess game the Elite Manager tries to make the game into.

It was said that England had to play better than they did against Panama to progress – which does not seem to have been borne out – but that misses the point. England will progress or not on how well the players play but on how well the follow the manager’s instructions and how those instructions are a guide to beating the opposition, starting with Mexico on Sunday night – or Monday morning – in the Azteca. How will the players cope with playing at altitude, how will they cope with the raucous home support, how will the deal with the ghost of Maradona?

Ask Thomas.

Messi

With Argentina on the mind one has to wonder what to make of Newspaper headlines such as Kane To The Rescue, Hero Harry To The Rescue, and Thank Heavens For King Harry which seem to separate England’s captain and probably most recognised player from the team. Lionel Messi has scored – at time of writing – six of Argentina’s eight goals and without him, the South Americans would have drawn blanks in the first two games but no one seems to especially think that he has “saved” Argentina so much as he is the focal point of the team. Messi is playing well, so Argentina are playing well, and so is it with Kane.

Indeed, it is hard to imagine that had England gone out to DR Congo Kane would have been seen as extra to the problem and removed rather than core to it, just as he is core to any success. This curious linguistic haunts football. DR Congo kept England at bay because of their goalkeeper Lionel Mpasi-Nzau as is Mpasi has been assigned to the Africans when they arrived at the stadium rather than being an integral part of the success they have had to get to the World Cup for the first time since 1974.

Jordan Pickford, on the other hand, should have saved Cipenga’s shot in the 7th minute given he is a goalkeeper “of the quality he is” which is a statement which boggles the mind. Given Jordan Pickford is as good as Jordan Pickford is, he should have played in a way he did not.

Enforced

Such was the pain of enforced Alan Shearer for an afternoon on the BBC with a side order of Wayne Rooney. The former judges everything any manager does against the barometer of how he would have liked the team he was in to play while the latter seems incapable of understanding what the role of analyst is, preferring to talk about his ever-changing mood around watching England.

At some point Wayne came in with a tactical point which – and one does not want to be cruel here – seemed to have been fed to him through an earpiece as he stumbled through the words of a sentence he did not understand.

This World Cup seems to signal something of a death knell for the way which football is presented. The pundit class are more concerned with creating themselves as characters from which to launch a thousand podcasts, and people who analyse games are occasionally are allowed out and impress. Osasu Obayiuwana’s high demands of African football contrast with Shearer’s lazy stereotyping. Perhaps Tuchel will win the World Cup? Perhaps former footballers will not be asked to describe their vibes following a game?

Anything is possible really, if you cross your fingers, close your eyes, and Ask Thomas.