Tuchel Praises Barry's Tactic with Rice at Right-Back

Tuchel hails Barry brainwave as Rice survives “hardest 12 minutes” at right-back

Thomas Tuchel did not try to claim this one as his own. The key tweak, the one that dragged England’s right flank into the game, came from his assistant.

Anthony Barry spotted it. Declan Rice at right-back. A midfielder shoved into the line of fire to change the angles, change the crosses, change the contest.

“Anthony Barry had a brilliant idea to put Declan there,” Tuchel admitted, as quoted by The Sun. He wanted Rice’s delivery from the side, those awkward outswingers that defenders hate, and a stronger presence behind Bukayo Saka.

The logic was simple, the impact obvious. With Rice sliding across, England suddenly had a different rhythm down that side. The quality of the balls from wide areas improved, the right flank stopped creaking, and Saka no longer looked so isolated.

“To have his quality from the side, to get more difficult crosses in there, more difficult to defend, more crosses and outswingers,” Tuchel said. The switch also knitted things together further up the pitch. “Also have a bit more support for Bukayo [Saka] and with Ebs [Eze] we had a bit more of a connection on the right side that helped and opened it up. So full credit to my assistant.”

It was a coaching win on the touchline. On the pitch, though, it asked a lot of Rice.

The Arsenal midfielder admitted that those closing stages, thrown into an unfamiliar defensive role in a game that had turned wild, pushed him to his limit.

“It was probably the hardest 12 minutes of the game having a stint at right back,” Rice said afterwards. The match had broken loose, end to end, frantic. “In games like that it was probably too much of a basketball match at times, back and forth, and we had to take the sting out of it because they have fast wingers.”

Rice still found time to play a key part in the build-up to the equaliser, showing the composure and presence that make him such a central figure for club and country. But the demands of defending one-on-one in space, under pressure, in a role that is not second nature, took their toll.

“I think we made more hard work of it than we needed to,” he admitted. “I have played there two or three times this season, I know the role, it is probably not my biggest strength but to do anything for the team and the manager. 12 minutes left I said I would do my best and I think I did well there.”

That willingness is exactly why Barry’s idea could be executed on the fly. No fuss, no drama, just a senior player dragged out of his comfort zone for the sake of the system.

Rice laughed off the prospect of a repeat assignment, but did not shut the door on it either. “Let’s see what happens next game but hopefully I don’t have to be at right back.”

England now know they have an emergency solution tucked away on that flank. The question is whether Tuchel and Barry see it as a one-off escape route, or a card they are ready to play again when the stakes rise.