Declan Rice's Tactical Shift at Right-Back: England's Game-Changer

On nights like this, games can tilt on a small idea. This one came from the assistant’s chair.

Thomas Tuchel revealed after the match that it was his trusted lieutenant Anthony Barry who spotted the tweak that changed England’s rhythm: Declan Rice, out of position, shunted to right-back.

“Anthony Barry had a brilliant idea to put Declan there,” Tuchel admitted, crediting his assistant for the late reshuffle that stiffened England’s right flank and sharpened their delivery from wide areas.

The logic was simple but ruthless: get Rice’s passing quality into wider zones, ask different questions of a tiring defence, and give Bukayo Saka the help he badly needed.

The effect was immediate. With Rice stepping out from the side, England began to whip in those awkward, outswinging crosses that defenders hate. The right side, previously patchy, suddenly had structure and bite. Saka found more space. Eberechi Eze, drifting and linking, finally had a stronger connection on that wing.

“To have his quality from the side, to get more difficult crosses in there, more difficult to defend, more crosses and outswingers,” Tuchel said, outlining exactly what Barry had seen. “Also have a bit more support for Bukayo and with Ebs we had a bit more of a connection on the right side that helped and opened it up. So full credit to my assistant.”

The tactical win was clear from the touchline. On the pitch, though, it felt very different.

For Rice, this was no comfortable experiment. The Arsenal midfielder admitted that those final minutes, thrown into an unfamiliar defensive role in the middle of a chaotic contest, were as draining as anything he has faced this season.

“It was probably the hardest 12 minutes of the game having a stint at right back,” he said afterwards.

And you could see why. The match had broken open, end to end, stretched into what he called “too much of a basketball match at times, back and forth,” with England desperately trying to slow the tempo against opponents armed with rapid wingers.

Rice’s task was brutal in its simplicity: shut down the flank, manage the transitions, and still offer enough composure on the ball to help England build the equaliser. He played a key part in that move, stepping into the build-up with the calm of a seasoned defender, not a midfielder thrown into the fire.

“I think we made more hard work of it than we needed to,” he admitted, a sharp assessment of a game that England allowed to become far more open than Tuchel would have liked.

This was not entirely alien territory. Rice has filled in on the right a handful of times for Arsenal this season, and he leaned on that experience. “I have played there two or three times this season, I know the role,” he said. Then came the honesty that defines him. “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 to sacrifice comfort for the team’s needs is exactly what coaches crave in tournament football. Systems bend, games fray, and someone has to plug the gap. On this night, that someone was Rice, dragged from the heart of midfield to the edge of the pitch, asked to think like a full-back while the match raged around him.

The gamble worked. England found their equaliser, the right side held firm, and Barry’s intervention from the bench earned full public praise from his manager.

As for Rice, he left the door open for a repeat – but only just. “Let’s see what happens next game,” he said with a smile, “but hopefully I don’t have to be at right back.”

Tuchel and Barry now know they have that card in the deck. The real question is how often they dare to play it.