Pickford warns World Cup rivals England's bench depth is a 'killer' after Croatia rout

Jordan Pickford has declared England’s squad depth a psychological weapon for their World Cup rivals, after a second-half blitz from Tuchel’s substitutes secured a 4-2 victory over Croatia in their Group Stage opener at AT&T Stadium in Dallas.

Thomas Tuchel introduced Bukayo Saka, Marcus Rashford, and Morgan Rogers in the closing stages, with Djed Spence and Marc Guehi also coming off the bench to underline England’s options. Pickford believes the sight of that calibre of player still to come will weigh heavily on any opponent.

“We’ve got attacking options coming on, and you see the likes of Djed Spence coming on defensively,” Pickford told the FA’s Lions’ Den show. “We can break it up, Reece going into midfield. We’ve got variation all over the pitch, but for me it’s refreshing. We know what we can do with and without the ball, but I think for the opposition it’s a killer.”

The England goalkeeper added that seeing the quality emerging from the dugout would inevitably affect the opposition’s mindset. “You see the types of ability coming on the pitch, off the bench. I think it’s just going to drop their shoulders and take a deep breath. But that’s why we’re here, that’s why the manager picked the 26 he’s picked. Everyone is ready on the training pitch. Only 11 can start but that’s the impact we can have.”

Ahead of the Croatia match, England also played a behind-closed-doors friendly against local side Sporting KC, with Ivan Toney scoring a hat-trick and Rogers and Ollie Watkins also on target — further evidence of the firepower available to Tuchel.

Pickford also reflected on the significance of the opening result, suggesting Croatia may prove to be England’s stiffest test of the group stage. “Everyone always says in tournament football the first game’s the most important to win and the hardest one to win,” he said. “We’ve played Croatia a lot over the years and we know they’re a top nation, so we needed to be on our A game.”

Despite conceding twice, Pickford was broadly satisfied with England’s performance and believes the squad will draw confidence from both the result and the manner of the victory. “As a collective, we’ll take a lot of positives from it,” he said.