England’s new head coach Thomas Tuchel slid into his technical area almost unnoticed after the deafening fanfare that greeted the start of his reign at Wembley.
He missed fireworks, pyrotechnics, a deafening drum-and-bass track commissioned in his honour by the Football Association entitled “Thomas Tuchel’s Army”, plus a giant banner stretching across one end of the stadium welcoming him to “The Home of Football”.
Tuchel’s own entrance was a low-key affair, setting the tone for a low-key occasion for Gareth Southgate’s successor. The excitement and intensity the German promised will have to wait for another day after this scrappy 2-0 World Cup qualifying win over Albania.
In an unflattering review of England’s Euro 2024 campaign – widely interpreted as criticism of Southgate and the team beaten by Spain in the final – Tuchel claimed it was missing “intensity, clarity, identity, repetition of patterns, expression of players and hunger”.
In this game, at least, there was little to distinguish Tuchel’s England from Southgate’s, his search for thrills thwarted by Albania’s lack of ambition, a reluctance to leave their own half and his own team’s lack of fluency and rhythm.
A win is a win, however, and this is what Tuchel has been appointed to do, in the short-term against Albania and Latvia here on Monday – and in the long-term at next year’s World Cup.
On the pitch? Work to do, but still early days
Tuchel went for a 4-2-3-1 formation, with Manchester City’s Phil Foden on the right and on-loan Aston Villa attacker Marcus Rashford on the left, which did not prove a roaring success.
After the game England’s new boss said “we hope for more impact in these positions” and that “they were not as decisive as they can be”.
But the decision to give Arsenal left-back Myles Lewis-Skelly a debut was a masterstroke as he became the youngest player to score on his senior England debut, aged 18 years and 176 days.
Dan Burn, another making his first appearance at 32, almost repeated his goalscoring feats for Newcastle United in the Carabao Cup final against Liverpool when he headed against the bar in the first half, but looked laboured and vulnerable when Albania substitute Armando Broja ran at him late on.
Tuchel laid down his template by insisting he wants more intensity, more touches in the opponents’ box and more ball recoveries in the opponents’ half. By this measure there is work to do, but this is early days.
England had 34 touches in Albania’s box compared to 44 in interim manager Lee Carsley’s last game against the Republic of Ireland in November, winning back possession in the final third four times as opposed to six, enjoying 74.2% possession against 73.6%.
This should all be placed in the context of an Albanian strategy which effectively consisted of building the lowest of blocks to frustrate England.
It is too early to detect any sort of identity as, in many ways, this was more of the same that went before, but it was easy to detect what Tuchel likes and wants from his body language.
Off the pitch? Calm & measured on uneventful night
In the opening stages, he twice broke into animated applause when England pressurised Albania into errors – the first occasion when they stole possession and on another when intensity forced the visitors to pass the ball into touch.
Tuchel was equally enthusiastic when England pounced to pinch the ball back. This was the intensity he wanted and will expect more of in the future.
It was all accompanied by tic-tac arm-waving, but mostly he was a calm, measured figure, although there was little to get excited about for long spells.
Tuchel was not a permanent presence on the touchline, taking his seat after 14 minutes, remaining there for three minutes, occasionally in discussion with his staff, before returning pitch-side.
He greeted the first goal of his reign, slipped home by Lewis-Skelly from Jude Bellingham’s incisive pass, with a pump of his fist and a big smile – but it was quickly down to business as he delivered some lengthy instructions to goalkeeper Jordan Pickford.
Tuchel also soon became acquainted with one of Wembley’s more recent traditions, the paper aeroplanes that fly during periods of inactivity. The first one landed near him after 33 minutes.
Tuchel has shown he is not too proud to use the physical presence and set-piece prowess he believes bring the strengths of the Premier League to England, selecting the physicality and aerial power of 6ft 7in Burn ahead of the more technically gifted Crystal Palace defender Marc Guehi, who was arguably England’s best performer at the Euros.
When the Three Lions won three successive corners in the first half, a line of players formed – a ploy known variously as “the bus stop” or “the love train” – but there was only one target for Declan Rice’s delivery – the giant figure of Burn.
It was the most obvious of plans, but almost worked as he rose above Albania’s defenders to crash a header against the bar.
Tuchel only lost his composure once, when he berated the officials for not awarding a foul when Rashford was barged to the ground in front of him, but this was an uneventful night and a routine win.
As for the rest? England meet the brief – win
No serious clues were offered about any revolutionary moves Tuchel might have up his sleeve, although he will yearn for a swift return to fitness for Bukayo Saka given Foden’s disappointing performance in the position the Arsenal winger would normally occupy.
One area Tuchel is keen to develop is the “interactions” between England’s players on the field, effectively moments where they encourage each other, showing a bond of togetherness.
When he addressed the players at St George’s Park on Monday, he presented them with data that showed there were 60 such interactions in the first half of the Euros final against Spain in Berlin, but only 35 after half-time when they conceded the goals that saw them slip to a 2-1 defeat.
This was not a night when interactions or high-fives were the order of the day. It was more a simple case of ‘job done’. Although Pickford did celebrate – and at great length with much enthusiasm – when defender Ezri Konsa pulled off a superb covering tackle as Albania’s Jasir Asani raced through with the chance of an unlikely equaliser.
Tuchel’s plain speaking is already a contrast to the measured, almost diplomatic, words of Southgate and he made his feelings clear once more when he said: “We can do better, we have to do better.”
When it was all over, the first three points secured, Tuchel made a swift exit down Wembley’s tunnel, leaving his players to conduct a lap of appreciation – although thousands of fans had drifted away well before the end.
This was not a night that carried the air of a glorious new era, but Tuchel has been brought to England with a simple brief – win.
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