‘England show Tuchel’s search for thrills will be no quick fix’

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'England show Tuchel's search for thrills will be no quick fix' Tuchel has been firing off positive messages since delivering a damning verdict on England's Euro 2024 campaign under predecessor Gareth Southgate, which he claimed lacked intensity, identity and hunger. During the routine 3-0 win over a Latvia side ranked 140th in the world, it was clear Tuchel's intended transformation would not be a quick fix - because this was more of the same laboring old England seen so often under Southgate. As they have done so many times before, the Three Lions finally overcame gallant but limited opposition after struggling for long periods to make the most of their superiority, too often pedestrian and too often failing to transform good positions into goals. There was the traditional Wembley backdrop of paper airplanes - with the first hitting the turf after 14 minutes as opposed to 33 against Albania - the Mexican wave and the thousands of empty seats well before the final whistle. And there were even the old frustrations that have surfaced before in this type of attritional fixture, with Jude Bellingham - who was already on a yellow card - fortunate referee Orel Grinfeld took a lenient view of his reckless second-half challenge on Raivis Jurkovskis. England got there in the end, as they always do in these qualifiers, with Reece James illuminating his first international start since September 2022 with a superb free-kick seven minutes from half-time to break the deadlock. Latvia, unsurprisingly, barely left their half after the break, and England put the result beyond doubt with two goals in eight minutes.

Thomas Tuchel wants England’s brave new era to bring thrills and excitement, but he has swiftly discovered that if you have seen one England qualifier you have almost seen them all.

Tuchel has been firing off positive messages since delivering a damning verdict on England’s Euro 2024 campaign under predecessor Gareth Southgate, which he claimed lacked intensity, identity and hunger.

During the routine 3-0 win over a Latvia side ranked 140th in the world, it was clear Tuchel’s intended transformation would not be a quick fix – because this was more of the same laboring old England seen so often under Southgate.

As they have done so many times before, the Three Lions finally overcame gallant but limited opposition after struggling for long periods to make the most of their superiority, too often pedestrian and too often failing to transform good positions into goals.

There was the traditional Wembley backdrop of paper airplanes – with the first hitting the turf after 14 minutes as opposed to 33 against Albania – the Mexican wave and the thousands of empty seats well before the final whistle.

And there were even the old frustrations that have surfaced before in this type of attritional fixture, with Jude Bellingham – who was already on a yellow card – fortunate referee Orel Grinfeld took a lenient view of his reckless second-half challenge on Raivis Jurkovskis.

England got there in the end, as they always do in these qualifiers, with Reece James illuminating his first international start since September 2022 with a superb free-kick seven minutes from half-time to break the deadlock.

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Latvia, unsurprisingly, barely left their half after the break, and England put the result beyond doubt with two goals in eight minutes.

Captain Harry Kane scored his 71st goal in 105 international appearances with a simple tap-in after 68 minutes and substitute Eberechi Eze added the hosts’ third with a deflected shot.

It’s all very routine. All very England when it comes to qualifiers – as it should be against a country ranked between Burundi and the Dominican Republic on Fifa’s list.