THOMAS TUCHEL got his reign as England boss underway with two wins and two clean sheets.
Victories over Albania and Latvia at Wembley ensured the Three Lions made the perfect start to their World Cup 2026 qualifying campaign.
GettyMyles Lewis-Skelly became the youngest senior England debutant to score[/caption]
GettyThomas Tuchel made the perfect start to life as England manager[/caption]
Harry Kane found the net in both wins while Reece James’ free-kick and an Eberechi Eze finish was enough to see of Latvia.
Against Albania, meanwhile, Myles Lewis-Skelly became the youngest player to score on his senior England debut aged just 18 years and 176 days.
But what else did we learn from the German boss’ opening fixtures in charge?
SunSport’s tactical guru Dean Scoggins gives the breakdown in the latest episode of Tactics Exposed…
1. COVERING THE MYLES
It was a brave call but I expected Lewis-Skelly to start at left-back. He has been fantastic for Arsenal.
He played two different roles in the two matches. In the first, he played as a conventional left-back, much more up the outside.
That allowed the wingers to come off the wing and that’s where he got his goal, overlapping and latching on to Jude Bellingham’ magical pass.
Against Latvia, Lewis-Skelly played a bit more like he does for Arsenal as an inverted left-back, getting on the ball more in midfield positions.
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SunSportLewis-Skelly played two different full-back roles[/caption]
SunSportAgainst Albania he stayed wide – which is how he got his goal[/caption]
SunSportHe played inverted against Latvia[/caption]
SunSportThat saw him pick the ball up in midfield[/caption]
SunSportReece James can do both on the other side[/caption]
Tuchel trusted an 18-year-old to do that – he is confident in Lewis-Skelly.
On the other side, Tuchel loves Reece James and he is a player comfortable coming inside or around the outside.
I love his dynamism, physicality and he can be as good as Trent Alexander-Arnold from a dead-ball situation.
2. RICE… NAUGHTY AND NICE
Declan Rice is a fabulous football and one of the first names on the team sheet but it was a bit of a conundrum in these games.
He became almost a bit of a problem where the midfield gets so congested and the two No10s are in the areas where he likes to run forward into.
He becomes the bonafide No6 but the best parts of his game are not his quick one-touch passes through the lines.
SunSportDeclan Rice played as the solo No6[/caption]
SunSportHe struggled to have the impact he would have wanted[/caption]
SunSportRice often found himself in the way[/caption]
SunSportThe Arsenal man could not play to his strengths[/caption]
SunSportThe spaces he usually runs into were already occupied[/caption]
SunSportHis underlapping run teed up Harry Kane’s goal[/caption]
It felt like Rice was playing a bit-part role, sitting there in case England lost possession. He was wasted and I was shouting, ‘Get out of the way!’
In the second match, though, he makes the driving underlap run for that brilliant assist for Kane.
Tuchel is thinking about his team at the World Cup and obviously Rice plays – but they need to figure out how to use him against lesser opposition.
3. IMPERFECT TENS
Tuchel has to shape the team around the talisman Bellingham – he is the best English player in Europe.
Bellingham showed his quality to unlock Albania with that amazing pass.
He grew up playing football with Morgan Rogers but that chemistry between them at international level needs a bit of work.
They were getting in each others’ way and there was a lot of pointing – it was like a traffic jam.
Albeit that was against teams that parked the bus.
SunSportThe No10s lacked fluency with lots of players taking up similar positions[/caption]
SunSportThey were often in each others’ way[/caption]
SunSportJarrod Bowen tends to drift infield[/caption]
SunSportThe central areas got overoccupied – even without Cole Palmer in the team[/caption]
Phil Foden came out of the congested area for the Eze goal which was very clever.
Plus you have to throw Cole Palmer in there when he is fit and Bukayo Saka will be on the right.
Tuchel knows he cannot take them all but it’s not a bad problem to have as a manager choosing between Bellingham, Foden, Palmer and Rogers.
4. GIVE PACE A CHANCE
Obviously Saka will come back in. He is England’s best winger and he was really missed.
I was a bit disappointed by Marcus Rashford’s ambition and that may be to do with confidence.
He had a lot of tactical instructions to deal with and he did them. The interchange with Bellingham and Lewis-Skelly was really good.
The enormous frustration with Rashford is that he doesn’t beat his man – he is one-v-one against a Latvian full-back with a massive space in behind.
Either play a one-two and go or beat him with his first touch.
Tuchel gave him two opportunities by starting him in both matches – he needed the wingers to keep their width against Latvia to allow space for the inverted full-backs to come inside.
His darting run stretches the defence which allows Rice to set up the Kane goal.
SunSportMarcus Rashford, Jude Bellingham and Lewis-Skelly rotated down the left[/caption]
SunSportThe on-loan Aston Villa refused to take on his full-back[/caption]
SunSportHe stretched the Latvia defence before the Kane goal[/caption]
It was half good and half not quite so positive from Rashford.
Bowen and Rashford naturally come inside with their first touch but I was impressed by Eze, he ran at his full-back and we saw what happened.
5. KEEP CALM AND HARRY ON
Kane is my favourite ever footballer and I marvel at him. Anyone who has the nerve to suggest he shouldn’t play for England doesn’t watch enough football.
Yes, he scores lots of goals against Albanians and Latvians.
But away from his ability to finish – who else is scoring those goals? – it is his movement that is why he scores all those goals.
The finish against Latvia is easy but it’s the movement before anybody else that makes it – it is top level.
GettyKane appeared to have a simple tap-in[/caption]
SunSportIt was his movement that made the goal look easy[/caption]
SunSportHe drifted out at the back post to create space[/caption]
AlamyKane produced a stunning finish against Albania[/caption]
He knows where the ball will end up and is the only one around the back post to tap it in.
The goal against Albania was utter genius.
Most people take the shot early and it hits the defender. Not Harry Kane.
He pauses for a split second and he side-foots it into the corner.
If we are going to win a major tournament, it will be with Kane in the team.
He played more as an out-and-out No9 in these games but his natural instinct is still to link the play.
He is the best passer in the team. He is the best finisher in the team.
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