ROY KEANE refused to big-up Thomas Tuchel after the new boss won his first two World Cup qualifying games in charge of England.
Tuchel became the first Three Lions gaffer since Fabio Capello to win his first two matches at the helm after beating Latvia 3-0 on Monday night.
Roy Keane said England’s performance against Latvia was nothing special
AFPThomas Tuchel watched on as England overcame mishaps to beat Latvia 3-0[/caption]
Reece James curled in an unstoppable 25-yard free-kick on his first international start in 18 months.
England had been frustrated by Latvia’s low block before Harry Kane scored his 71st goal for his country and Eberechi Eze bagged his first-ever.
Tuchel’s men enjoyed 27 shots to Latvia’s three, with eight of those on target, and sit at the top of Group K with six points.
But Keane – who was on pundit duties for ITV – wasn’t overly impressed and thought England should’ve put it too bed much earlier.
The 53-year-old told ITV: “If this was a school report, you’d give him a would be a C+.
“I think there’s a lot more to come from him. I think the two games on paper were very easy.
“It’s a great start for the manager, but you knew he was going to get the two victories, just look at the 27 shots tonight.
“There’s loads of bits to improve. The end product wasn’t that great but at least the subs came on and had an effect on the game.
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“But I thought it was OK. It was OK.”
The former Man Utd captain also laid into Jordan Pickford at half-time for his part in an embarrassing mix-up with Marc Guehi at 0-0.
Tuchel, who had kicked off with a 2-0 win over Albania on Friday night, had made four changes to his lineup.
James, Guehi, Jarrod Bowen and Morgan Rogers came into the XI, with Tuchel looking at other options.
Kyle Walker, Dan Burn, Curtis Jones and Phil Foden all dropped out, with the latter heavily criticised by Keane on Friday.
Mark Pougatch quizzed Keane and Ian Wright on rotation and a manager taking the chance to look at others or give stars rest.
And Keane’s reponse didn’t disappoint.
He said: “I’m a great believer in squad rotation. I believed in that … but once I played!” A laughing Pougatch asked “you didn’t believe it?”
“No, not in my position,” joked a smirking Keane, who added “You can rotate everybody else!
“Look, I see the bigger picture. But, what Ian just said, you do enough that you can’t leave me out. You rotate the others, not me!”
It was the first time in 33 years that an England side took to the pitch without a single player from Manchester United, Manchester City or Liverpool.
Coincidentally, it was also the first time in 33 years that an England defender scored from a direct free-kick at Wembley since Stuart Pearce against Turkey in 1992.
The Ireland legend also couldn’t resist a dig at Arsenal at half-time.
He praised Myles Lewis-Skelly for winning James’ free-kick in the 38th minute.
Keane joked: “Lewis-Skelly here…he’s obviously learned that well at Arsenal over the years. It’s a 50-50.”
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