Sport

England have gone backwards under Thomas Tuchel with the Three Lions boss facing more questions

Thomas Tuchel promised a relaunch. After a difficult June international break which raised questions over England’s direction under the German, Tuchel wanted the World Cup qualifiers against Andorra and Serbia to mark the start of a new phase for his team. That promise, however, went unfulfilled on Saturday.

 

England got the job done. They claimed three points against Andorra at Villa Park, but struggled to find the sort of attacking threat and creativity Tuchel had implied his team would demonstrate. Against a team ranked 174th in the world, the Three Lions failed to show any bite in the final third.

 

Marcus Rashford barely registered on the left wing. The on-loan Manchester United attacker has suffered a slow start to life at Barcelona this season and was lethargic and ineffective against Andorra. Ebere Eze, deployed as a number 10, was another high-level player who struggled to make much of an impact.

 

Harry Kane started and played the full 90 minutes, but never looked likely to find the back of the net. Noni Madueke showed glimpses of his ability on the right wing, but was never fully unleashed on an extremely limited Andorra defence. Anthony Gordon, Morgan Gibbs-White and Morgan Rogers didn’t make much of an impact off the bench either.

 

“I think the energy was right, the quality was there and we should’ve scored more in the match,” said Tuchel after the 2-0 win over Andorra which kept England on the right path towards World Cup qualification. “After the first goal, we had ten or 15 minutes with too many ball losses.

 

“We lost a bit of focus and concentration, but in the second half we found it again and created a lot of chances and like I said, should’ve scored more. I think we missed the little moments to accelerate the game. We should’ve scored maybe the second one earlier because the second goal gave us a lot of freedom and players moved more freely and a bit more confident.”

 

Gareth Southgate departed his position as England manager amid a mood that supporters were ready for the handbrake to be taken off the national team. The Three Lions made two major tournament finals under Southgate, but struggled to impose their own game on high-calibre opponents.

 

This is why Tuchel was hired. The former Bayern Munich, Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain manager was appointed on the back of his success in the club game in the belief that his methods and ideas would translate well to the international level. So far, though, this hasn’t been the case.

 

If anything, England have gone backwards under Tuchel. Under Lee Carsley, there was a sense that the national team was moving on from the Southgate era in a meaningful way. The Under-21 coach attempted some new things and made some progress in making England more secure in possession.

 

Tuchel, however, has gone back to the foundation Southgate built by bringing back the likes of Jordan Henderson and Kyle Walker. England are currently playing the sort of insipid football they were known for under Southgate with the outlook ahead of the 2026 World Cup somewhat bleak.

 

There’s still time for Tuchel to change the tone around the national team before next summer’s tournament. England could produce a brilliant, attack-minded performance against Serbia to all but secure World Cup qualification and prove they are heading in the right direction under their new manager.

 

As things stand, though, it’s difficult to envisage that happening. There is a malaise around the England squad right now that Tuchel is finding difficult to shift. Far from being a relaunch, the performance against Andorra was proof that the Three Lions are in the same place as they ever were.