Thomas Tuchel unhappy with 'slow' play and lack of 'movement' in England win over Latvia - 'Makes no sense'
Updated 25/03/2025 at 08:26 GMT
England made it two wins from two in FIFA World Cup qualifying as they beat Latvia 3-0 at Wembley. New England manager Thomas Tuchel was generally more impressed with the performance than Friday's showing against Albania, but said England's slow pace in the second half did not make sense before a vital burst of acceleration from Declan Rice created their second goal.
Tuchel hails ‘amazing’ Lewis-Skelly but admits Rashford and Foden ‘not as impactful’
Video credit: SNTV
England manager Thomas Tuchel says his team's second-half approach against Latvia did not make sense, but was much happier with a burst of "acceleration" from Declan Rice that put them back on the right track.
Tuchel's team beat Latvia 3-0 in Monday's World Cup qualifier at Wembley, in his second match in charge.
Reece James scored the first with a stunning free-kick, Harry Kane then made it 2-0 - a goal created by Rice - before a late deflected solo effort from Eberechi Eze applied the gloss.
Tuchel was generally more enthused than he was following his first game in the hot seat - when England beat Albania 2-0 on Friday - but he was not satisfied with everything he saw.
"Especially in the second half, we started a little bit to slow the game down and played too much without movement, which makes no sense," Tuchel told ITV. "We didn't want to do this.
"The second goal was well-worked, because we had some acceleration from a position where they didn't expect it.
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"We had the front five, but the acceleration came from one of our sixes, from Declan, into the space.
"We encourage everyone to have these - with Reece, Myles [Lewis-Skelly] and Declan - to have these late accelerations.
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Foden, Rashford have 'every right to be positive' despite Albania struggles - Tuchel
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"We struggled a little bit until the goal, but you saw also what the goal gave us, a lot of freedom and a little bit of excitement and everything felt a little bit easier after that."
England toiled until James lit up the evening with a stunning free-kick on 38 minutes.
The Chelsea defender was making his first start for England since September 2022, and Tuchel - who knows the player well from his time as manager at Stamford Bridge - was full of praise.
"I know Reecey and the quality the boy has is amazing," Tuchel said.
"He has every right to be proud and happy with his performance. He is in excellent shape. He looks sharp, in shape and the quality there can be [in] no doubt."
Tuchel has the passion, says captain Kane
England captain Kane says Tuchel has "brought the passion" to his new job.
Kane was on target at Wembley, scoring the second goal of England's three in their win over Latvia.
And he could hardly be more enthused about the man who has been given the task of winning the 2026 World Cup.
"Thomas Tuchel is fantastic, he has settled in straight away. He is a pleasure to work for, he has brought the passion," Kane said.
The Bayern Munich star also believes England turned in a better performance than against Albania as they made it two wins from two games in World Cup qualifying.
"I think there were more patterns of play, more chances than Friday," Kane added.
"But again it was tough, playing against 11 behind the ball. Overall, we can be pleased with two wins and two clean sheets. We had to be patient."
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