New Delhi: Thomas Tuchel opened his tenure as England manager with a win over Albania in the World Cup qualifiers. By the looks of it, the Three Lions had vestiges of Gareth Southgate’s style of football under the German tactician. England had a lot of possession and won by a couple of goals. A win at the qualifiers means less in terms of bringing home the title.
England’s aim is to win the World Cup, which is set to happen in the United States, Canada, and Mexico next summer. They do have a squad that has all the potential to make them contenders. If they don’t face an upset, England’s real test will be when next year they play a team like Argentina or Spain. Both of these sides have equal or more talent in their squad.
Before that, they will have quite a few games with weaker teams and Southgate’s England had been great against such teams for a while, scoring 39 goals during the ten qualifier games. However, in the tournament, their journey was till the quarter-finals where they lost against France. For the 2010 World Cup qualifiers, Fabio Capello’s team scored 34 times in the ten qualifiers before a dismal outing in South Africa. Which is why it is irrelevant how many goals they can score in these qualifiers.
For Tuchel, England must reach the World Cup, with teams like Serbia not easy opponents. His other job is to build a side that can take on the challenge of playing the big teams in the crucial stages of the tournament. Much of this of course will happen in the training pitch. Tuchel needs to have a plan in place that he can improvise upon and maybe change to when in need.
Experts have said that Tuchel needs to have an environment for such a big tournament for the road to glory. World Cup cannot be won with hitting form right before the tournament.
England far from playing a perfect game against Albania
Tuchel in the post-game accepted that the game was not perfect, mentioning that the side didn’t move the ball as quickly as he would have preferred nor did they wide quick enough or not at the frequency to make the play stretch. Tuchel also had a couple of complaints of defensive nervousness, partly out of overcommitting against a much more passive opposition. Still, the game was good enough, giving the 51-year-old hope.
England may have gone to the final in Euros 2024, it may have been Southgate’s worst tournament ever. They had quite a few problems, though picking a left-back may have solved the trouble at that spot. England’s two major problems now remain that they lack a player who can sit deep in the midfield, break up attacks from the opposition and control the pace of the game.
It would balance the midfield which already has Declan Rice and Jude Bellingham. Curtis Jones could be one option though he naturally likes to push higher. There were still instances where Albania were able to break into spaces where a midfielder like Toni Kroos or Rodri would be playing.
The biggest drawback in Euros 2024 was that Harry Kane just didn’t fit with the players behind him, which coupled with his poor fitness as well. Kane has the ability to drop deep and asking him to just press high and occupy the box took away a fundamental quality from him.
It is a useful tool for England in forcing opposition defences to move. However, in order to take advantage of the space that Kane has created, players must be willing to run ahead of him.
One of the reasons England always looked more threatening when a more forward-pressing centre-forward, like Ivan Toney or Ollie Watkins, came on was because they lacked that during the Euros. Bellingham, Phil Foden, and Bukayo Saka blocked the zone Kane was moving into.
Can Marcus Rashford become England’s most valuable player?
“He had a huge impact lately in the matches of Aston Villa” 👏
Thomas Tuchel has been “delighted” with the recent form of Marcus Rashford 🗣️ pic.twitter.com/2zvi4ZYeEE
— England (@England) March 14, 2025
It is a tactic Son Heung-min and Kane succeeded with at Tottenham, though it may be difficult in front of teams that sit as deep as Albania. On Friday though, three players went past Kane in just 26 minutes into the game and Kane was able to play a pass to Marcus Rashford. It may have been a challenging pass and came at an awkward height for him. Still it had been attempted proving that such tactics are possible.
Rashford’s form is still unreliable, returning to the side only after moving from Manchester United to Aston Villa. However, Rashford has something to offer that England need, which is a direct runner into the space that Kane makes, who is no doubt an excellent finisher.
Rashford may not have the technical ability of Cole Palmer or Saka nor does he possess Foden’s brain but having the right qualities to make the side balanced, could make him the most valuable player of them all. For the most part, Friday’s game gave a glimpse of what could be, with gentle passing and having more possession. However, Tuchel could finally have what England need to lift a major trophy.
England’s win against Albania in World Cup qualifiers could be be signs of fresh start as Thomas Tuchel builds a team that is able to tke on big teams at crucial stages of a tournament. Football Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
