London – Despite all the talk about new eras, fresh starts and the construction of an England ready to win, it would hardly be under pressure to find a lot between Thomas Tuchel’s first two games that are in charge and many of the 35 qualifications Gareth Southgate led the three lions through (28 wins, six payments, one defeat).
This 3-0 win over Latvia took place because a number of England facilities are in recent memory. For all questions in the structure-how, Declan Rice Cope will deal with a single pivot point, why trust in Marcus Rashford, Myles Lewis-Skelly First Choice is now left-up. The real problems did not really make the home team. How long could the Latvian low block sustain? Could they take the one or two chances that could come on their side and really place the cat between the pigeons? When the visiting legs are inevitably held, how many will Harry Kane add that to his purpose?
This is just the European game in the Inter-Toernooijaren. Between the aristocracy and the shrinking group of cannon food (your Andorras, San Marinos and Liechtensteins) there is a mass of teams that can be fairly froskey on their day, but who, in sight of the best of the best, tend to fall into their scales. While the fast legend Wembley reflected in the last whistle, it is not much fun to see how the big boys repeatedly bounce up and down until cracks appear. Even when a brilliant Reece James Missile delivers the first gap.
Fortunately, the former boss of Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich who now leads England will not be unknown with coaching around a talent mermatch. Whatever the level is, the Loonon balance, the star power, the breaking of a diligent layer of block is a pretty debilitating task. Based on the squadron of paper planes that patrol the Wembley sky after 10 minutes, a fan base where many had become disillusioned with Gareth Southgate was not completely in love with the new boss.
But again, if the opposition will not leave their own third of the field when you have the ball, if they will not show a tendency to put pressure on you, there are only so many ways to promote the ball in dangerous positions. England tried them all against Latvia.
Jude Bellingham did you in mind about the second strikers who were imported on the English game in the 1990s, his understanding of spaceichters for his opponents. He took the ball up in the narrow corridor between the Latvian lines, he had room to turn, defenders on his shoulder to continue as autumn leaves. One day he will score a solo goal for England.
On the other side of the field, Morgan Rogers and Jarrod Bowen arrived effectively, the latter all films and darts to take the hosts in the box. During his first camp, Tuchel made it a point of wanting to dominate the opposition in terms of penalties. When replacing Curtis Jones by Rogers, the new boss shifted the center of gravity considerably. England now founded a camp directly outside the Latvia box instead of the five or 10 meters further back, they had been to Albania. Add Myles Lewis-Skelly as a real reverse left side and the field was titled as the last levels on Super Monkey Ball.
For the most part of this game, the problem was not that England brought too few players into the box, the bad days with Southgate. If there was anything, too many white shirts stood in the way. Marcus Rashford was present to stand in the way of the goalbound header of Jude Bellingham; That was not the only time that a player of England stood in the way of his teammate’s efforts.
A little more space was everything that was needed. James had had enough of those 25 meters and cleaned up other interested parties before he bends a free kick in the upper corner that could only be described as Beckham-like. The fact that the locks were not open immediately spoke more about the dedication with which Latvia continued their task. There seemed to be just enough bodies to send Rashford a bit wider, to force Bellingham to come back again. If Vladislavs Gutkovskis had not abused an open goal – Marc Guehi collapsed on Jordan Pickford and hit the ball away from him – they might have been able to lure a wobble in England.
Instead, they were confronted with the slow routine. Lewis-Skelly’s precise pass through the lines found Bellingham, who rolled the ball for Kane to drag widely. Replacing ebereechi Eze’s aggressive balls was exactly what the moment asked. Then rice remained on the overlap, leaving his cuts behind Kane with just an empty one for him. Eze added a third with fast feet and the kind of deflection that Bellingham or Rogers had not favored.
In almost every way this was England like before. It is probably England because they will be a long way in the future. Only when the large teams roll on the list of the fixture is the impact of Tuchel really clear. So … somewhere in the last phases in America next summer?