Thomas Tuchel says he will not drop players based on performances in the early days of his tenure as England manager, after he highlighted the lack of impact made by Marcus Rashford and Phil Foden in his first game in charge.
The pair were replaced by Jarrod Bowen and Anthony Gordon after 74 minutes of Friday’s 2-0 win over Albania, having both struggled to show their best at Wembley.
Speaking after the Three Lions’ opening World Cup qualifier, Tuchel said: “I think both of our wingers who started [Foden and Rashford] were not as impactful as they normally can be, or as they normally are in club football.
“At the moment, I’m not too sure why we struggled to bring the ball to them quicker and to bring the ball in more open positions to them. I need to review the match.”
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Rob Dorsett and Sam Blitz react to England’s win over Albania and discuss what Tuchel could change in his second game in charge
In his press conference ahead of Monday night’s visit of Latvia to Wembley, the German was asked if he had spoken to Rashford and Foden about what he expects from them going forward.
“I’ve spoken to both of them, also in front of the group. They know that I appreciate the effort, especially off the ball,” Tuchel said.
“We can see in the numbers and when we watch the match again how much effort they put into defending high and into the counter-press, also in their sprinting numbers.
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Paul Merson and the rest of the Soccer Saturday team give their verdict on Tuchel’s first game in charge of England
“Marcus had a lot of runs when we had the ball, where we did not see him, where we did not use him. He was a little bit unlucky maybe with the timing. From time to time we oversaw him. Phil is just maybe not finding the momentum at the moment that he can have.
“But both of them are very positive, have every right to be positive and know exactly what we want from them. Ideally we try to bring them in more one-on-one situations and ideally they have the confidence to take the one-on-ones.
“Phil needs maybe a little bit closer connections to a No 10 than we could provide in this match. And Marcus created one big chance for Jude Bellingham, and, like I said, had some runs off the ball where we did not use him.
“But, off the ball, the effort was there and that’s what counts.”
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The Saturday Social panel make their predictions and debate which players from Tuchel’s first England squad will go to the 2026 World Cup
Tuchel suggested he could deploy a similar team against Latvia, and that the pair would not be penalised.
“It could help and I think it’s not a problem to do exactly that and start with the same line-up,” he added. “But it’s also not a problem to change because we have some players who really deserve to play and it would be also nice to see them perform and to give them the confidence.
“At the moment, no one will be dropped from a performance point of view. We did what was needed. We can do better and have stuff to improve and we will focus on that. If we think some fresh legs can help then we’re not shy to do it. But no one needs to be dropped because he’s not good enough.”
