So far so good for Tuchel as England earn back-to-back wins

Thomas Tuchel's baptism as England's head coach could not have been any smoother. Two games, two wins, five goals scored and none conceded represents a satisfying start for the German.

Monday's 3-0 victory over Latvia at Wembley, like Friday's 2-0 defeat of Albania, was far from perfect. But Tuchel already has credit in the bank for some wise decisions. On Friday he gave a debut to Arsenal's teenager Myles Lewis-Skelly and the 18-year-old repaid him with a goal.

On Monday, Tuchel made four changes to his line-up and one of them, Reece James, marked his first start since 2022 with a sublime free kick to open the scoring. Winger Eberechi Eze also bagged his first England goal against Latvia after coming on as a substitute.

England already look well on course to win a modest Group K and take their place in next year's World Cup finals by which time it will be 60 years since their last trophy.

That will be the real test of Tuchel's affect on England, but for now the German former Chelsea, Paris St Germain and Bayern Munich coach appears to have taken to the international stage like a duck to water.

Asked for his impressions of his first camp, Tuchel praised his squad for making his life easy.

“Very happy because of the players mainly,” Tuchel, the first England permanent manager to win his first two games in charge since Fabio Capello in 2008, said.

“They reminded me instantly why I was excited about the job. Top characters, a very good group. I think we had some excellent days on the pitch, but also off the pitch.

“Good energy and very positive atmosphere.”

Six points was the minimum requirement for England's opening two games and while the opposition were not of the highest quality, Tuchel said they were useful tests.

“I think we need exactly these kind of matches, the tension of World Cup qualifiers and also the tension that not everything falls into place from the first minute.

“There's still room to improve. But overall, we have two wins, two clean sheets. We did not allow anything, any good chances in two matches. So there's a lot of positives.”

Tuchel handed another chance to Marcus Rashford who he brought back into the England squad and then started against Albania. The forward, on loan from Manchester United to Aston Villa, was disappointing against Albania but had more joy against Latvia, especially in the first half.

“Not everything fell into place, but the most important thing was that he showed this hunger and desire and the confidence in his abilities,” Tuchel said.

The German now has a frustrating wait until June for his next England camp but he will head off having made a favourable impression with his players.

“Thomas Tuchel is fantastic, he has settled in straight away. He is a pleasure to work for, he has brought the passion,” captain Harry Kane, who took his England tally to a record-extending 71 goals on Monday, said of his former Bayern boss. 

James and Eze scored their first senior international goals in the win.

Chelsea right-back James, making his first England start since 2022, curled in a sublime free kick to break the deadlock in the 38th minute of the Group K clash at Wembley.

As against Albania on Friday, England laboured at times to break down a massed defence but captain Harry Kane doubled the lead in the 68th with a tap-in from Declan Rice's pass.

Eze then came off the bench and his deflected shot made it 3-0 in the 76th minute.

Favourites England top the group on six points with Albania, who beat Andorra 3-0 in Monday's other fixture, and Latvia on three. 

European World Cup qualifying results

Monday:

• San Marino 1 Romania 5
• Poland 2 Malta 0
• England 3 Latvia 0
• Bosnia-Herzegovina 2 Cyprus 1
• Albania 3 Andorra 0
• Lithuania 2 Finland 2

Reuters