Thomas Tuchel rubbed his hands, drank a sip of water in peace – and then spoke about his “exciting” England debut. It was a “fantastic evening” in perfect conditions, said the new coach of the Three Lions and admitted: “I was a bit nervous before”.
But his team had given him a successful debut with a sovereign 2-0 in the World Cup qualification against Albania and thus a “great experience”. Before the kick-off, the coach was greeted with a banner in the sold-out Wembley Stadium at the stand: “Welcome to the Home of Football, Thomas”.
With his first minutes as a national coach in the mother country of football, Tuchel was quite satisfied. “We started dominant,” he said. The 18-year-old Myles Lewis-Skelly (20th) crowned the initial phase with his first goal in the first international match.
The left-back was “amazing” in training, Tuchel explained the list of Arsenal professional and praised his “self-confidence” and his “open and mature” character.
The second goal scored captain Harry Kane (79th), whom the trainer knows from his time at Bayern Munich. In the jersey of the Three Lions, Kane is “even more confident” and “in his environment as a natural leader,” said Tuchel.
Kane leaves top chances
The striker also awarded some of the chances that the English regularly developed, unlike at the end of Tuchel’s predecessor Gareth Southgate. The team was hardly challenged.
Tuchel, who regularly and vigorously announced from the coaching zone, also saw potential for improvement: After the break, his team was “no longer disciplined enough in the structure”. He also wanted more pressure from the wing players.
After the successful debut, the coach looked ahead optimistically: “Hopefully it gives us confidence in order to get better quickly and trust our style.” Then he promised: “We’ll get better, I’m sure.”
Already on Monday (8:45 p.m./DAZN) the group K for Tuchel and England continues when Latvia is in Wembley.