‘Tuchel has major regret as Foden and Rashford warned on England future’
Thomas Tuchel made an obvious misstep in his first game as England manager despite victory over Albania.
In the German’s first game in charge, England began their quest to secure a place at next year’s World Cup with all three points in a comfortable performance.
Debutant Myles Lewis-Skelly opened the scoring with his first England goal, before Harry Kane struck to secure the victory in the second half.
Tuchel though would have wanted to put down more of a marker in his first game in charge, especially with how the game lost momentum during the second half in particular.
‘Phil Foden and Marcus Rashford fortunate to get England call-ups’ – Ian Wright
One area where Tuchel’s side lacked an attacking spark against Albania was on the wings, as neither Phil Foden or Marcus Rashford managed to impress for England after being named in the starting XI
Indeed, speaking at full time, Tuchel himself suggested that he wanted more from his wide players, and it seems Ian Wright feels he may have made a mistake in including the pair in the squad.
The former Arsenal star has also warned the pair that others will already be looking to replace them in the starting XI going forward.
| Phil Foden vs Albania | Total (as per SofaScore) |
| Shots on Target | 0 |
| Shots off Target | 0 |
| Successful Dribbles | 0/1 |
| Successful Passes | 41/45 |
| Key Passes | 0 |
| Successful Duels | 2/3 |
Giving his reaction to those comments from Tuchel on ITV Sport, Wright said: “There were too many sideways passes and coming back. We saw that with Phil and with Marcus running into blind alleys a little bit.
“But if anything, those two, I think they were fortunate to be called up with the way it’s going for them at the moment, even with Marcus having something of a renaissance at Villa.
“With the way they played today, it’s probably something you’d look at and if I’m on the outside as an English player on the wing, I’d be thinking ‘I’ve got to step my game up, I’ve got a shout here’.”
That is a view shared by Roy Keane, who also suggested that Foden may not have to worry about what position he plays for England, as he will not be playing at all if he continues to perform at that level.
Thomas Tuchel already has big selection calls to make
Football Insider Verdict
There is certainly a sense that Tuchel’s decision not just to name the duo in the squad, but to start them in this game was the wrong one, as Wright says.
Foden has struggled to make an impact for Man City in what has been a dismal season for Pep Guardiola’s side by their high standards.
Meanwhile, while Rashford has made himself popular at Aston Villa, he had been out of action for a long time before that after being exiled at Man United.
The move to bring them into the lineup here from Tuchel then backfired, since it limited the outlets that England has to work with in attack.
Had he gone with other, more fresh and in-form players in those roles, the wide areas could have been exploited more by the Three Lions, giving them more angles of attack.
In turn, that could have created more chances, and led to a bigger scoreline that would have given the new manager an even better and more confidence-inspiring start to life in his new role.
Indeed, the fact that Tuchel substituted both players and then made those comments about his wide options, may not bode well for the duo.
With the new manager still working out his best team, he is likely going to want to rotate as he attempts to find the right starting XI to win the World Cup next summer.
In the wake of those lacklustre showings against Albania, Foden and Rashford look to have put themselves in the firing line to be the first ones dropped from the squad.