It was a celebratory night at Wembley as Tuchel was warmly welcomed by England fans, but not everyone will have come away happy
England began life under Thomas Tuchel with a 2-0 win at home to Albania, kicking off their World Cup qualifying campaign with a rather routine victory at a sold-out Wembley Stadium.
The German coach has had to wait roughly five months to get on the touchline after agreeing to take charge of the Three Lions all the way back in October, and opening night went according to plan.
The hosts broke the deadlock when Jude Bellingham picked out Myles Lewis-Skelly's run in behind the Albania backline, and the Arsenal full-back slotted under goalkeeper Thomas Strakosha. They added a second late in the day when Harry Kane beautifully took down a Declan Rice cross before curling his strike into the far corner.
England have passed the first of eight tests on their road to the 2026 World Cup, and they haven't done their chances of glory any harm by kicking off Tuchel's reign in the best possible fashion.
GOAL breaks down the winners & losers from Wembley Stadium…
Getty Images SportWINNER: Thomas Tuchel
No person inside Wembley will have been more chuffed with the result than the new manager in the home dugout. Tuchel has had to be patient for nearly half a year before getting his chance to oversee an England game, formulating his plans and toiling over his tactics.
An expert tinkerer, the English public were most used to Tuchel playing the solid 3-4-3 formation which served him so well at Chelsea. Pep Guardiola has, famously, fawned over the German's expert nous. This appointment seemed to scream a desire for the Three Lions to become tactically savvy.
Friday's triumph was not necessarily one of overthinking, rather stripping back and excelling at the basics, even if Tuchel tried to make it seem otherwise in a jargon-heavy post-match press conference. There were runs in behind, a want and will to squeeze the game, a quick and direct plan of action to break down Albania's stubborn block.
Ultimately, England's World Cup qualifiers are merely about keeping the doomsayers from the door. Tuchel won't have to worry about negativity seeping in for this weekend at least.
AdvertisementGetty Images SportLOSER: Sir Gareth Southgate
Tuchel wasted no time in laying into predecessor Sir Gareth Southgate's version of this England cohort. In the lead up to Friday's match, the German replied when asked if the Three Lions had a particular style at Euro 2024: "Not really, no. The identity, the clarity, the rhythm, the repetition of patterns [were missing]. The freedom of players, the expression of players, the hunger. They were more afraid to drop out of the tournament, in my observation, than having the excitement and hunger to win it." Remember, England reached the final!
That must have been a gut-punch for Southgate to hear, and he probably won't like some of the rhetoric around him if Tuchel does get England over the winning hump. He undeniably built a culture for success, only he lacked that extra edge as a top-level manager to make the most of it himself.
Southgate really ought to live out the rest of his days as an English hero without anyone badgering or pestering him, though he'll do well to go up in the wider public's estimations at this rate.
Getty Images SportWINNER: Myles Lewis-Skelly
The rapid rise of Lewis-Skelly has been something to behold. He had never played at left-back heading into this season, but now that spot is his to lose for the England national team and an Arsenal side competing for the Premier League and Champions League.
The 18-year-old just looks like he belongs at this level, and not in a 'play it safe to not appear out of place' way either. He relishes responsibility, he loves to take the ball and move it (pass-and-go as the Gunners way of old went), he was the main beneficiary of Tuchel's idea to get bodies in behind so freely.
Even beyond Lewis-Skelly's goal – which made him the youngest debutant to score in the history of the England national team, for goodness sake – he had his fingerprints all over the game. If you wanted one player who embodied what this new side can be about, it was the fresh and dynamic Lewis-Skelly.
AFPWINNER: England's underperforming superstars
Tuchel's simplicity in terms of tactics extended to the use of his two best players in Kane and Bellingham. Too often at Euro 2024, they drifted through games as passengers, so there was an immediate resolution on Friday to get them as involved as possible.
Kane suggested that Tuchel would play him as a more traditional No.9, yet here he was spreading play and tracking back, barging away midfielders and dipping into his passing bag. Off his shoulder ran Bellingham into space, though he too was privy to getting on the ball and distributing it between the lines, teeing up Lewis-Skelly for his record-breaking opener. Of course, Kane got in on the act with a goal of his own late in the second half, expertly finding the very inside of the netting as he so often does for his country – he's now the first player to score 70 times for England.
If Kane and Bellingham aren't involved in games, then England won't win as many of them. Football can be as easy to figure out as that sometimes. Tuchel could very well have football's deadliest duo in his palm.