Thomas Tuchel is still looking for improvements, and insists that England “will come” despite making a perfect start with two wins of his first two games.
England rode on Tuesday to a comfortable 3-0 win over Latvia, where Reece James and Ebereechi both scored their first international goals on either side of Harry Kane's 71st strike for the three lions.
The hosts dominated the procedure, with 27 shots with a value of 3.53 expected goals (XG) while limiting Latvia to just three attempts because they held a second consecutive clean slate.
England is now undefeated (W35 D4) in their last 39 qualifying matches for major tournaments at home (Euro/World Cup), while Tuchel is the first permanent manager, who won each of his first two competitive matches since Fabio Capello in September 2008 (won his first eight).
Apart from a great chance for Latvia-a mix between Jordan Pickford and Marc Guehi who led Vladislavs Gutkovskis to bring the net of an empty goal to control, but Tuchel expects more improvements in the next international window.
“It was not an easy match. We saw many good things, created good opportunities,” Tuchel told ITV. “We needed a free kick to unlock it. I am happy with the attitude, energy and desire. We will come there.
'I know Reecey [James] And the quality that the boy has is great. He has the right to be proud and happy with his performance. He is in excellent condition. It looks sharp, in shape and the quality there can be no doubt about it.
“The second half we started to slow the game and made little movement, which makes no sense. But the second goal was better when we showed one of our sixes acceleration [Declan Rice].
“We encourage everyone to have these late gears, but we struggled a bit to the goal.”
pic.twitter.com/CQ3DQ8VL29
– England (@england) March 24, 2025
James made his first start for England since September 2022 and marked his return with a stunning free kick in the 38th minute.
He is the first defender to score an immediate free step goal for England in Wembley Stadium since Stuart Pearce in November 1992 (V Turkiye).
After he returned to the setup to reunite with his former Chelsea boss, James thought about his first start in two and a half years.
“It's a long time ago, I had frustrating for two years,” he said ITV.
“I am so happy to be called up again through my country. I saw the wall and felt that I could bow it. I was a bit surprised that it just hit.
“The ideas of Thomas Tuchel are clear. We have one goal and that starts this week until the World Cup.”
A way to score your first goal of England …
@Reecejames pic.twitter.com/nutuaxnenh
– England (@england) March 24, 2025
While James found it just for the first time for his country, Kane has now scored 17 goals in his last 17 international performances at Wembley.
He also plays under Tuchel again, after working with him in Bayern Munich last season, and the captain of England is pleased with the energy he brought.
“In general, we can be satisfied with two wins and two clean sheets,” he said.
“We had to be patient. Thomas Tuchel is fantastic, he immediately settled. He is a pleasure to work for, he brought the passion.”
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