Thomas Tuchel reveals private talks with two England stars after Albania display | Football

Thomas Tuchel says he has spoken privately to both Phil Foden and Marcus Rashford after publically criticising their performances in England’s win over Albania.

Tuchel began his reign as England boss on Friday with a regulation 2-0 win over Albania courtesy of goals from Myles Lewis-Skelly and Harry Kane.

But the German was not pleased with everything he saw at Wembley, notably singling out both Rashford and Foden for their lack of impact from wide areas.

‘I think both of our wingers who started were not as impactful as they normally can be as they are in club football,’ he said on Friday

‘At the moment, I’m not sure why we struggled to bring the ball quicker to them, to bring the ball in a more open position to them, I’m not sure why it took us so long.

‘I think we lacked a little bit of runs off the ball, a bit too much passing and not enough dribbling, not enough carrying and driving with the ball, and not aggressive enough towards goal.’

England now turn their attention to their second World Cup qualifier against Latvia on Monday, with Tuchel insisted he has taken the pair aside to reaffirm what he wants to see from them moving forward.

‘I think they know (what more I want from them),’ head coach Tuchel said. ‘I’ve spoken to both of them, also in front of the group.

‘They know that I appreciate the effort, I think especially off the ball. We can see in the numbers and when we watch the match again how much effort they put into defending high and the counterpress and their sprinting.

‘Marcus had a lot of runs when we had the ball where we did not see him, where we did not use him. He was a little bit unlucky maybe with the timing and from time to time we oversaw him.

‘Phil is just maybe not finding the momentum at the moment that he can have but both of them are very positive, they have every right to be positive and know exactly what we want from them.’

Other than Anthony Gordon, who has returned to Newcastle after picking up a hip problem on Friday, Tuchel has the same squad to pick from for Monday’s clash.

But the German kept his cards close to his chest when asked if he would rotate or stick with a similar lineup for his second game of the international break.

‘It could help and wouldn’t be a problem to start with the same lineup,’ he began. But it’s also not a problem to change because we have some players who deserve to play and it would also be nice to see them perform and to give them the confidence.

‘At the moment, no one will be dropped from a performance point of view. We did what was needed. We can do better and have stuff to improve and we will focus on that.

‘If we think some fresh legs can help then we’re not shy to do it. But no one needs to be dropped because he’s not good enough.’

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