England added a veneer of respectability to an evening of tedium with a couple of second half flourishes against Latvia on Monday night. But don’t kid yourself that this was the start of the revolution. Thomas Tuchel was supposed to come in like a whirlwind. So far, he has been more like a light breeze.
These are early days in his tenure, of course, but so far, very little has changed since the end times of Gareth Southgate’s reign. England were dull and turgid and laboured to get past opponents who are ranked between Burundi and the Dominican Republic in Fifa’s world rankings.
Tuchel’s side should have gone a goal down in the first half, too, and only rank finishing from Latvia let them off the hook. The 3-0 win did not flatter England in terms of the way they dominated the game but don’t think this was in any way convincing. It was anything but.
Some days ago, Tuchel was asked what had been missing under Southgate, he did not hold back. He mentioned identity, clarity, rhythm, freedom and expression.
Maybe Tuchel is starting to regret that criticism because you could have levelled exactly the same thing at this England team against Latvia.
There were glimpses of mild progress. Marcus Rashford took Tuchel’s criticisms of his performance against Albania last week and turned them to his advantage, attacking relentlessly down the left and creating chance after chance.
Myles Lewis-Skelly was impressive again and Eberechi Eze made a good impact when he came off the bench in the second half.
But the performance raised awkward questions, too. Jude Bellingham looked out of sorts and might have been sent off. Marc Guehi was shaky in the centre of defence. Jarrod Bowen made little impression on the England right.
And if there was the smell of cordite in the air at the start of the game, it soon dissipated amid the mediocrity. Enlivened only by a brilliant free kick from Reece James, it quickly became a night of paper planes and Mexican waves and a long, craving for excitement.
Tuchel has used up one of his six international camps now. There are only five more before England fly to the USA for next year’s World Cup. The England coach needs to start making progress fast.
That, after all, was the rationale for him not starting the job until January. He wanted to make an instant impact and hit the ground running. That simply hasn’t happened. He has two wins from two games but wins were never the issue under Southgate.
Under Tuchel, England were supposed to win with style. So far, there has been no sign of that improvement. Maybe soon, people will start asking again whether this is not about the manager and whether we should be looking at England’s latest golden generation.
Tuchel handed James, a player he has admired since his days in charge of Chelsea, a first England start since 2022, but one of his first actions left the England coach holding his head in his hands in dismay.
James challenged Andrejs Ciganiks as he went up for a header and flattened the Latvia defender when his shoulder made contact with Ciganiks’ head. There were gasps of alarm. Ciganiks got up quickly but James was lucky to stay on the pitch.
After 20 minutes of drudgery, Latvia should have taken the lead. There should not have been any danger when Roberts Savalnieks punted a long ball forward but Marc Guehi and Jordan Pickford collided and when the ball ran loose, it left Vladislavs Gutkovskis with an open goal. He didn’t even come close. His shot nestled in the side-netting.
The reprieve jolted England into action. Rashford went down in the box but he fell before the defender made contact with him.
Then, after a Bellingham header had hit Rashford, Ezri Konsa lashed a shot forward and brought a magnificent point-blank reaction save out of Krisjanis Zviedris. It was one of the best stops this stadium has seen for some years.
Latvia survived another penalty claim when Zviedris dropped a corner and then appeared to bring down Jarrod Bowen. VAR made a lengthy check but dismissed England’s appeals. Still, England looked as if they might score from each set piece they took. And there were plenty.
Eight minutes before the interval, they finally nailed one. And they nailed it in style. England won a free kick on the edge of the area and James caressed it over the wall so that it curled high into the net.
There was a huge roar of appreciation from the crowd. It was a goal to grace any game.
England soon fell back into their torpor, though. Guehi slipped while trying to cut out as driven pass and when the ball dropped to Alvis Jaunzems, his snap shot almost squirmed through Pickford’s hands.
Jude Bellingham, who had been booked just before half time, was lucky not to be shown a red when he slid through the back of Raivis Jurkovskis and sent him sprawling. It looked like an obvious second yellow but Bellingham escaped.
England came close after an hour when Bellingham controlled a fizzing pass from Myles Lewis-Skelly to set up Kane for a half-chance but Kane curled his left-foot shot from 14 yards out just wide.
Midway through the half, a minute after Tuchel had substituted Bellingham and sections of the crowd had started to nod off, England suddenly burst out of their inertia again and doubled their lead.
Morgan Rogers slipped a neat pass through to Declan Rice, who was bursting down the right, and Rice drilled a low ball across the face of the six-yard-box where Kane tapped it home for his 71st England goal.
England’s third, 15 minutes from time, was a fine individual effort from substitute Eberechi Eze, who waltzed down the left wing and cut inside before firing in a shot that deflected off Antonijs Cernomordijs and wrong-footed Zviedris.