England boss Tuchel’s options open for World Cup qualifier with Latvia

LONDON: Thomas Tuchel says it´s possible he could make changes for England´s second World Cup qualifier, at home to Latvia on Monday.

Tuchel made a winning start to his reign as England coach with a 2-0 victory over Albania at Wembley on Friday in their opening qualifying match. The German could rotate his squad with Levi Colwill, Marc Guehi, Morgan Rogers and Dominic Solanke among those bidding to force their way into the team.

Newcastle winger Anthony Gordon is already ruled out due to a hip injury, and when asked Sunday if there would be changes to his starting line-up, Tuchel told reporters: “Yes and no. “We have reasons to let all of them play again and say ´let´s do better´, but we also have reports from the physical department of some concerns.”

The former Chelsea boss added: “So let´s see. It´s only the second day after the match and we need to be cautious. Maybe it will be a mix between both. We have two or three players who felt their legs after the match but let´s see. We have quite some time.”

England debutant Myles Lewis-Skelly scored the opening goal against Albania and Harry Kane made it 2-0. Tuchel had urged England to play without fear against Albania after claiming they were “afraid” in a scathing assessment of their Euro 2024 runners-up finish under his predecessor Gareth Southgate.

But the early returns were underwhelming as Tuchel´s side dominated possession at Wembley without providing much entertainment for the sell-out 82,378 crowd. “No one will be dropped from a performance point of view but if we have fresh legs available we are not afraid to do it,” Tuchel said Sunday.

“The (Albania) game was a little bit strange. When the opponent tried to slow the ball down, it´s sometimes difficult to maintain the level of focus and excitement. “There were ups and downs. We lost a little bit of structure. We were more vulnerable to counter-attacks in the second half. But focus on the positives, we have a first win, a well-deserved win and a clean sheet against an unorthodox opponent.

“We are clear favourites in the next match. I think it will be difficult to predict what Latvia will be doing.” Meanwhile, Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice said Tuchel had already made his presence felt during his short time with the England squad.

“The theme of the whole week has been the energy. It´s been really, really good,” said Rice. “Obviously it´s my first time working with Thomas and he´s really energetic. He cares so much about his players.” Tuchel has been tasked with ending England´s long wait for just a second major men´s trophy following their 1966 World Cup triumph on home soil, with Rice adding: “We have one goal, to get to the World Cup and then get the second star on the shirt. “I think he´s been massive on that. We´re all on the same page and we´re all together in that.”