Marcus Rashford and Phil Foden were largely ineffective during England’s 2-0 win over Albania and new boss Thomas Tuchel admitted after the game he wanted more impact from the pair
England boss Thomas Tuchel has revealed he has spoken with Marcus Rashford and Phil Foden after criticising their lack of “impact” against Albania. The pair were started on the wing in their 2-0 win at Wembley but struggled to get into their stride – though Tuchel said he appreciated their effort off the ball.
The German coach enjoyed a winning start to his reign with the Three Lions thanks to a debut goal from teenager Myles Lewis-Skelly and a 70th international strike from Harry Kane.
However, there was criticism for Aston Villa loanee Rashford and Manchester City star Foden, with Tuchel admitting he expected more from them.
“We hope for more impact in these positions,” he said after the game. “More dribbling and more aggressive runs towards the box. In general that was missing. The chances come from the little runs behind the line. They were not as decisive as they can be.”
Tuchel has now clarified that he has spoken to both players about their performances but insisted he was pleased by their effort levels and now wants to see them in more 1v1 situations.
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“I’ve spoken to both of them in front of the group,” he added. “They know I appreciate the effort, especially off the ball. We can see in the numbers how much effort they put into defending high and into the counter press, also in their sprinting numbers.
“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 maybe unlucky with the timing. Phil is maybe not finding the momentum that he can have.
“Both of them are very positive and have every right to be positive, they know exactly what we want from them. Ideally we will bring them into more 1v1 situations and they have to have the confidence to take the 1v1s.
“Phil needs more close connections to a no 10 than we could provide in this match. Marcus created one big chance for Jude Bellingham. Off the ball, the effort was there and that’s what counts.”
Both players will have a chance to redeem themselves when England play Latvia in their next World Cup qualifier on Tuesday night.
Foden in particular earned criticism for his display on Friday as Roy Keane, who said he risked being axed by Tuchel if he couldn’t show improvements.
“Listen, Foden won’t have that problem coming up about where he will be playing, because he won’t be playing [at all],” Keane said on ITV’s coverage of the game. “I think he might be lacking in confidence. He’s definitely off it.
“Usually when he cuts inside he’ll pick a pass out or get a shot away. He did none of that tonight and every time he got the ball I’m looking at him thinking ‘I don’t expect anything from Foden at the moment’. Wherever he’s playing you’ve got to affect the game in different ways and he didn’t do that tonight.”
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