England have regressed under Thomas Tuchel – and he only has a year left to fix them | OneFootball

A year ago, England finished their season a few minutes from going to extra time in the Euro 2024 final, agonisingly close to the second major trophy in their history. A year and a day before the 2026 World Cup begins, and Thomas Tuchel’s time in charge will come to both its climax and end, their 2024-25 campaign finished with demoralising defeat to Senegal.

Over a season, England have an 80 percent win rate. But they have lost to the two best teams they have faced, Greece and Senegal, and faced none of the favourites for glory in the United States next summer. It is a moot point if England have gone backwards since Gareth Southgate’s resignation. But, having appointed Tuchel to try and win the World Cup, they look further away from it.

The short-termism of his contract means his four games thus far may already constitute 20 percent of his eventual reign, maybe even 25. The laboured win over Andorra and loss to Senegal have been underwhelming at best. “If you know me, then you know after a loss I will never say yes it’s a good start,” said Tuchel. “Never. I will never allow that to myself.”

But the idea that taking a world-class manager and bolting him on to a group of players, some of whom are world class at club level, is a shortcut to winning the World Cup is starting to look simplistic. “The job looks always easy from the outside,” Tuchel mused. “There are always millions of football coaches who have an answer and better ideas and I’m far from perfect.”

His mistakes and strange decisions illustrate as much. It gives him a year to fix England. There are so many issues it can be hard to know where to start.

A collective lack of chemistry, of the fluidity and fluency the best teams exhibit, can be a recurring theme for England. They lacked creativity against Andorra. They have played in straight lines too often. They don’t always bring the intensity of the Premier League to the international stage. Tuchel has little time on the training ground to address that while the depth of English talent gives reasons to rotate and experiment, but can come at a cost to cohesion. It will be instructive if he settles on a small core and gives them the vast majority of minutes.

Conor Gallagher was limited in possession against Senegal but will Adam Wharton or Jordan Henderson be able to bring the creativity England need? (PA)

Some felt wasted in the last week. Jordan Henderson’s influence behind the scenes is considerable and beneficial; whether he will have enough in the midfield in a World Cup when he turns 36, however, is dubious. Yet Conor Gallagher’s performance against Senegal showed he remains limited in possession. Playing what strayed too close to a 4-4-2 formation on Tuesday, England allowed themselves to be outnumbered while they don’t have a natural passer in the middle of the pitch.

Adam Wharton could have been a candidate but Tuchel overlooked him in March and he was unavailable this time around. With England short of compelling central-midfield options, Jobe Bellingham could be propelled into contention by his move to Borussia Dortmund. “It works well in his family,” smiled Tuchel, a former Dortmund manager. Part of the dilemma, of course, is where he deploys the first Bellingham to go to Dortmund: as a central midfielder or further forward as Harry Kane’s sidekick.

Harry Kane can be counted on to score England's goals but Thomas Tuchel must decided who his understudy will be (Reuters)

And part of the tactical question for Tuchel is how many of the potential No 10s he accommodates. If he continues prioritising wingers who can offer width and run in behind defences – something England lacked in Euro 2024 – there is only room for one in the team. Eberechi Eze was one of the better players against Senegal and played the full 90 minutes; Cole Palmer was more subdued against Andorra. The competition for places could mean that, unless Phil Foden recaptures form, he is squeezed out of the squad.

In attack, Tuchel tried to argue that Ivan Toney’s three-minute cameo in Nottingham was longer, given stoppage time, and that he had a specialist role in the last few minutes. Perhaps, though it will be instructive if he really sees Ollie Watkins as the deputy to Kane, or if joining Chelsea will give Liam Delap that status. So far, England’s reliance on Kane is underlined by the scorers: the captain has four of the seven goals under Tuchel, the vast array of attacking midfielders and wingers just one.

England no longer have a secure back line and defensive deputies like Levi Colwill and Dan Burn have yet to settle on the international stage (Getty)

And yet Senegal’s dominance in Nottingham suggested the bigger problems may lie in defence. John Stones remains the outstanding English centre-back; Southgate was fortunate an injury-prone player was fit for all four of his tournaments. Tuchel is not guaranteed to have such luck.

The cupboard can otherwise look bare. Tuchel wants a left-footed centre-back but Dan Burn was exposed on the ball against Andorra and Levi Colwill off it by Senegal. The right-footer Marc Guehi could seem the best option; in Stones’s absence, Ezri Konsa is in pole position on the right. A fit Lewis Hall would add to the left-back options; Tuchel certainly cannot bank on a fit Luke Shaw while Myles Lewis-Skelly’s inexperience was a factor on Tuesday.

England have more options at right-back and yet it has brought two of Tuchel’s stranger choices, first using the midfielder Curtis Jones out of position on Saturday and then the declining Kyle Walker three days later. “After his broken elbow [in April] he lost his rhythm,” Tuchel said; the concern should be that the manager did not recognise that he lost his pace some months earlier and that he should have been pensioned off. And, indeed, that Trent Alexander-Arnold was twice overlooked. “Trent is Trent. He’s a special player,” said Tuchel, but a special player who only got 26 minutes in the two games. It may only be a theory, but Tuchel could be reluctant to field Alexander-Arnold and Lewis-Skelly together, looking to field one defensive full-back. So far, Reece James looks his preferred option on the flanks.

Trent Alexander-Arnold was only given 26 minutes of game time against Andorra and Senegal despite Tuchel labelling him a ‘special player' (PA)

Over a season, the greatest benefit to England may entail complicated decisions. The Carsley kids, the players given senior debuts by interim manager Lee Carsley, have added to Tuchel’s options. But Noni Madueke was England’s finest player against Andorra and Morgan Gibbs-White added a spark against Senegal. The sense is that Tuchel likes Morgan Rogers, while Jones, despite an ill-fated week, has still had a decent start to his England career.

The same might not be true of Tuchel. On Monday, he had argued England would raise their game if plunged into a competitive tie against Spain or Portugal. He must hope so. Because the evidence from this week was that England are regressing when they needed to progress.