Thomas Tuchel ponders changes for Latvia after starting England reign with a win | OneFootball

Thomas Tuchel is ready to rotate against Latvia as the new England boss looks to juggle tired legs and make the most of his limited opportunities with the players.

The head coach took charge of his first game against Albania on Friday, when debutant Myles Lewis-Skelly justified his selection with the opening goal and a man-of-the-match display.

All-time top scorer Harry Kane completed a 2-0 victory as the road to next summer’s World Cup got off to a winning start that England look set to continue when Latvia, ranked 140th in the world, head to Wembley on Monday.

Anthony Gordon, who came off the bench against Albania, is a major doubt due to a hip issue that is being scanned on Saturday, when players will only need to worry about recovery as Tuchel refocuses on the next task.

Asked if he is looking at rotation against Latvia, Tuchel said: “Yeah. I think we had some heavy legs.

“I felt us even a little bit tired, so we will take the opportunity, of course, to check who’s available and we have some good, good players on the bench, who came on today or did not even play, so we have our options.

“But I have full trust in all 22 players, plus four goalkeepers, and from there we go.

“We have a full day of recovery for everyone (on Saturday). Everyone deserves that because everyone trained on the high level and played the match now together, so tomorrow’s a recovery day and Sunday we take care about Monday.”

Tuchel has plenty to ponder after a winning start that left him wanting more, with the head coach mentioning a variety of kinks that need ironing out.

England’s wingers were among those issues given Marcus Rashford, who made his first international appearance since last March, and Phil Foden were not as “impactful” as the new coach wanted.

The latter is an ongoing conundrum given the talented 44-cap forward has rarely – as the player has previously admitted himself – taken his Manchester City form on to the international stage.

“We will encourage him to do what he does best – to go at defenders, to go into dribbles,” Tuchel said of Foden’s seeming lack of self-belief with England.

“We played him from the from the right wing. I think both of our wingers who started were not as impactful as they normally can be, as they are normally in club football.

“I’m at the moment not so sure why we started to bring the ball quicker to them, to bring the ball in more open positions to them. I need to review the match. Not so sure why it took us so long.

“I think we lacked a little bit runs off the ball, so it was a bit too much passing, not enough dribbling, not enough carrying the ball and driving with the ball and not aggressive enough towards goal.

“They trained very well, they were decisive in training. That’s why also they deserved (to start). They were very good in the last weeks in their clubs.

“We will keep on encouraging them and make sure to create a structure for them that they can show their potential.”