Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham plan reveals England direction under Thomas Tuchel | OneFootball

A first game that was encouraging rather than electrifying, with most of the new excitement offered by Myles Lewis-Skelly rather than any sense of a new era. Thomas Tuchel’s week culminated in the teenager’s night, as he became England football team’s youngest ever debutant goalscorer in this professional 2-0 win over Albania.

You wouldn’t have guessed Lewis-Skelly was a mere 18 years and 176 days - or at least you wouldn’t if you hadn’t seen Arsenal this season - with the way he confidently drove up the line.

So many of England’s best moments came when he burst up that left in tandem with Jude Bellingham and - occasionally - Marcus Rashford. It was the Aston Villa forward’s old record that Lewis-Skelly beat, of course, as Rashford more offered flashes than a complete performance.

Harry Kane at least rounded off the occasion, and made it feel a more substantial victory, by claiming a brilliantly-worked goal. The forward took down Declan Rice’s pass with a controlled touch before delaying his finish and then wrapping the ball around Thomas Strakosha and into the far corner.

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Kane’s 70th goal wrapped up the victory over Albania (The FA via Getty Images)

It was exactly what the manager wanted, especially as Kane hadn’t capitalised on earlier chances to crown this first match of a new era with a goal.

There was a symbolism to that strike Tuchel has been so strident about how Kane is his captain and star, accepting absolutely none of the arguments that a modern England might be better served with more mobility up front. He knows him from Bayern Munich and knows what he can do.

In any case, Tuchel will surely feel that a fully in-tune England can offer much more movement around Kane. You could at least see the idea for that in this opening match, even if it was still more of an idea than a realised vision.

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Bellingham was given a free role and set up Lewis-Skelly’s opener (The FA via Getty Images)

There, Bellingham outlined his integral part to this team. There have been some murmurs that Jordan Henderson has been brought to keep some of the younger “egos” in check, with many pointing the finger at Bellingham.

Opposition defences can often only point to him, too, however, as Bellingham just surges past them. He made the ball do the moving for the game’s key moment, offering a divine through ball for Lewis-Skelly to run onto and finish so precisely.

It was a fine goal and a better moment, as the teenager’s mother celebrated in the stand. He was not just one of the stories of the night but perhaps the player of the night, and the obvious main positive.

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The 18-year-old was the story of the night as he scored on his debut (The FA via Getty Images)

On that, maybe the most notable aspect of England’s play was a lot of nice choreography to attacking play. There also appeared a touch more dynamism to them than Gareth Southgate’s more rigid automatisms. That was particularly the case out wide, where sudden changes of pace opened up all manner of space. That was how Lewis-Skelly’s goal came, and it was the source of most of England’s more exciting moments. Kane alone could have had two goals through such moves.

The captain’s movement also freed Bellingham, who was playing much closer to goal more consistently. He was almost a second nine as much as the eight or 10 that Tuchel spoke about, regularly bursting into the area. This was no doubt what the manager meant when repeatedly insisting that his England would be about more touches higher up the pitch.

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Tuchel said England could improve on their performance (The FA via Getty Images)

And yet the range that is going to be so important to next year’s World Cup was again witnessed in the goal, as Bellingham dropped back to deliver that pass. Curtis Jones was willing to take a lot of responsibility in that area, and Rice’s stature in the team only grows. The ball for Kane’s goal was nicely clipped.

Reece James meanwhile returned to international duty as a substitute, while Henderson also got on.

If it wasn’t quite the full Premier League intensity that Tuchel has talked about, but you’re not going to get an ideal of a team after a few days’ training.

As for the concerns, or maybe just the less positive, none of these are really new. The squad is at its thinnest at centre-half for years. Dan Burn has done so well to propel his club form into an international call-up, and was generally fine here, but he isn’t really up to the level you want for the fine details of the biggest matches.

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Burn his the bar but struggled against the impact of Broja in the second half (The FA via Getty Images)

The Newcastle United centre-half was here too easily turned by substitute Armando Broja, and didn’t always look comfortable. He wasn’t alone there, as Kyle Walker had to bail out the defence with interventions once or twice.

Ezri Konsa, for his part, returned the favour with one defiant challenge in the second half.

This was the other thing about the game. England couldn’t fully settle for a long period, because it remained in the balance. Albania frequently looked a danger on the break, until Kane settled it.

“Welcome to the home of football, Thomas” a banner read before the match. He and his team at least looked comfortable.