A closer look at Thomas Tuchel on his opening night at Wembley

Thomas Tuchel’s reign as England manager got off to a winning start with a 2-0 victory over Albania at Wembley on Friday night.

Here, the PA news agency looks at Tuchel’s evening at Wembley.

Welcome to the home of football, Thomas

Tuchel’s German nationality caused some outrage when he was announced as Sir Gareth Southgate’s successor before Christmas.

He became the first non-Englishman to take charge of the national team since Fabio Capello’s final game at the helm 13 years and four months ago, but received a warm reception at Wembley, with a banner Reading ‘Welcome to the home of football, Thomas’ being held up before kick-off.

Tuchel said before the game that he has to earn the right to sing the national anthem, so there was no grand spectacle during the pre-match rendition of God Save The King.

Team selection

Tuchel showed that age is not a concern to him as he picks the players he thinks can help him achieve his mission of taking England to glory in North America next summer.

He handed debuts to 18-year-old Myles Lewis-Skelly and 32-year-old Dan Burn and both had successful nights, with the Arsenal youngster scoring the first goal of the Tuchel reign.

He is also not going to be swayed by public opinion as he brought the unpopular Jordan Henderson on in the second half.

Thomas on the touchline

Tuchel initially decided not to don his trademark baseball cap and tracksuit as he prowled his technical area, instead choosing to go with trousers and a smart overcoat.

The German has a reputation for his enthusiastic and energetic style on the touchline but remained relatively calm. He celebrated the goal with fist pumps but immediately called his players over to dish out more instructions. The cap came out for the second half as he watched his side extend their lead.

He was enthusiastic in applauding big moments in the game, having criticised the Euro 2024 finalists for a lack of “interactions” on the pitch.

The 51-year-old headed straight down the tunnel after the game as he let the players take the applause of a sell-out Wembley crowd.

Premier League is the way

The former Chelsea boss has been open about wanting his team to play in a ‘Premier League’ style, adopting a front-foot, physical and exciting approach.
Having also appeared to criticise Gareth Southgate’s approach in the Euro 2024, suggesting the team looked scared to lose, he had to put his money where his mouth was.

But, as ever against an opposition team deploying the low block, England initially found it hard going and, in a throwback to the Southgate era, the first paper aeroplane was thrown in the 12th minute.

Fundamentally, this was not too different to Southgate’s side. They had certainly had more of the ball, making 437 passes in the first half alone, and were more physical in their challenges, but they had to be patient for more opportunities in front of goal.