So far so good for Tuchel as England earn back-to-back wins

LONDON : Thomas Tuchel's baptism as England's head coach could not have been any smoother. Two games, two wins, five goals scored and none conceded represents a satisfying start for the German.

Monday's 3-0 victory over Latvia at Wembley, like Friday's 2-0 defeat of Albania, was far from perfect. But Tuchel already has credit in the bank for some wise decisions.

On Friday he gave a debut to Arsenal's teenager Myles Lewis-Skelly and the 18-year-old repaid him with a goal.

On Monday, Tuchel made four changes to his lineup and one of them, Reece James, marked his first start since 2002 with a sublime free kick to open the scoring.

Winger Eberechi Eze also bagged his first England goal against Latvia after coming on as a substitute.

England already look well on course to win a modest Group K and take their place in next year's World Cup finals by which time it will be 60 years since their last trophy.

That will be the real test of Tuchel's impact on England, but for now the German former Chelsea, Paris St Germain and Bayern Munich coach appears to have taken to the international stage like a duck to water.

HAPPY TUCHEL

Asked for his impressions of his first camp, Tuchel praised his squad for making his life easy.

"Very happy because of the players mainly," Tuchel, the first England permanent manager to win his first two games in charge since Fabio Capello in 2008, told reporters.

"They reminded me instantly why I was excited about the job. Top characters, a very good group. I think we had some excellent days on the pitch, but also off the pitch.

"Good energy and very positive atmosphere."

Six points was the minimum requirement for England's opening two games and while the opposition were not of the highest quality, Tuchel said they were