Tuchel has plenty to ponder after 'Ok-ish' England opener

LONDON : Thomas Tuchel finally ended his long wait to take the reins as England coach for the first time and duly began his tenure with a 2-0 victory over Albania on Friday but got a quick reminder of the conundrum the high-pressure job throws up.

The German was appointed in October and officially began his 18-month contract in January and crucially he earned his first three points on the road to the World Cup finals.

There were positives, most notably a stunning debut for teenager Myles Lewis-Skelly whose 20th-minute goal was the standout moment from the Wembley clash.

Harry Kane's record-extending 70th England goal made the result safe late on, but Tuchel sounded like he will be doing lots of analysis over the next few days to work out why his side made heavy weather of seeing off Albania despite dominating.

"OK-ish. Difficult opponent. I knew before it can be hard to create chances," was Tuchel's assessment of the Group K clash, before which he opted not to sing the national anthem.

"They (Albania) came here to play in front of 80,000-plus at Wembley. They did everything to make life hard. We struggled to implement a high-rhythm.

"Second half, we lost confidence in our structure and everyone tries it on their own and it becomes slower. I can understand it's not the most exciting watch, but we needed to do what we needed to do."

England topped 90 per cent possession in the first 20 minutes of the match but had not created a clear chance until Jude Bellingham split the Albania defence and Lewis-Skelly fired home a low shot past Albania keeper Thomas Strakosha.

Tuchel said on the eve of the game that he wanted his players to play with the aggression of a Premier League team but too often his players opted for easy passes.

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