Reece James proved he’s more than a nostalgic pick for Thomas Tuchel, while Morgan Rogers and Eberechi Eze impressed but Jarrod Bowen missed a massive opportunity.
JORDAN PICKFORD
Pickford fully agreeing with Tuchel’s claim that England lost the Euro 2024 final to Spain because of poor communication and then failing to do the bit of communicating – between goalkeeper and defender when the ball is rolling between the two – that you learn as footballer before you’re out of primary school was excellent.
Him raising his gloves in an admission of guilt to co-conspirator Marc Guehi is evidence – not that we needed it because the alternatives are pish – of his place in Tuchel’s starting XI being as assured as anyone’s.
REECE JAMES
James’ selection for the squad and then to start here raised eyebrows amid claims of nepotism from his 2021 Champions League-winning coach given he’s played 829 minutes of football this season (1311 minutes across the last two) and just 342 minutes in the position he’s been selected to play in. Those same concerns won’t be raised next time, even if Maresca continues to play the brilliant right-back in midfield in the interim.
So sure is Tuchel that Enzo Maresca is wrong to be playing James in midfield that the Chelsea captain wasn’t even the designated full-back inverter here, with Myles Lewis-Skelly the man to shift into the middle alongside Declan Rice when England had possession. But James was the designated free-kick taker.
Unless you’re thinking David Beckham vs Greece at Old Trafford in 2001, we’re not convinced you could come up with a better England free-kick, and the quality of that one is perhaps over-egged due to its importance, with ones like James’ that curl from outside the post and from above the bar to finish inside and below very clearly superior.
Tuchel celebrated like a man who knew he was set for criticism had James not performed. James celebrated like he had a loan spell with Latvia. He also delivered a couple of excellent crosses and looked as close to the Tuchel-managed Chelsea James as he has since Tuchel left Chelsea, which bodes very well for England.
MARC GUEHI
There was the Pickford miscommunication mishap, which – by the way – led to an extraordinary miss from a professional footballer, but that wasn’t his fault. He did though slip to give Latvia their second-best chance to score and incurred the wrath of Tuchel soon after half-time for attempting to keep the ball for himself and conceding a throw-in instead of playing an easy pass back to Pickford. Maybe too comfortable?
EZRI KONSA
Probably should have given England the lead midway through the first half but spanked his volley straight at the Latvian goalkeeper, leading to some stunning examples of England commentators and pundits lavishing undue, condescending praise on footballing minnows, with Sam Matterface gasping at Krisjanis Zviedris’ “remarkable save”, which we contend would have been pulled off by just about every single human being of a similar height and build.
Did nothing wrong here at all and may well now be difficult to displace.
MYLES LEWIS-SKELLY
At the risk of sounding like yer Grandma, he’s a very impressive young man. No-one played more than his 86 passes before he went off in the 79th minute. Barring injury he’s surely going to the World Cup and many more major tournaments beyond.
DECLAN RICE
Didn’t really appear to be doing anything other than taking half-decent corners before Jude Bellingham went off, at which point – whether upon Tuchel’s say-so or having made his own mind up – he decided to make a first forward run to set up Harry Kane for his tap-in, clearly illustrating that he’s more than a defensive midfielder while also being England’s best defensive midfielder.
JUDE BELLINGHAM
He probably should have been shown a second yellow card soon after half-time for an unnecessary sliding tackle which caught far more man than ball, and perhaps would have been had he not been Jude Bellingham playing for England at Wembley against Latvia.
It was a sign of frustration from a footballer who shows maturity way beyond his tender years in almost all aspects of his football and life beyond aside from these fleeting moments when his burning desire to affect the game clouds his judgement and leads to rash challenges. Tuchel took him off in case he fancied another one and England scored immediately, which is definitely funny if not an indication of England being better off without him.
Could and perhaps should have scored from at least two of his three headers in decent positions, and created a couple of chances through finding space on the half-turn.
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JARROD BOWEN
Can’t help but feel this was a massive missed opportunity. It felt like Tuchel was describing Bowen when talking about what he wants from his forward players after the win over Albania, essentially asking them to front defenders up, beat them and either shoot or deliver crosses.
That’s what Bowen’s made a career of at West Ham but we saw very little of it here, with this showing providing ammo to those claiming he’s a bit too humdrum, predictable or even boring to playing on the wing for England with so many exciting alternatives vying for those roles.
MORGAN ROGERS
He’s a Makes Things Happen footballer that we love to watch and managers – particularly Tuchel, who wants the direct Premier league style to be replicated with England – will want to find a place in their team for.
You get the sense that Rogers is really f***ed off when he has no option but to play a ten yard pass. He wants to spot a gap and run into it, or spot a physically inferior opponent (most of them are) and run through them.
He didn’t do all that much in the first half as Latvia sat back but created two good opportunities for himself after the break when the game became more open. And it feels like Rogers could be particularly effective in games against better opposition when England don’t have quite so much of the ball, staying close to Kane – as he does with Ollie Watkins for Aston Villa – to bully teams in transition. An impressive full debut.
MARCUS RASHFORD
In some ways he took Tuchel’s demand for “more dribbling and more aggression” on board, attempting more dribbles (7) than anyone else, but there were more occasions than that when he had the opportunity to run at his man but turned it down, and the end product wasn’t quite there.
A very good chance on the break just before he was substituted, which fizzled out after a poor first touch, summed up a performance which threatened to be a standout one but left plenty to be desired.
HARRY KANE
Got his goal scoring from Where You Want Him To Be in the six yard box, but could have got a couple more had he not been on his heels in similar scenarios, with one particular James cross begging for his poacher’s touch. Also expected the net to ripple after a fine first touch from a Bellingham pass, but he put it wide with his swinger.
SUBSTITUTES
EBERECHI EZE (on for Jarrod Bowen, 61)
Tuchel made an exasperated FINALLY gesture as Eze ran at his man, entirely diddled him, got his shot away and scored. He perhaps benefited from coming on against a tiring defence but he is also different to the other options on the wing, combining the speed and acceleration of your Marcus Rashfords with the close control of your Phil Fodens. Expect him to go up a few rungs in the famous F365 England ladder.
PHIL FODEN (on for Jude Bellingham, 67)
He was very clearly desperate to make an impact after his heavily criticised showing against Albania, played a few nice passes and looked to put some pace into the game whenever he could.
KYLE WALKER (on for Myles Lewis Skelly, 79)
Completing two of England’s nine tackles despite only being on the pitch for 15 minutes says… something.
JORDAN HENDERSON (on for Declan Rice, 79)
Bumbled around the pitch for a bit, as is his wont.
CURTIS JONES (on for Marcus Rashford, 79)
Two key passes out of eight is an excellent ratio.
