Thomas Tuchel s England up and running as Myles Lewis Skelly scores on debut

LONDON – Thomas Tuchel admitted that lacklustre England must “do better” after the Three Lions boss started his reign with a spluttering 2-0 win against minnows Albania on March 21.

The German had hoped to mark his debut with a dynamic display in their opening World Cup qualifier at Wembley.

But England struggled to deliver the wow factor he had demanded earlier in the week, when he claimed they were “afraid” to lose during their inconsistent run to the Euro 2024 final under predecessor Gareth Southgate.

Myles Lewis-Skelly repaid Tuchel’s faith as the teenage Arsenal left-back put England ahead with a composed finish in the 20th minute of his debut.

England captain Harry Kane then finally wrapped up the win with a clinical strike in the 77th minute.

But there were long spells of tedious sideways passing from the hosts as they laboured to prise open Albania’s massed defence, prompting Tuchel to concede they had performed well below his expectations.

“We can do better, we have to do better,” he said. “The opponent was hard to wear down as they defended in a deep block. But in the second half I felt we were too slow.

“In general we did not make enough runs off the ball to get behind them. We had some heavy legs. I felt we were a little bit tired. We will get better, we will get more rhythm. I will understand the players better, why do we struggle to get more runs in the final third.

“It is step by step. We will look at it. We will have video sessions and make sure we find solutions.”

Tuchel had urged England to emulate the intensity and attacking intent of the best Premier League sides rather than letting the fear of failure influence them as it