The Three Lions’ coach is missing key personnel for the World Cup qualifiers against Andorra and Serbia as he looks to improve on June’s poor displays
Thomas Tuchel is in a paradoxical position as England prepare for their World Cup qualifiers against Andorra and Serbia. The Three Lions could hardly be in a better place when it comes to securing their place at the tournament as they lead Group K by four points after winning their first three matches. And yet, as things stand, they look miles away from being one of the contenders to go all the way in the United States, Mexico and Canada next summer.
England’s last camp in June proved to be a total mess as the scraped past Andorra before losing a friendly to Senegal, and they have a lot of ground to make up with just four more meet-ups before the coach names his squad for the World Cup and the countdown to the tournament begins. Things have already got off to a difficult start this time around, though, with key players Jude Bellingham, Bukayo Saka and Cole Palmer all ruled out due to injury.
Tuchel had many detractors in the English media as soon as he was named Gareth Southgate’s long-term successor, partly just because he is German, but also due to the short-term nature of his contract, which expires after the World Cup. The team’s unconvincing performances under his watch have done little to convince those doubters, but a massive scoreline against minnows Andorra and a victory in Serbia – their main rivals to top the group – would go a long way to winning those detractors round.
Here are seven questions the England coach must answer over the course of the next five days to improve the mood that currently surrounds his squad: