England breezed through their friendly with Wales at Wembley on Thursday, going 3-0 up after 20 minutes.
Morgan Rogers has been struggling for Aston Villa but scored his first goal for England after three minutes, before team-mate Ollie Watkins, who has also not hit his usual heights for Villa, doubled the lead soon after.
Bukayo Saka continued his good form for Premier League leaders Arsenal by adding a wonderful curling third, while Elliot Anderson again impressed in midfield.
With players such as Jude Bellingham, Cole Palmer and Harry Kane absent, it showed the depth at Thomas Tuchel’s disposal as he builds towards next summer’s World Cup.
The players wore shirts without names on the back for the second half as they marked their link up with Alzheimer’s Society, and 22 supporters with the disease walked out as mascots before the game.
England are in action against Latvia in a World Cup qualifying Group K match on Tuesday.
Roshane Thomas, Mark Carey and Will Jeanes break down the talking points from Wembley.
How did Watkins get on in Kane’s place?
It was a mixed 45 minutes for Watkins. It only took the forward 10 minutes to justify his selection in the starting XI when he doubled England’s lead from close range.
Given Watkins’ struggles for Villa this season, it looked set to be a morale-boosting outing. The 29-year-old, who made his England debut in March 2021, has one goal across his 10 appearances for Villa this season. But on the stroke of half-time, his left leg collided with the back post as he attempted to get on the end of Anderson’s cross. England’s physios assisted the forward off the field, but once he returned, he was walking gingerly. Marcus Rashford replaced him at the interval.
(Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)
Before his withdrawal, he showed that he remains a worthy backup for Kane. Watkins, who has registered seven goals in 20 caps and memorably scored a 90th-minute winner in England’s semi-final win over the Netherlands at Euro 2024, has largely been the understudy to Kane, but he remains better suited to the role than fellow attackers Ivan Toney and Dominic Solanke.
After Watkins’ early substitution, Tuchel experimented with playing Anthony Gordon as a lone striker, with Rashford operating on the left flank.
Roshane Thomas
Is Anderson a definite starter in midfield?
Since making his England debut against Andorra in September, Anderson has started victories over Serbia and Wales.
The 22-year-old, who previously played for Scotland’s junior teams, has been the preferred central midfield partner for Declan Rice. Anderson’s form for Nottingham Forest warranted his initial call-up last month, but few could have envisioned the midfielder being a key option for Tuchel this early into his international career.
Anderson again impressed in midfield (Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)
Against Wales, Tuchel started Anderson ahead of fellow midfielders Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Jordan Henderson. With Tuchel opting against calling up Real Madrid playmaker Jude Bellingham and in-form Crystal Palace midfielder Adam Wharton, it adds further credence to the belief that the Anderson and Rice partnership is here to stay.
It was a position that had a plethora of options, from Kobbie Mainoo of Manchester United, Liverpool’s Curtis Jones, and Angel Gomes of Marseille, but their lack of consistency for their respective clubs has enabled Anderson to leapfrog them in the pecking order.
As the World Cup approaches, Tuchel appears unlikely to tinker with his midfield, which will enable Anderson’s importance to grow stronger.
Roshane Thomas
How important are set pieces to Tuchel?
It was only last month that Tuchel stressed the importance of set pieces for England’s chance of success next summer.
“I told you — the long throw-in is back,” Tuchel said after England’s victory over Andorra. “We do not have a lot of time, but once we arrive at the World Cup, all these things matter, so we will also talk about long throw-ins, long kicks from the goalkeeper, and not only playing short.”
Corners and wide free kicks are undoubtedly a part of that, with these “closed” skills being easier to work on during the limited time on the training field within each camp.
England’s two opening goals coming from corner phases only serve to underpin that point further.
Easy tap-ins from Rogers and Watkins came from well-worked movement and desire from their team-mates — and while England looked impressive in open play, goals from set pieces will please Tuchel as much as any other facet of the game.
Mark Carey
Will Pickford continue record clean-sheet run?
This was Jordan Pickford’s eighth clean sheet in a row for England, breaking the national team’s record for a goalkeeper.
The previous mark of seven had been set firstly by Gordon Banks, with the last of those games being the 1966 World Cup quarter-final against Argentina at Wembley, which England won 1-0. Banks was then beaten from the penalty spot by Portugal’s Eusebio in the semi-finals of that tournament, with that match also at Wembley.
Pickford has now surpassed Banks’ record (Marc Atkins/Getty Images)
Pickford then equalled Banks’ record in 2021, with his final clean sheet of that run coming in the quarter-finals of Euro 2020 against Ukraine. Then, like Banks 55 years previously, he conceded in the semi-finals of a major tournament at Wembley — Denmark’s Mikkel Damsgaard beating him with a free kick.
But now, following the shutout against Wales, Pickford holds the record outright, and he will be eager to extend it further against Latvia on Tuesday.
Most clean sheets in a row for England
PlayerLast game in runClean sheets in a row
Jordan Pickford
ONGOING
8
Gordon Banks
v Argentina in July 1966
7
Jordan Pickford
v Ukraine in July 2021
7
Peter Shilton
v Australia in June 1983
6
Peter Shilton
v Romania in May 1985
6
Will Jeanes
Why were England’s full-backs so impressive?
Beyond their territorial dominance and set-piece prowess, there was a very specific part of England’s attack that will please Tuchel.
Playing Djed Spence and Ezri Konsa at left and right full-back might not have inspired many, but both were very impressive in their underlapping and overlapping runs to help create space for their respective wingers.
Spence played at left-back with Konsa at right-back (Harry Murphy – The FA/The FA via Getty Images)
It happened as early as the first minute. Gordon received the ball under little pressure thanks to the inside runs made by Spence to drag Welsh players away. Two more were notched up before the 20-minute mark as England punished Wales on both flanks.
Run the tape back on Saka’s goal. A sublime finish, but helped by the selfless run made inside him by Konsa. These are patterns that are befitting of a club team, and each of England’s players fulfilled their tactical demands down to a tee.
Mark Carey
What did Tuchel say?
Speaking after the game, Tuchel was critical of the Wembley support. He told ITV Sport: “We were 3-0 up very quickly, but we could have been four or five zero up at half time. It was very, very good.
“When we couldn’t score the fourth one, the fifth one, the stadium was silent. Silent. We never got any energy back from the fans and I think the players delivered a lot to get more from the fans, so it was difficult to keep everything going in the second half.
“But we did excellently, we deserved to win, the next step in the right direction.”
When asked if he was expecting more from Wembley, the German coach said: “Yes. What more can you give in 20 minutes, three goals, and the way we got going and we attacked Wales and we didn’t let them escape, even out of their own half, and put ball after ball after ball in.
“After half an hour, we could only hear Wales fans, and that was a bit sad because I think the team deserved big support today.”
On the performance, Tuchel said in his post-match press conference: “We played with a lot of effort, we played very smart. We only had one and a half days to prepare against a very complicated opponent, because they are very well drilled. We still wanted to play high pressing, we wanted to have a lot of ball wins.
“Full credit to the team because they bought into the ideas the last one and half days and to the changes that we had to make because until now we only played against deep blocks – this was the first time we were pressed high. Our deep block was good, our middle block phase was good, our defending and high pressing was excellent in the first half.
“It takes a lot of selfless work, it takes a lot of teamwork and we did it again. We could have scored more in the first half especially. The last half an hour they made a lot of changes and so did we which cost us a little bit of rhythm.”
What next for England?
Tuesday, October 14: Latvia (away), World Cup qualifying Group K, 7.45pm UK, 2.45pm ET