Ignoring external criticism, England captain Harry Kane wants to continue playing under Thomas Tuchel’s guidance.
Even though England has been on a winning streak in World Cup qualifiers, coach Thomas Tuchel faced criticism. After the dominant win over Serbia, that has been silenced—for now. Kane believes this match should serve as their template for the World Cup.
On Tuesday, in the Group ‘K’ match in Serbia, England triumphed 5-0. In the one-sided qualifier, goals came from Kane, Noni Madueke, Ezri Konsa, Marc Guehi, and Marcus Rashford.
England had won their previous four qualifying matches, but the manner of victories against Andorra, Albania, and Latvia had drawn some criticism regarding Tuchel’s tactics and team selection.
Against Serbia, however, England played exceptional football to secure the win. Speaking to broadcaster ITV after the match, Kane expressed his confidence in the coach’s methods:
“There’s a lot of talk outside. But we’re happy with what we’re doing. When the opposition sits with 11 men behind the ball, you have to break that wall and show patience—it’s not always easy.”
“We knew tonight we’d face a strong opponent and quality players. We wanted to show what we can do under intense pressure without the ball, and make it difficult for them.”
England is now very close to securing a place in the final stage of the World Cup. Kane wants to carry the winning strategy from the Serbia match into the tournament.
“After the competition starts, our formation and style of play will be finalized. There may be matches where we need to adapt slightly to the opposition. But we want to play our way—we want to be on the front foot and recover the ball quickly when we lose it.”
“You could say today was a perfect template. Tough matches will come before the World Cup, but we can see this as a starting point—the level of play today was very high.”
England will face Wales on October 9, followed by Latvia in World Cup qualifying five days later.
