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How Myles Lewis-Skelly could be Tuchel’s secret weapon as Harry Kane shows he’s England’s best finisher AND passer

Published on March 26, 2025 at 01:57 AM

How Lewis-Skelly could be Tuchel's secret weapon for England

THOMAS TUCHEL got his reign as England boss underway with two wins and two clean sheets.

Victories over Albania and Latvia at Wembley ensured the Three Lions made the perfect start to their World Cup 2026 qualifying campaign.

England soccer players celebrating a goal.
Myles Lewis-Skelly became the youngest senior England debutant to score
Thomas Tuchel celebrating at a soccer match.
Thomas Tuchel made the perfect start to life as England manager

Harry Kane found the net in both wins while Reece James' free-kick and an Eberechi Eze finish was enough to see of Latvia.

Against Albania, meanwhile, Myles Lewis-Skelly became the youngest player to score on his senior England debut aged just 18 years and 176 days.

But what else did we learn from the German boss' opening fixtures in charge?

SunSport's tactical guru Dean Scoggins gives the breakdown in the latest episode of Tactics Exposed

1. COVERING THE MYLES

It was a brave call but I expected Lewis-Skelly to start at left-back. He has been fantastic for Arsenal.

He played two different roles in the two matches. In the first, he played as a conventional left-back, much more up the outside.

That allowed the wingers to come off the wing and that's where he got his goal, overlapping and latching on to Jude Bellingham' magical pass.

Against Latvia, Lewis-Skelly played a bit more like he does for Arsenal as an inverted left-back, getting on the ball more in midfield positions.

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Diagram of soccer players' movements on the field, highlighting a passing sequence.
Lewis-Skelly played two different full-back roles
Illustration of a soccer play showing Bellingham and Lewis-Skelly.
Against Albania he stayed wide – which is how he got his goal
Illustration of a soccer play highlighting Lewis-Skelly.
He played inverted against Latvia
Soccer game analysis showing player positioning and a pass.
That saw him pick the ball up in midfield
Illustration of England's starting lineup against Latvia, showing a 3-0 victory.
Reece James can do both on the other side

Tuchel trusted an 18-year-old to do that – he is confident in Lewis-Skelly.

On the other side, Tuchel loves Reece James and he is a player comfortable coming inside or around the outside.

'I don't expect anything' Roy Keane savages England star after below-par display in Thomas Tuchel's first game

I love his dynamism, physicality and he can be as good as Trent Alexander-Arnold from a dead-ball situation.

2. RICE… NAUGHTY AND NICE

Declan Rice is a fabulous football and one of the first names on the team sheet but it was a bit of a conundrum in these games.

He became almost a bit of a problem where the midfield gets so congested and the two No10s are in the areas where he likes to run forward into.

He becomes the bonafide No6 but the best parts of his game are not his quick one-touch passes through the lines.

Illustration of England's starting lineup against Albania, showing a 2-0 victory.
Declan Rice played as the solo No6
Soccer players on a field during a game.
He struggled to have the impact he would have wanted
Soccer players on a field during a game.
Rice often found himself in the way
Soccer players on a field with "Rice" overlaid on the image.
The Arsenal man could not play to his strengths
Soccer players on a field during a game.
The spaces he usually runs into were already occupied
Diagram of a soccer play showing the movement of player Rice.
His underlapping run teed up Harry Kane's goal

It felt like Rice was playing a bit-part role, sitting there in case England lost possession. He was wasted and I was shouting, ‘Get out of the way!'

In the second match, though, he makes the driving underlap run for that brilliant assist for Kane.

Tuchel is thinking about his team at the World Cup and obviously Rice plays – but they need to figure out how to use him against lesser opposition.

3. IMPERFECT TENS

Tuchel has to shape the team around the talisman Bellingham – he is the best English player in Europe.

Bellingham showed his quality to unlock Albania with that amazing pass.

He grew up playing football with Morgan Rogers but that chemistry between them at international level needs a bit of work.

They were getting in each others' way and there was a lot of pointing – it was like a traffic jam.

Albeit that was against teams that parked the bus.

Soccer players, including Bellingham and Rogers, on a field.
The No10s lacked fluency with lots of players taking up similar positions
Soccer game with player movement highlighted.
They were often in each others' way
Soccer players Bowen and Rogers on the field.
Jarrod Bowen tends to drift infield
Illustration of England's starting lineup against Latvia, showing player names and positions on a soccer field graphic. England won 3-0.
The central areas got overoccupied – even without Cole Palmer in the team

Phil Foden came out of the congested area for the Eze goal which was very clever.

Plus you have to throw Cole Palmer in there when he is fit and Bukayo Saka will be on the right.

Tuchel knows he cannot take them all but it's not a bad problem to have as a manager choosing between Bellingham, Foden, Palmer and Rogers.

4. GIVE PACE A CHANCE

Obviously Saka will come back in. He is England's best winger and he was really missed.

I was a bit disappointed by Marcus Rashford's ambition and that may be to do with confidence.

He had a lot of tactical instructions to deal with and he did them. The interchange with Bellingham and Lewis-Skelly was really good.

The enormous frustration with Rashford is that he doesn't beat his man – he is one-v-one against a Latvian full-back with a massive space in behind.

Either play a one-two and go or beat him with his first touch.

Tuchel gave him two opportunities by starting him in both matches – he needed the wingers to keep their width against Latvia to allow space for the inverted full-backs to come inside.

His darting run stretches the defence which allows Rice to set up the Kane goal.

Illustration of England's 3-0 victory over Latvia, showing player positions.
Marcus Rashford, Jude Bellingham and Lewis-Skelly rotated down the left
Illustration of a soccer game with Rashford highlighted, showing potential passing options.
The on-loan Aston Villa refused to take on his full-back
Rashford's pass trajectory on a soccer field.
He stretched the Latvia defence before the Kane goal

It was half good and half not quite so positive from Rashford.

Bowen and Rashford naturally come inside with their first touch but I was impressed by Eze, he ran at his full-back and we saw what happened.

5. KEEP CALM AND HARRY ON

Kane is my favourite ever footballer and I marvel at him. Anyone who has the nerve to suggest he shouldn't play for England doesn't watch enough football.

Yes, he scores lots of goals against Albanians and Latvians.

But away from his ability to finish – who else is scoring those goals? – it is his movement that is why he scores all those goals.

The finish against Latvia is easy but it's the movement before anybody else that makes it – it is top level.

Harry Kane scoring a goal for England.
Kane appeared to have a simple tap-in
Illustration of a soccer game, highlighting a pass from Kane to Rice. Soccer game screenshot highlighting Kane and Rice.
Harry Kane of England scoring a goal during a soccer match.
Kane produced a stunning finish against Albania

He knows where the ball will end up and is the only one around the back post to tap it in.

The goal against Albania was utter genius.

Most people take the shot early and it hits the defender. Not Harry Kane.

He pauses for a split second and he side-foots it into the corner.

If we are going to win a major tournament, it will be with Kane in the team.

He played more as an out-and-out No9 in these games but his natural instinct is still to link the play.

He is the best passer in the team. He is the best finisher in the team.

England ratings vs Albania as Lewis-Skelly enjoys dream debut but Tuchel fails to solve Foden issue

How Myles Lewis-Skelly could be Tuchel’s secret weapon as Harry Kane shows he’s England’s best finisher AND passer 2

By Tom Barclay

MYLES LEWIS-SKELLY made history and Harry Kane extended his own record-breaking as England sunk Albania in Thomas Tuchel's first game.

Lewis-Skelly became the youngest player to score on his Three Lions debut and top goal-getter Kane notched his 70th international strike as Tuchel began his World Cup qualifying campaign with a modest 2-0 win.

New boy Dan Burn partnered Ezri Konsa in central defence at Wembley, while Marcus Rashford and Curtis Jones were also handed starts.

Meanwhile, Tuchel wrestled with the same issue faced by predecessor Sir Gareth Southgate – deciding where to fit in Phil Foden.

Left-back Lewis-Skelly, 18, slotted home on 20 minutes following a delightful turn and even better pass from Jude Bellingham.

But England stuttered after the break – until skipper Kane classily took down a Declan Rice pass and curved home the clincher.

Here's how SunSport's Tom Barclay rated the Three Lions in German manager Tuchel's opening match…

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