Tuchel

England face Latvia in Riga on Tuesday knowing victory will guarantee qualification for next summer’s World Cup in Mexico, Canada and the United States.

Rashford, who scored two goals in the Champions League for Barca against Newcastle United, has fallen out of favour at Manchester United and is looking to get his career back on track away from his boyhood club.

In January, manager Ruben Amorim criticised Rashford for not showing the attitude of someone “giving the maximum every day”.

Tuchel pointed out that Rashford is still young enough to make the right decisions in his career “because otherwise, he will be disappointed in 10 years at what could have been and what he made of it”.

Barcelona boss Hansi Flick has been pleased with Rashford’s efforts so far though, calling him “unbelievable”. The La Liga club has the option of signing him on a permanent basis for £30m in 2026.

“I think the limit for him is very, very high. Maybe higher than for others,” said Tuchel. “He has the potential – but potential is a dangerous word with high-level sports.

“You have to reach your personal best on a regular basis – that is what is demanded on this kind of level, and that is the challenge for him.

“He can be one of the best in the world because the quality I see in training, the finishing with both legs and with the head.

“He is explosive, he is fast, he is strong in the air, so where are the limits?

“There are no limits – but the numbers don’t reach the potential, it is as easy as that.”

Manager Thomas Tuchel said England’s commanding performance against Serbia has set “the bar” as they took a step closer to qualifying for the 2026 World Cup.

The Three Lions had faced criticism for lacklustre performances in this qualifying campaign, despite having won all five of their Group K matches.

But a 5-0 thrashing of Serbia in Belgrade on Tuesday is perhaps the eye-catching performance Tuchel’s England needed.

“We had an excellent week from start to finish. We’ve just proved what I’ve seen every day in this camp and this makes me very happy,” said German boss Tuchel.

“This camp was the benchmark.”

England now need five points from their final three games to reach next summer’s World Cup in Canada, Mexico and the United States.

Sitting seven points clear at the top of the group, Tuchel’s side will face Latvia in October before taking on Serbia then Albania in November.

“This week was excellent. The attitude, the way we played in both matches. Today is a statement victory against a difficult opponent in a difficult environment,” Tuchel said.

England stifled Serbia and the hosts failed to get any of their three shots on target, leaving Jordan Pickford without a single save to make.

England had 24 shots and 12 on target while they had 42 touches in the opposition box as Serbia recorded just four.

Harry Kane and Noni Madueke gave England a deserved half-time lead before Ezri Konsa, Marc Guehi and Marcus Rashford wrapped up an impressive victory.

“There was no negative attitude on the pitch, no frustration on the pitch. For me, it was teamwork in it’s purest form. Then we played football to a high level and got a deserved win,” Tuchel said.

“We had a bit of a stop-start game against Andorra and the result was maybe not the result that everyone expected from us. I kept the belief but at some point you need to prove it also as a player, that it’s not just only words from your coach.

“They kept on doing and I think they kept on believing, and they felt themselves that this is the spirit that we need in camp and that will give us the extra level of quality.”

THOMAS TUCHEL hinted Ivan Toney may have to get used to limited game time due to his “specialist role”.

The striker was an unused substitute against Andorra and had to wait until the 88th minute to feature against Senegal.

2

2

Toney watched on glumly from the bench with England trailing 2-1 as Morgan Rodgers, Morgan Gibbs-White, Noni Madueke and Jude Bellingham all got the nod ahead of him.

He was eventually brought on for three remaining minutes plus stoppage time but was unable to impact the match, with Senegal instead scoring a third to win 3-1.

After the match Tuchel spoke to ITV and was asked to explain the reason behind Toney’s late introduction.

He said: “First of all it was more than three minutes.

“Second of all I think that Ivan is a specialist for exactly these situations.

“We created a lot of chances with Gibbs-White, with Ebs [Eberechi Eze], with Morgan Rodgers, and with Jude in fluid positions.

“I think Ivan is strongest when we have a phase where we have a lot of balls in the box and that was the case, so after 80 minutes we got him ready.

“Then we scored and they took the goal away and it took a little while longer than we wanted but that’s what he can give – presence in the box and a goal later in the match.”

BEST FREE BETS AND BETTING SIGN UP OFFERS

Captain Harry Kane started ahead of Toney for both matches and scored in both.

Toney was recalled to the England squad for the first time since his move to Saudi Arabian side Al-Ahli last summer.

He last featured for the Three Lions in the final of Euro 2024 against Spain, but played just one minute.

Tuchel spoke of Toney deserving his recall ahead of the fixtures against Andorra and Senegal.

He said: “Ivan deserves to be with us. I’m convinced.

“He’s scored over 20 goals for Al Ahli this season, he won a major title – the Asian Champions League – and had a big involvement in the team in goals and assists.”

Thomas Tuchel has encouraged his England team to play as they train – with smiles on their faces.

The German was critical of the performance as England laboured to a 1-0 win over minnows Andorra in Saturday’s World Cup qualifier.

Former Chelsea boss Tuchel says the players have trained very differently, however, so he has urged the Three Lions to play with freedom, take heed of instructions, and “just go for it”.

Tuchel began work as England head coach in January and Tuesday’s friendly against Senegal in Nottingham will be his fourth game in charge.

“I see us train with a smile, but not play with a smile,” Tuchel said.

“We need to improve, for sure. We need to improve in connections, in support, in interactions in the group.

“I feel we are too isolated on the pitch. We have not clicked yet.

“We have a lot of positives to take away in training and in the sessions I see a lot of it, and it will obviously take a little bit to translate it to the pitch.”

Tuchel added: “The best thing is to focus on the principles of the game, to give clear instructions to the players, [on] what we expect from them in their role.

“And then they forget about the shirt and how heavy it is. They [can be] free in the role and they know what to do, that they have people around with whom it is easy for them to connect. And then just go for it.”