Tuchel plots old-school tactics for England's World Cup push

London, Sep 8 (IANS) England manager Thomas Tuchel has revealed his intention to adopt more traditional tactics such as long throw-ins and long balls as part of England’s strategy heading into next year’s World Cup.

England maintained their perfect start in Group K with a 2-0 victory over Andorra at Villa Park on Saturday, making it four wins from four. However, the performance was far from convincing as Tuchel’s side struggled to break down the team ranked 174th in the world.

The breakthrough came in the first half thanks to an own goal, but England were unable to add to their lead until the 67th minute when Declan Rice scored with a header to finally put the game beyond Andorra’s reach. Despite the result, the overall display raised questions about England’s fluency and creativity in breaking down deep defences.

Tuchel pointed to the importance of adopting a more pragmatic approach and emphasised that he intends to bring back certain "old-school" football methods that can still be effective at the highest level. He first hinted at this tactical shift when announcing his squad last week.

"I told you: the long throw-in is back," Tuchel said. "But 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, we will talk about long kicks from the goalkeeper and not only playing short.

"But we cannot put everything into four days of training. But these things will matter."

Tuchel, who succeeded Gareth Southgate last October, is now looking ahead to England’s next qualifier. They face Serbia in Belgrade on Wednesday, where Tuchel will be hoping for a more convincing display as he continues shaping his team in preparation for the tournament.

--IANS

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