Thomas Tuchel says “that atmosphere did not match the performance” after win over Wales | OneFootball

Despite an impressive 3-0 win over rivals Wales, England manager Thomas Tuchel was critical of the atmosphere inside Wembley Stadium and admitted that it wasn’t as good as previous games he has managed and he would have expected more from the England crowd.

An electric start from the home side saw the Three Lions go three goals to the good inside 20 minutes, after goals from Morgan Rogers, Ollie Watkins and Bukayo Saka. However, at the conclusion of the match, it was the atmosphere – or lack thereof – which concerned Tuchel.

“The support in Serbia was absolutely fantastic, when we played Serbia, I said it. I love English football and I love English football fans and the support they give but I think today that atmosphere did not match the performance on the field,” he said.

It seems as if Tuchel is starting to get a grip of things as the head coach of the national side, with recent convincing wins and performances making for a positive feel in the England camp and for fans. The German spoke about how impressed he’d been with the performance against Wales and how his team had to cope with little time to prepare and playing against a different set up, praising their adaptability.

“We played with a lot of effort, we played very smart, we only had one-and-a-half days to prepare. They’re a very complicated opponent because they are very well drilled, very well coached, even in the deep buildups,” he said.

“So, we still wanted to play a high pressing, we wanted to have a lot of ball wins and we had it. Full credit to the team because they bought into the ideas in the last one-and-a-half days and to the changes that we had to make because until now we have only played against deep blocks.”

Morgan Rogers has had a difficult season so far at club level for Aston Villa, but after getting on the scoresheet tonight and being effective in the number 10 role, Tuchel praised the 23-year-old.

“Morgan does excellent like the whole team. He’s very humble, he’s very physical, he has the ability to score and assist. He had a fantastic season, got well deserved voted I think for best young player of the last season in the Premier League, that’s what he shows,” he said.

Finally, Tuchel touched on the injury to Ollie Watkins, after the goalscorer collided with the post in the first half and, as a result, was substituted at half-time for Marcus Rashford. Tuchel said: “He’s okay. He had like a clear goal normally for him and then unfortunately he saw the ball too late and couldn’t score our fourth goal and crashed into the post I think. It was very, very painful but as I understood it now, it’s only painful, so no harm.”

England face Latvia in a World Cup qualifier on Tuesday evening, 7:45pm BST.