Thomas Tuchel is prepared to use long throws and high balls from the back in his pursuit of World Cup glory. The England manager, whose team face Serbia in Belgrade on Tuesday in their toughest assignment of qualification, talked last week of wanting to streamline and simplify his approach. Tuchel is coming to terms with the realities of international football and the limited amount of time he has with the players. He has worked to instil short-passing patterns but, as he reflected on how some old‑fashioned qualities were making a comeback, he declared being open to adding a more unreconstructed dimension.
England got both of their goals from lofted crosses on Saturday in the 2-0 victory against Andorra at Villa Park. The first cross was delivered from an inside-right position by Noni Madueke and led to an own goal from Christian Garcia. The second was from a much wider position on the same flank. It was sent over by Reece James and headed home by Declan Rice.
“The last one was more classic than the first one,” Tuchel said. “The last one was from the sideline, with the right foot to the second post and our No 10 arrived – Declan. I tell you the long throw-in is back, as well.
“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. We cannot put everything into four days of training but these things will matter. Let’s see. I need to reflect with my assistant coaches. All these patterns are back and crosses are back, as well.”
Tuchel anticipates a heated atmosphere against Serbia at the Rajko Mitic Stadium and said his players must be prepared for anything and everything – including a dodgy pitch and sending-offs. “We will have to adapt to the adversity and overcome adversity and let’s see what the pitch is like … how the game plays out,” Tuchel said.
“You never know. You can have red cards, yellow cards, whatever. We need to be ready for everything. We will face the same formation as against Andorra – the defensive block of 5-4-1 with individual quality up front with tall physical strikers.”
Tuchel was asked specifically about the playing surface. Had it been flagged as a possible concern? “Not yet,” he said with a knowing smile. “We expect … we are ready for everything. We feel that we are ready to step up to the atmosphere, the physicality, and it will be an emotional, very important game in the group.
“The main thing is that I trust the players because I felt them very strong this week. We’ve had an excellent camp. I felt the energy right, the attitude right, and that’s why I have full trust that we will have a good game in Serbia. We will prove ourselves to be ready to win there.”
Tuchel’s players have been warned by the Football Association to be aware of hostility from the stands that crosses a line and also the reactive protocols open to them, which include walking off the pitch. In 2012, England’s black players were subjected to racist abuse in an under-21s game in Serbia, and last year Serbia were hit with partial ground closures by Uefa over supporter behaviour in the Nations League.
The stadium will again be partially closed on Tuesday, this time on Fifa orders after racist behaviour by some Serbia fans during the 3-0 home win against Andorra in June. At least 15% of the capacity behind the goals will be empty. Since 2021, the Serbia Football Federation has been fined €703,375 for offences of their fans, including acts of discrimination.
“I’d say we’re very aware of maybe some of the challenges that we may face out there,” the midfielder Eberechi Eze said. “It’s something that internally we’ll decide and have conversations about.”
The Serbian federation has reiterated a plea for good behaviour. “Because we are under Uefa and Fifa scrutiny and because of the history of various incidents that have made us the subject of disciplinary measures, we appeal to supporters to send out an image to the world that will make us all proud,” it said in a statement
Tuchel has a potential selection issue in central defence after Marc Guéhi reported discomfort in his groin at half-time against Andorra. The Crystal Palace captain carried on until the 76th minute before he was replaced with Aston Villa’s Ezri Konsa, the fourth substitution of the permitted five. Tuchel said he wanted to introduce another Villa player, Ollie Watkins, for Harry Kane up front but the Guéhi situation altered his thinking. Kane stayed on for 90 minutes.
“I wanted to put Ollie on as it’s Villa Park and for sure his family was there. I was a bit unhappy with that,” Tuchel said. “We lost already John Stones [who withdrew from the squad with an injury] and I was not ready to take the risk. Ezri is also a Villa player so we had that. It turned out that Harry stayed on; it’s never a problem. He will be ready for Tuesday.”
