Speaking on ITV’s coverage of England’s 2-0 victory over Albania, former midfielder-turned-pundit Roy Keane said that one player is already in danger of losing his spot under Thomas Tuchel after a lacklustre performance at Wembley Stadium.
Myles Lewis-Skelly, who made his debut, and Harry Kane, who never fails to deliver, gave the Three Lions a 2-0 victory on Friday night. Jude Bellingham, the talisman, impressed, as did the former and Dan Burn..
However, given that it was a pretty lacklustre performance against a less skilled country in Albania at times, several players partly failed their test under the German tactician, who is considered to be among the top managers in international football.
Keane on the Challenges Phil Foden Faced Against Albania
The winger had zero shots on goal before being replaced.
As previously mentioned, the 1966 World Cup victors put on a routine display, but a few players did not perform up to par. One such player was 24-year-old sensation Phil Foden, who played 74 minutes on the right wing before Jarrod Bowen took his place.
Marcus Rashford played on the opposite flank of Foden, who has had trouble pulling up trees for Pep Guardiola’s team this season. He missed a chance on goal before giving way to the aforementioned West Ham United striker.
52 touches, a 91% (41/45) pass accuracy, and a 0% cross and dribble accuracy were recorded by the winger elsewhere. Cork-born Keane, who is considered to be of the toughest football players of the Premier League era, spoke about the Manchester City winger following England’s triumph at home:
“You’re there to influence games, so if you’re one of those attacking players and you’ve come off the pitch and dominated a game like that against a weak Albanian team and you haven’t scored a goal, had a shot on goal or tested the custodian, you’d be disappointed.”
You want to leave a positive impression on your new manager. That is definitely not what Rashford and Foden did tonight. Foden is obviously off it, and I believe he may be lacking in confidence. He’s not very good at clubs.
Tuchel criticised Manchester-born players Foden and Rashford for their aggressiveness—or lack thereof—on the flanks after their performance in the city. “I believe that neither of our starting wingers had the same impact as they typically do in club football.”
A little too much passing, not enough dribbling, not enough carrying and pushing with the ball, and not aggressive enough at goal, in my opinion, were what we lacked.
Their second 2026 World Cup qualifying match is next for Tuchel, who recently caused controversy with remarks about Gareth Southgate and his team. In an attempt to improve their standing in Nations League Group K, they host Paolo Nicolato’s Latvia on Monday night.
