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By IAN LADYMAN, FOOTBALL EDITOR Published: 07: 00 AEST, 7 September 2025 | Updated: 07: 00 AEST, 7 September 2025 11 View comments England returned to winning ways with a 2-0 victory against Andorra at Villa Park. Having been beaten by Senegal in a friendly in their previous game in June, Thomas Tuchel's side were determined to respond. An own goal from Christian Garcia Gonzalez in the 25th minute saw England take the lead. Declan Rice then managed to find the net to make it 2-0 in the second half. England are back in action on Tuesday night when they face Serbia away.   Daily Mail Sport's Ian Ladyman assesses how the Three Lions performed against Andorra.   England overcame Andorra with a 2-0 victory in a World Cup qualifier at Villa Park THE SAME OLD TROUBLE We are constantly being told how difficult it is for England to play against deep lying defences – or the ‘low block’ as it is typically called these days. But if England have to do it so often – four out of five teams Thomas Tuchel has faced so far have played that way – then why are England still so very ordinary against it? Here at Villa Park, Tuchel did his best to talk it all up. ‘We created enough to win more comfortably and it will come the more the players start to understand things more, ’ he said afterwards. But the truth is that this was like watching so many tepid England performances of old as Tuchel’s team tried and failed to play their way round or through the Andorra defence. Rhythm and precision are key in these situations and England didn’t have enough of it. And here is the really bad news. This is exactly the way England’s early opponents in a 48-team World Cup will play in America next summer. The heat will also ensure that much of the football in World Cup 2026 will be played at walking pace. So England need to get better at it – and fast. England found it challenging to get around Andorra's low block on Saturday evening WHO IS ENGLAND’S BEST RIGHT-BACK? Tuchel is going through players at a rate of knots and it’s hard to work out who he really likes and who he doesn’t. But at right-back, the case is becoming clearer. Three months ago in June Tuchel started with Curtis Jones – a midfielder – in that position against Andorra in Barcelona and then replaced him with Trent Alexander-Arnold in the second half. Then, a few days later, he gave Kyle Walker a go for the friendly that England lost against Senegal at the City Ground, Nottingham.   Interestingly, none of those players are in this current squad and for this game Tuchel started with Reece James in that position. The England manager loves James after working with him at Chelsea but the 25-year-old historically struggles to stay fit for sustained periods. It seems vital that he does right now. ‘At the moment Reece is slightly ahead in that contest, ’ said Tuchel. ‘He has all the quality but he has to show that he can play longer and longer. ’ Reece James has a chance to become England's first-choice right-back if he can stay fit PAIN WITH KANE England captain Harry Kane is one of the greatest flat track bullies in international football. The Bayern Munich forward just about always scores against the lower ranked nations that England tend to face in qualifying for big summer tournaments. On this occasion, however, Kane’s influence deserted him to the extent that after 70 minutes of almost complete England possession and territory, he had actually managed only ten touches of the ball.   Against that background, it’s astonishing that Kane was asked to remain on the field. Kane will certainly start England’s big game in Serbia on Tuesday and as such could have been sacrificed here once the game had gone to 2-0 in the 67th minute. Waiting on the bench was an Aston Villa player Ollie Watkins. Bringing him on would have given the home crowd a lift, given Kane a rest and maybe even helped England discover some creativity against a tiring team. England captain Harry Kane struggled to make a significant impact against Andorra SET PIECE PROBLEMS Tuchel is convinced that set pieces and long throw-ins will be a feature of next summer’s World Cup. He has said so privately and it is one of the reasons that he feels Newcastle’s big central defender Dan Burn will be so crucial to his team’s chances. His thinking on why this will be the case is less clear.   Maybe it is because he fears the heat at many venues will slow the football down to the extent that goals from free-kicks and corners will become all important. Whatever the case, his team continue to be less than convincing in this area. Too many corners are played short, for example, while it’s hard to recall them even attempting a long throw. Both of the goals here came from headers – one an own goal and from Declan Rice following a brilliant cross from James. The clues as to what England should have been attempting to do from the outset were right there. Despite the threat Dan Burn provides, England need to improve their set-pieces ONE BIG STEP FORWARD It was almost a perfect debut for Elliot Anderson and would have been had the Andorra goalkeeper not been agile enough to claw away his close range shot early in the second half. Nevertheless, Tuchel was delighted with the young Nottingham Forest midfield player.   Tuchel was impressed with Nottingham Forest midfielder Elliot Anderson on his debut ‘He was a little nervous at the beginning of the training week but then he did good, ’ said Tuchel. ‘We’re sure he can become a very good player. This was the test and I think he passed the test. ’ The make-up of England’s best midfield is still to become clear and of course Jude Bellingham is due to return from injury. Anderson made an impact, however, and could do no more than that.

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