Tuchel gave a debut to Nottingham Forest’s Elliott Anderson, who was one of the brighter performers in this mediocre England effort.
He also restored Marcus Rashford on the left flank but the forward, on loan at Barcelona from Manchester United, faded after the odd early flourish while captain Harry Kane struggled and Eberechi Eze was kept on the margins.
Tuchel insists Rashford is a left-winger but he looked short on confidence and faded as the game went on. Tuchel may need to seek alternatives in Belgrade on Tuesday.
Serbia, in those more hostile surroundings, will present the sternest challenge of Tuchel’s reign. This will be the real acid test of Tuchel’s new England and they must improve.
Tuchel demanded greater urgency and aggression but there was little of that on show here.
England lacked spark, irrespective of the fact it was a game played against an Andorra side devoid of any ambition other than to avoid being embarrassed.
Tuchel’s side edged a 1-0 victory against Andorra in June but, despite Tuchel himself suggesting this was an improved showing, the stats do not necessarily back that up.
Shots were down from 20 to 11 while big chances were down from six to four. Touches in the opposition box were down from 52 to 41, while expected goals were down from four to 2.21.
England’s early strategy was clearly to get the ball forward more quickly but the overall percentage of forward passes was identical to June’s game against Andorra at 23%.
Tuchel insists England are moving in the right direction. If they are, they are doing it at a snail’s pace.
Anderson’s debut delighted England’s head coach but there are areas where he wants to see improvement.
He said: “I think we missed some little moments to accelerate the game. Maybe Eberechi Eze did not have his best day in the No 10 position. He trained so well but he struggled a bit with his decision-making.
“The last pass from Noni Madueke was not clinical enough. Marcus Rashford had some good moments but couldn’t finish them with an assist. It’s stuff that can happen against a narrow 5-4-1.”
This was the first England game at Aston Villa’s ground for 20 years. None of those inside Villa Park will be rushing to say it was worth the wait.
