Thomas Tuchel’s England reign spans five games, but there hasn’t yet been a statement result or performance to pin to it.
A deeply uninspiring win over Andorra on Saturday continued a theme of insipid displays against the continent’s minnows.
Facing Serbia on Tuesday night, with players from Juventus, Nottingham Forest and AC Milan, rather than Santa Coloma, Rot-Weiss Waldorf and Tabor Sezan, in front of a baying Belgrade crowd, will provide a different test entirely.
“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,” he acknowledged. “We will be prepared for that.”
Here are five problems for Tuchel to solve ahead of the toughest fixture of his tenure so far:
The defensive headache
Tuchel revealed post-Andorra that Marc Guehi was substituted as a precaution. It’s a worry, given the lack of options in central defence.
“Marc Guehi said at half-time he felt his groin. We already lost John Stones and I was not ready to take the risk,” Tuchel said.
Ezri Konsa proved against Switzerland in the Euro 2024 quarter-finals that he is well capable at international level.
However, Tuchel favourite Dan Burn is much less proven; his three caps have been against Andorra (twice) and Albania.
Serbia’s strength is in attack. Aleksandar Mitrovic is lacking fitness but is a handful, while Dusan Vlahovic and Luka Jovic are threats despite not fulfilling their early promise.
Rashford vs Gordon
Tuchel handed Marcus Rashford an international lifeline after he drifted out of favour under Gareth Southgate, but the Barcelona forward hasn’t really justified his manager’s faith yet.
Rashford looked downbeat as he trudged off on Saturday. Moments before he had lost the ball while driving at the Andorra defence and appeared frustrated with himself for failing to make more out of that opportunity.
He spotted Anthony Gordon preparing to come on and knew his fate was sealed.
Gordon has had an indifferent start to the campaign after his red card against Liverpool, but prior to that moment of madness he was electric. Time for a change on the left wing.
No 10 conundrum
With Jude Bellingham and Phil Foden unavailable, Eberechi Eze is the most natural playmaker in the squad but endured a frustrating afternoon on Saturday, denied goals by a last-ditch block and a point-blank save.
Morgan Rogers’s more direct interpretation of the role might be more useful against a robust Serbian midfield.
Rogers is a physical phenomenon, a powerful, quick runner who can single-handedly propel a team forward in seconds and Tuchel is a fan of his.
England will have to soak up pressure at some point – the home crowd will make sure of it – and Rogers could be a superb pressure valve in transition.
Decisions at full-back
Reece James and Myles Lewis-Skelly have been Tuchel’s favoured full-back pairing, but there are question marks over both pre-Serbia. Can James start another game so quickly after his last? And can Myles Lewis-Skelly handle the Belgrade atmosphere?
James showcased his attacking quality against Andorra with a magnificent cross for Declan Rice’s goal and has the defensive nous to shut down one of Serbia’s chief threats, Filip Kostic.
Declan Rice gets his sixth England goal but what a ball from Reece James
— ITV Football (@itvfootball) September 6, 2025pic.twitter.com/KApmTuxfDm
Lewis-Skelly is currently behind Riccardo Calafiori in Mikel Arteta’s pecking order and looked a little rusty against Andorra. The 18-year-old is generally ultra-composed but also occasionally rash; calm will be needed in Belgrade.
Tino Livramento and Djed Spence are both solid defensively, and the latter is oozing with confidence after a strong start to the season with Spurs. “Bring me your favourite winger,” he posted on Instagram after the 2-0 win over Manchester City.
Tuchel has in-form, if inexperienced, options at full-back to mix things up.
Kane’s involvement
When Harry Kane joined Bayern Munich the talk was that Tuchel wanted him closer to goal than he was at Spurs where he effectively doubled up as a No 9 and a 10. There has been some evidence of that with England too, with Kane higher up and less involved in build-up.
He took that to extremes at Villa Park, however. Kane attempted just eight passes in 90 minutes against Andorra, completing only two. Dan Burn attempted 135; Elliot Anderson 114. It was a mind-boggling statistic considering England had 83 per cent of the ball.
Stripping back his game didn’t make him more lethal either. Kane had two attempts, a tame shot on target from the edge of the box and a header over the bar, both in the first-half.
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Tuchel, though, is unconcerned about Kane’s sharpness.
“I think like always in the beginning of the season for every player you just try to find your rhythm and it’s getting there [for Kane],” Tuchel said.
“He scored already four, five, six goals for Bayern so he’s there. There’s no doubts about him.”
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