England produced their best performance of the Thomas Tuchel era as they demolished Croatia 7-0 in the Nations League on Saturday, September 3.
The result was a major response after England’s disappointing 3-2 defeat to Spain in their opening Group A3 match.
It was also Croatia’s heaviest defeat in their history, with England becoming the first team to score more than four goals away against them.
Harry Kane and Bukayo Saka both scored twice, while Jude Bellingham, Anthony Gordon and Morgan Rogers were also on the scoresheet.
England’s attacking performance was particularly impressive, but their work without the ball was just as important.
Tuchel sees progress
The England boss was understandably delighted with what he saw in Rijeka, describing it as the best performance of his time in charge.
“It was a fantastic victory. It’s an outstanding result, of course, and the performance underlying this result is just on the highest level, from the first minutes to the last,” he said.
“The speed and the technical quality and the hunger off the ball was on the very highest level.”
That hunger was one of the biggest differences from the defeat to Spain.
England were aggressive when they did not have possession and looked much more comfortable when trying to win the ball back.
Tuchel also believes the squad’s previous experiences together are beginning to make a difference.
“I just believe we have now a lot of experience together,” he added.
“We had a qualifying campaign together, we had a big tournament together, we have big positive emotions together, we lived through them together, we had big pain together.
“We just get to know each other better, know the players better and know what to demand and how to motivate.”
That shared experience could become increasingly important as England look towards their next major tournament.
More to prove
Despite the emphatic scoreline, this result does not completely answer the questions surrounding Tuchel’s England.
Croatia are no longer the same side that reached the World Cup final in 2018 and finished third four years later.
The next major test will come against Spain in November, when England travel to face the reigning world champions.
For now, though, Tuchel can take plenty of positives from a performance in which almost everything went right and seek to replicate that when they face Czechia at home on Tuesday, September 6.
“It was a good spirit from the start of the camp and it’s nice to see that it builds up,” the German concluded.
“It was a day where every puzzle piece fell into place.”
England will hope this was not simply one outstanding night, but the beginning of a more consistent run under Tuchel.
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