England: Thomas Tuchel turns to long throw-ins and long balls in World Cup bid

The England manager is ready to go route one

Thomas Tuchel says his England team will look to incorporate more route-one approaches in their style of play ahead of the World Cup , including long throws and crosses from deep.

England have so far found it difficult to break down packed defences under Tuchel’s watch, as demonstrated by recent struggles against minnows Andorra in narrow 1-0 and 2-0 wins.

Tuchel has noticed a trend of more direct and traditional methods of attack creeping back into the game since the start of the Premier League season and says he will speak to his assistants about how England can follow suit.

England’s two goals against Andorra on Saturday came from crosses, and Tuchel said: “The last one was more classic than the first one! The last one was from the sideline, with the right foot to the [far] post, and our no10 arrived, Declan [Rice], just before he got substituted. So well done.

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“I tell you, the long throw-in is back, as well. We do not have a lot of time. But once we arrive at the World Cup , all these things matter, so we will also talk about long throw-ins, we will talk about long kicks from the goalkeeper and not only playing short.

“But we cannot put everything into four days of training. But these things will matter. And let's see. I need to reflect now with my assistant coaches. And all these patterns are back, and crosses are back as well.”

The Three Lions on Tuesday face their toughest test yet in qualifying Group K when they face Serbia at the Rajko Mitic Stadium in Belgrade.

Tuchel added: “I have full trust that we will have a good game in Serbia. We will prove ourselves to be ready to win there.”

Eberechi Eze

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The senior England team have not played in modern-day Serbia since the break-up of Yugoslavia, but a number of the England Under-21s squad were racially abused during a European Championships qualifier in Krusevac in 2012.

The senior men’s team have also reported racist abuse during away qualifiers in the likes of Montenegro and Bulgaria during the tenure of Tuchel’s predecessor, Gareth Southgate.

Eberechi Eze was asked how prepared England are to take action by walking off the pitch mid-game or by other methods if they come to encounter abuse in Serbia.

“I’d say we are very aware of maybe some of the challenges that we may face out there,” Arsenal’s summer signing said.

“I think it’s something that internally we’ll decide and have conversations about, but [there is] nothing to express to you guys [the media] at the moment.”