Tuchel slams 'silent' England fans

seth thomas Tuchel blame England's " soundless" fans for weakness to plunk for his team loudly enough during their 3-0 friendly win over Wales at Wembley on Thursday.

Tuchel's side delivered an eye-catching first half display as Morgan Rogers, Ollie Watkins and Bukayo Saka all netted inside the first 20 minutes.

England's swaggering performance, which followed a 5-0 demolition of Serbia in a crucial World Cup qualifier in September, was a promising sign as they gear up for next year's World Cup.

But Tuchel took exception to what he felt was a tepid response from England supporters in the sell-out crowd.

"We did very, very well. We had an excellent first half, we were 3-0 up very quickly but could have been four or five. Then we couldn't score the fourth one or the fifth one and the stadium was silent," Tuchel told ITV.

"Silent! We never got any energy back from the fans and I think the players delivered a lot to get more from the fans.

"It was difficult to keep everything going in the second half, but we did excellent and deserved to win. A step in the right direction."

Tuchel's frustration was exacerbated by hearing Wales backed by 7,000 raucous fans, who never stopped cheering their team even though they were completely out-classed.

The German may also have been letting off steam after he was jeered by England fans at the City Ground in Nottingham following a shock friendly loss against Senegal in June.

Asked if he expected more from supporters at Wembley when England were playing so well, Tuchel responded: "Yeah, what more can you give in 20 minutes? Three goals, the way we attacked Wales and didn't let them escape.

"Even in their own half, ball win after ball win after ball win. If you only hear Wales fans for half an hour, it's a bit sad because I think the team deserved big support today."

England are on the verge of qualifying for the World Cup and could be certain to progress to the tournament if they win in Latvia on Tuesday, depending on other results in Group K.

Former Bayern Munich and Chelsea boss Tuchel has now won six of his seven games since replacing Gareth Southgate.

He is the third England manager after Glenn Hoddle and Sven-Goran Eriksson to win that many of his first seven matches.

After a slow start to his reign, Tuchel is beginning to build a dynamic side.

He was encouraged by the way they swatted side Wales despite the absence of injured captain Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham, Jack Grealish and Phil Foden, who were all left out of the squad.

"We are ready for any team effort. Serbia was the next example of teamwork. We created a lot of chances," he said.

"We could use Harry all the time, but we need to play without Harry and Jude, the guys are injured. I think we played an excellent first half."

smg/nf

ITV

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