Thomas Tuchel took aim at the 'silent' England fans following their 3-0 win over Wales on Thursday night. Early goals from Morgan Rogers, Ollie Watkins and Bukayo Saka were enough for the Three Lions to cruise to a routine win against the Dragons, even as England failed to really kick on after easing into the lead. However, Tuchel criticised the supporters at Wembley after the full time whistle.
Getty Images SportA comfortable evening for England
England barely had to get out of second gear in order to secure a 3-0 win over Wales on Thursday as early goals from Morgan Rogers, Ollie Watkins and Bukayo Saka was enough to claim a routine win over Craig Bellamy's side. However, the evening was marred by a sickening injury to Watkins just before half time.
Watkins looked to connect with a cross but slid and collided with the post. The Aston Villa striker tried to carry on after the incident but was withdrawn at the break and with Harry Kane absent, Marcus Rashford was called upon by Thomas Tuchel.
England, though, were unable to build upon their lightning fast start to Thursday's clash in front of a drab crowd. And after the full time whistle had blown, Tuchel took the chance to tear into supporters.
Advertisement'The stadium was silent'
Speaking to ITV after the win, Tuchel felt the home crowd could have done more to help the side, saying: “We had one-and-a-half training days to prepare against a well-trained team and we did very, very well.
“We had an excellent first half, we were 3-0 up very quickly but it could have been four or five. It was very, very good. Then we couldn’t score the fourth one or the fifth one and the stadium was silent.
“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.”
And when asked whether he expected more from the England fans, Tuchel replied: "Yes. What more can you give in 20 minutes? We didn't let them escape. If you hear just Wales fans for half an hour, it's sad, because the team deserved more support today."
He added:
Getty Images Sport'If you just hear Wales fans…it's a bit sad'
Tuchel reserved some praise for the 7,000 Wales fans that made the trip to Wembley on Thursday night, adding: "If you just hear Wales fans…it's a bit sad. The team deserved big support today."
However, Declan Rice, who captained England to victory against Wales, took a more reserved approach in his post-match media duties, with the Arsenal man understanding why the atmosphere dropped off in the second half.
"In the first half, they were brilliant for us when we scored three goals and England fans all want to be entertained. So when it's a bit more of a boring second half, I can understand where they're coming from a little bit.
"But the manager just mentioned that inside [the dressing room] so hopefully we can keep winning and exciting the fans."
England expected to maintain 100% qualifying campaign
Next up for England is a trip to Riga to take on Latvia on Tuesday night. The Three Lions won the reverse fixture 3-0 at Wembley back in March courtesy of goals from Reece James, Harry Kane and Eberechi Eze and are tipped to claim all the spoils once more next week.
Latvia, meanwhile, are looking to claim just their second World Cup qualification win when they take on Andorra on Saturday, while Serbia will hope to quickly move on from their 5-0 home defeat to England last month when they face Albania.
England can secure qualification for the World Cup if they win their next game, leaving the final two games in the qualifying group as dead rubbers; Tuchel's side face Serbia at home and Albania away in November, two games which could allow for experimentation from the head coach. Whether the fans rally behind the side remains to be seen.