After winning the Champions League in 2021 with Chelsea, Thomas Tuchel is now eyeing success with England.
The Three Lions have qualified for next summer’s World Cup and made it eight wins out of eight on Sunday after beating Albania 2-0.
Reece James and Trevoh Chalobah made the bench for the match, but there was no Chelsea representation on the pitch in the end, as neither player was brought on.
James is likely to be England’s first-choice right-back at the tournament, though. Right now, the 25-year-old is playing well for both Chelsea and England, helping his country make history en route to the World Cup.
England manager Thomas Tuchel smiling
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England conceded zero goals in World Cup qualifiers under Thomas Tuchel
James and England won all eight of their World Cup qualifiers, keeping eight clean sheets along the way.
It saw the Three Lions become the first European side this century to qualify for a major tournament with a 100% record and no goals conceded.
There is still work to do. For example, Tuchel still needs to decide whether certain players are actually going to play at the tournament and where they are going to fit if they do.
Former Newcastle United and Crystal Palace manager Alan Pardew is already struggling to see where Cole Palmer fits.
Defensively, though, Tuchel has no issues at the moment. His England backline now looks very similar to his one at Chelsea, though you can obviously question the quality of opposition the likes of James, Marc Guehi and John Stones have faced.
Antonio Rudiger and Thomas Tuchel holding Champions League trophy
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Chelsea conceded just two goals under Thomas Tuchel in 2020/21 Champions League campaign
When Chelsea won the Champions League in 2021, their defence was also solid.
Tuchel’s backline conceded just two goals on their way to lifting the biggest prize in club football, limiting Real Madrid to one goal while completely shutting out Manchester City.
Chelsea’s 2021 Champions League knockout round record Total
Games 7
Wins 5
Draws 1
Losses 1
Goals 9
Goals conceded 2
Clean sheets 5
Real Madrid and City cannot be compared to the likes of Latvia and Andorra. But you can definitely see similarities between England’s defence and Chelsea’s under Tuchel.