Thomas Tuchel: England head coach 'driving standards' for the Three Lions after perfect start in first two matches

Two from two for Thomas Tuchel, but no surprises there. England will make it comfortably to the World Cup finals, and they ought to win eight matches from eight in qualifying.

What is much more significant is what the new England head coach has learned about his squad and his approach in the last week - and what we have learned about him.

Tuchel's mission, remember, isn't just to qualify for the World Cup. It's to win the thing.

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Tuchel is very different from his predecessor, in both style and substance. Gareth Southgate's approach was much more sensitive, more collaborative; he focused on the atmosphere in camp, worried about his players' wellbeing, fostered and nurtured a new-found harmony in the squad, quietly coaxing the players to be the best they can be.

In the end, brilliant as that was, it wasn't quite enough to see England's name engraved on a major trophy.

Tuchel recognises and extols the virtues of what Southgate created. He has talked repeatedly to the media and his players about "the brotherhood" - the bond within the squad which Southgate created, which will see them fight for each other, and mutually try to overcome adversity at key times. But he has also told the players to change, and now "dig each other out", as his captain Harry Kane put it.

Evaluate and criticise your team-mates' performance. Drive each other to be better, so that you can take the ultimate final step together.

And Tuchel's management style mirrors what he wants his players to be - blunt, honest, more combative, more black and white. That is refreshing from a media perspective, but it is a tad riskier from the viewpoint of his ongoing relationship with the players.

Having been in and around Tuchel's first international camp for seven days, it was clear to me that one or two players have felt disgruntled.

Tuchel doesn't dodge the tough calls, but there is collateral damage as a result.

Levi Colwill, Morgan Gibbs-White, Jarell Quansah, Dominic Solanke, Dean Henderson, Aaron Ramsdale and James Trafford all go back to their clubs having not played a minute of football over the two qualifiers. Jordan Henderson flew back from Amsterdam and got less than 20 minutes of game time.

Injuries and poor form over the next 15 months could mean significant enforced changes to Tuchel's first-choice options - at this early stage in his reign, he needs everybody on board.

Unlike Southgate, who became very close to all his players, Tuchel doesn't need to make friends in the squad. He isn't going to be in the job long enough to need long-term relationships. But he clearly needs to have everyone buy into his methodology.

The players we have spoken to in the past week insist that is the case, that they've been impressed by the new manager. They like his passion, his brilliant communication, his directness and how tactile he is with them in training.

Marc Guehi even told me Tuchel at times seems more like a team-mate than a manager.

It is definitely refreshing to see the new boss won't shy away from the big calls.

He substituted the irrepressible and enigmatic Jude Bellingham against Latvia to save him from a red card, he ignored the cat-calling about Jordan Henderson and brought him back into the fold because he values his leadership, he ignored criticism of Marcus Rashford, and not only selected him for the squad but gave him two international starts for the first time since November 2023; he handed a debut in Myles Lewis-Skelly, who can be England's left-back for years to come.

He also mildly chided the youngster for a lack of width in his attacking play against Latvia; he criticised the England regime at the last Euros, saying the players were more afraid of failure than they were excited to succeed.

Tuchel has said he simply can't, and won't try to, fit all the brilliant 'No 10s' England have into a single squad going forward - he won't shy away from bruising egos to achieve the ultimate goal.

That is something fans and pundits have been crying out for with the national team since the debate with the 'Golden Generation' of how to fit Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard and Paul Scholes into the same team.

But Tuchel's assertion will be particularly worrying for Phil Foden, who seems devoid of confidence right now. The Manchester City forward is a player of such innate ability that he could be a major asset at the World Cup, but, right now, he seems the most dispensable of all England's No 10 options.

While there will be many England fans who will applaud Tuchel's stated ambition to have the national team play more like a Premier League team - with a high press, high energy, physicality, a quick tempo and attacking intent - you suspect those comments brought a wry smile on the face of Southgate.

He wanted that too, but learned that international football is a different and strange beast compared with club football, and that, very often, by the time England get to a summer tournament, the squad is depleted and exhausted at the end of a long, hard domestic season.

You only need to look at the last Euros as the clearest evidence of that, with Kane and Bellingham shadows of their fully-fit, fully-energetic selves.

Oh, and temperatures in Central America next summer, where England are likely to play their knockout games at least, are likely to be 25-30 Celsius, with high humidity. Good luck in getting England's players to play with high intensity and a high press in those conditions.

The tempo and forward momentum was certainly much better in Tuchel's second game in charge, against Latvia, compared to his first, against Albania.

The number of shots, dribbles, crosses and touches in the opponent's box all doubled in the space of four days. That would indicate the players are adapting to his style, and trying to put his ideas into practice.

This is a brave new era for England, and things feel very different under the new boss. There's a new dynamism, a new-found energy, plenty of exciting, new ideas, a new candidness in evaluating performances and driving standards.

His endgame is clear: forging a brotherhood with a clear identity, to win that elusive second star. And if the attempt to create a "club" atmosphere has echoes of Southgate, his decision to name his team late on matchday to prevent leaks and keep his players guessing, will draw comparisons with the more authoritative Fabio Capello.

But Tuchel is clearly his own man. He will steward this England team his way. Some nagging questions will inevitably remain: about maintaining the players' goodwill when the pressure mounts, about whether the players can actually deliver the vision of high-energy football he demands.

And whether - despite the meticulous planning and finely-tuned patterns of play - like his predecessors, England's ultimate success might rest on the fickle whims of footballing fortune.

(c) Sky Sports 2025: Thomas Tuchel: England head coach 'driving standards' for the Three Lions after perfect start in first two matches