Thomas Tuchel will take no prisoners or passengers when it comes to Phil Foden and Marcus Rashford… England are scared of the touchline and his patience is already thin, writes OLIVER HOLT

England‘s players might have delivered a win for Thomas Tuchel in his first match in charge but they did not all earn his approval. Tuchel is on a clock, the clock is ticking, the World Cup final in New Jersey is less than 16 months away. He is taking no prisoners and he is certainly not taking any passengers.

And so in the aftermath of a 2-0 victory over Albania that fed us the encouragement of a fine debut from Myles Lewis- Skelly but which was short on inspiration, Tuchel acknowledged the Arsenal teenager’s excellence and the class of Jude Bellingham but saved most of his energy for a lament.

One of the shortcomings he had identified in England’s play under Gareth Southgate was a lack of freedom, and, in the emasculated performance of his wide players at Wembley on Friday night, he saw that they were still not able to liberate themselves from the caution he abhors.

He saw Phil Foden, in particular, taking the safe option time and time again, feinting to take a player on and then checking, cutting back inside and playing the ball back to his full back or to Curtis Jones or Declan Rice. Marcus Rashford was more direct and more bold, but not bold enough for Tuchel.

‘We hope for more impact in these positions,’ Tuchel said after the match. ‘More dribbling and more aggressive runs towards the box. In general, that was missing. The chances come from the little runs behind the line. They were not as decisive as they can be. It was a little bit too much passing, not enough dribbling, not aggressive enough towards goal.’

For some, Tuchel seemed to be invoking a golden age of wide play when wingers like John Barnes, Chris Waddle, Peter Barnes, Steve Coppell and Gordon Hill hurtled down England’s flanks and cut their crosses back from the goal-line for old-fashioned centre forwards to run on to and dispatch.

Phil Foden is a wonderful player but is starting to exhaust his chances in an England shirt

He has struggled out of position, while Jude Bellingham is playing in the No10 role he craves

We may not be heading that far back to the future but Tuchel was talking, essentially, about end product. He was talking about wide play with aggression and purpose that goes beyond simply retaining possession. He was talking about something more than inverted wingers who drift inside. He was talking about increased purpose and bad intentions.

Tuchel’s snap assessment is not particularly good news for Foden, who is a wonderful player but is starting to exhaust his chances in an England shirt. Many will say he is being played out of position but his favoured position is occupied by Bellingham now and Bellingham is too good to move.

Part of the solution for what Tuchel craves should be available to him soon. Along with Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah, Bukayo Saka is the best wide player in the Premier League and even if he will not be involved in Monday’s Wembley meeting with Latvia, he should be available for England’s summer fixtures.

He encapsulates much of what Tuchel wants. Sure, he is devastatingly effective cutting inside off the right to punish opponents with his left foot but he is also a wonderful, brave and relentless dribbler capable of tormenting the best full backs.

Like Bellingham and Lewis-Skelly, he fits into the category of player that Tuchel is fortunate indeed to have at his disposal. Saka is all about the end product. He delivers time after time after time. Arsenal have clearly missed him in his long absence through injury and England missed him against Albania, too. He would have had a field-day against their defence. He can unlock opponents in a way others can’t.

And if Tuchel is hankering after more direct wide players, Anthony Gordon is the obvious choice on the other flank. Tuchel left Gordon on the bench for much of Friday’s tie and he appeared to sustain an injury late in the game, but he is the type of player who can open up the flanks with his pace and his direct running.

Nottingham Forest’s Callum Hudson-Odoi, who was unlucky not to figure in Tuchel’s squad this time, is another who carries the attacking flair that the coach is searching for.

There was a time, too, when Jack Grealish might have been a candidate to provide Tuchel with what he is missing but perhaps that time has now passed.

Marcus Rashford showed some intent on Friday but failed to make a significant impact

The England boss has no time for prisoners or passengers with the World Cup final less than 16 months away

He was, though, full of praise for Jude Bellingham (left) and Myles Lewis-Skelly (right)

Bukayo Saka is one of the best wide players in the Premier League and will be back to give Tuchel attacking intent out wide soon

Perhaps the days of touchline-hugging wingers have passed, too, but Tuchel has already made it plain that he is out of patience with the safety-first wide play that he saw, and which dismayed him, in the end days of Southgate’s reign.

Tuchel sees that caution, that inhibition, as part of the problem that has hobbled England and prevented them from fulfilling their potential and he is wasting no time in conveying that message loud and clear to his wide players, in particular.

It is about more than just who is available to him. It is about more than just waiting for Saka to return from injury. It is about a mentality shift. It is about casting off the shackles that Tuchel believes England players are imprisoned by.

To draw on a phrase that became associated with Sir Alf Ramsey’s World Cup winning side of 1966, England have become ‘wingless wonders’. Some might quarrel with the ‘wonders’ part of that description for a team who have not won a trophy for nearly 60 years but the point remains.

On Friday, their wide players rarely looked like wide players at all. Foden looked scared of the touchline. He looked as if he wanted to get as far away from it as possible, as quickly as possible.

Tuchel wants that to change and he wants it to change fast. The clock is ticking.