Thomas Tuchel knows England's frustrating, much-criticised semi-final defeat to Argentina at the World Cup will hang over him and his team right through until the Euros in 2028 - and even beyond. But in Croatia on Saturday, a thumping 7-0 win was a performance and result to reinvigorate Tuchel's England project. It was a historic scoreline: Croatia's heaviest defeat.
No team had scored more than four goals away to them before. Of course, the Nations League is not the World Cup and this ageing Croatia side, a shadow of their great teams of the past, could not provide an elite examination. But England's 'complete' performance, as it was described by manager, players and pundits alike, is something to get behind again.
Last week, the positives against Spain were clouded by defensive mistakes and a clear gap in quality; the win over Czech Republic was distorted by the first-half red card. But this was emphatic. The front four were electric and devastating.
Elliot Anderson and Alex Scott, on his first start, bossed the midfield battle against their far more capped counterparts. There was a horror miss from Mateo Kovacic at 3-0 but Croatia were limited to little else, with England's full-backs far busier creating chances than having to stop them. 'When England are rampaging all over the pitch like this, winning back possession when they have no right to do so, passing forward at every opportunity and finishing ruthlessly, there is no better team in world football to watch,' wrote Sky Sports News football correspondent Rob Dorsett from the press box. It was the best performance of the Tuchel era, and the England boss agreed. 'It was a fantastic victory.
It's an outstanding result, of course, and the performance underlying this result is just on the highest level, from the first minutes to the last,' he said.
Source: Sky Sports Champions League · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing