Good luck, Jack Grealish: Winners and losers as Anthony Gordon lays down gauntlet in England left-wing battle while Thomas Tuchel basks in World Cup qualification

Many England teams of the past have been held back by being lopsided in attack, but in Gordon the current Three Lions have an undisputed candidate to not only start on the left flank, but to cause serious damage down it. Gordon often plays like an old-fashioned winger despite being right-footed, although he took a step towards modernity when he cut in from the left to score his goal against Latvia, which he said he had been practising over the last few days with the help of back-up goalkeeper Dean Henderson.

Gordon often raises his game for England and he always had Latvia on the backfoot on Tuesday, twisting his way through the hosts all evening before making way for Marcus Rashford. The Newcastle winger looks to be the most consistent performer England have in his position, despite the huge competition for his role from the likes of Rashford, Eberechi Eze and the absent pair of Grealish and Phil Foden.

There was only one downside to his display: it was a reminder of how short-sighted Sir Gareth Southgate had been to use him so sparsely at Euro 2024. 

Poor Grealish. Even as he is getting his career back on track with Everton and returning to being the adventurous, daring player he was before Pep Guardiola squeezed all the flair out of him at Manchester City, his days in the England team look numbered while Gordon is in this type of form.

Grealish would have been a shoo-in to make his return to the squad under any other coach, but Tuchel has stumbled upon a group of players he likes the look of and it is going to prove very difficult for the Everton loanee to force his way back in. Gordon looks to be the nailed-on choice to start on the left wing at the World Cup and there is a long queue of other players ahead of Grealish in the race to get on the plane to North America next summer. 

Rashford, fresh from a strong start to his loan spell at Barcelona, was in a probing mood on the left wing when he replaced Gordon, while Eze, who is another option on the left wing even though he replaced Morgan Rogers in a central role on Tuesday, proved his worth by scoring a fine goal.

It is not just Grealish who might struggle to unseat Gordon and fight his way back into the squad in time for the World Cup, either. Foden has rarely produced his best football on the international stage and he has often been placed on the left of midfield due to the wealth of options through the middle. It is not a natural fit for him in an England jersey, especially compared to the electric Gordon.

Many players would have reacted to suffering an injury for their club by withdrawing from international duty and giving themselves a week off to rest at home with their families. But not many players have the same commitment to their national team as Kane, who reported for duty as usual despite hurting his ankle, the part of his body which has caused him the most pain during his career, while in action for Bayern Munich.

Kane could not make it back in time for Thursday's win over Wales, but Tuchel knew his captain would be fit in time to face Latvia, and Kane picked up where he had left off by scoring in an eighth consecutive match for club and country. His brace took him on to 15 goals in that run, while it was the 13th time he had bagged more than once in a game for his country, breaking yet another England record, one previously held by Nat Lofthouse, who retired from international football as long ago as 1958.

Kane declared he was in the very best form of his career after the game, and the only shame from England's point of view is that they have to wait another eight months for the World Cup. Right now, Kane is in irresistible form, but the fear is that he might yet again be worn out by the time the tournament comes around.

That, though, is a problem to deal with in 2026. Now we might as well just enjoy watching Kane at the peak of his powers.

There were many opposing voices when Tuchel was named England boss this time last year. A lot of the dissenters took issue with the FA appointing a foreign coach on principle as it flies in the face of the notion of international football, while there was also lot of negative focus on Tuchel's character due to his propensity to rarely last more than a couple of years in each job and his tendency to fall out with people. 

The number one criticism, though, was that he was a short-term appointment with just one objective: To win the World Cup. There was no regard as to what came next, according to the naysayers, many of whom saw his hiring as anathema to long-term progress of the national game on the eve of a home European Championship.

One year on, though, and those who doubted in Thomas are beginning to look a little silly. The coach has a flawless record of six wins from six competitive games, his team having scored 18 goals while conceding none. They have been so solid defensively, in fact, that they have only faced one shot on target in qualifying.

From scolding fans to dropping big-name players and demanding his team never take their foot off the accelerator, Tuchel has bucked tradition and rocked the boat. So far, he is proving to be a breath of fresh air.

England supporters had been the unsuspecting targets of Tuchel after the previous match against Wales, with the coach admonishing the home crowd at Wembley for making barely any noise despite his team scoring three times in the opening 20 minutes and being drowned out by the visitors.

England's travelling fans on Tuesday made up a quarter of the capacity at Daugava Stadium and were in full voice. They had not forgotten the words of their manager, however, chanting 'We'll sing when we want' and 'Are we loud enough?' to the German. Tuchel was happy to take the criticism after dishing it out last time. "I got some stick in the first half. Fair enough," he said. "Well done. Good sense of humour, no problem."

Three Lions fans out in Latvia or watching from their homes have many more reasons to smile as their team are going to an eighth consecutive World Cup and will be among the favourites after an imposing qualification campaign. Many England fans were bored watching their team at Euro 2024, but Tuchel's team are playing thrilling football at the moment and next summer promises to be anything but dull.

Marc Guehi should not have much to worry about after scoring once and getting three assists in his last two performances for England. And yet, it was intriguing that the Crystal Palace captain was one of just two players - the injured Ollie Watkins the other - who did not keep their place in the starting line-up from the Wales game.

Guehi did not get on the pitch in Riga despite Tuchel using his five substitutions, and the two centre-backs who did start stood tall. John Stones used the ball superbly, particularly when he lobbed a pass over the Latvia defence to release Gordon for the opening goal, while Ezri Konsa, Guehi's main rival for the other starting berth at the heart of the defence, produced a commanding performance which included a show-stopping tackle to deny Latvia an almost certain goal on the counter-attack.