Thomas Tuchel admits Marcus Rashford lacked the 'wow' factor for England after Barcelona loanee fails to shine against Andorra

Despite the odd flash of quality, the Barcelona loanee put in an underwhelming display in England's World Cup qualifying win on Saturday. And manager Tuchel said as much after the Villa Park clash, although the German did praise the 27-year-old's attitude in training.

He said, "He struggles a bit with numbers and with the ‘wow’ performance in an England shirt, I agree. But as long as he trains like he did and behaves and is active and alive in the group, then we will always trust him and push him and support him. I can see that he tries, this is for me the most important that he stays positive and he trains at the moment with the right attitude, with a smile and with a lot of quality."

Manchester United academy product Rashford will not have done himself any favours in his bid to be part of England's 2026 World Cup squad but what is, perhaps, more concerning is that the Three Lions appear to have gone backwards under Tuchel. Gareth Southgate was a much-maligned figure but Tuchel's start to life with England may show what a good job the ex-defender did after all. 

Tuchel will hope his England side bring their A game when they travel to Serbia on Tuesday in what should be a difficult World Cup qualifier. It remains to be seen if Rashford, who has had limited game time at Barca so far, will start in that fixture.