- England comfortably beat Albania 2-0 at Wembley on Friday night
- It marked Tuchel’s first game in charge since taking over from Gareth Southgate
- LISTEN NOW: It’s All Kicking Off! Is England’s squad good enough to win the World Cup?
England ensured that Thomas Tuchel’s reign as manager got off to a winning start on Friday night thanks to a 2-0 win over Albania at Wembley.
Goals either side of half-time from debutant Myles Lewis-Skelly and captain Harry Kane gave the Three Lions all three points as their bid for World Cup qualification in 2026 began on a positive note.
Positivity was evident in the performances of Lewis-Skelly, who has enjoyed an impressive run at Arsenal this season – culminating in a first senior cap for England.
By scoring at the age of 18 years and 176 days, Lewis-Skelly became the youngest player in history to score on his senior England debut.
But what did Thomas Tuchel make of the performance as he watched on from the sidelines?
Body language expert Judi James has exclusively spoken to MailSport to reveal all.
England ensured that Thomas Tuchel ‘s reign as manager got off to a winning start on Friday night thanks to a 2-0 win over Albania at Wembley
Body language expert Judi James has exclusively spoken to MailSport to reveal all
With his rosebud-pursed mouth and his crinkled eye-smiles, Tuchel seemed to possess all the fine-boned, elegant charm of your average Maître D’.
But his body language throughout the game appeared to prove that his power as a manager comes less from warmth and charm and more from a capacity for open, honest, critical assessments that could easily leave the players fearing a blasting.
Tuchel’s damning summary of Southgate’s team’s performance turned in onto his own team after the 2-0 win.
His praise for Lewis-Skelly was delivered in a calm monotone, but his discontent with the rest of the team was delivered with non-verbal signals of itchy irritation.
His head shook in a micro-gesture of disbelief and his tongue worked and poked around his mouth as he rocked from foot to foot. His shrugs after mentioning Rashford and Foden looked harshly dismissive, as did the narrowing of his eyes.
That sense of building irritation and frustration became visible during the second half of the game when he was seen sitting with his hands clasped between his knees and his legs juddering furiously.
His trait of very exaggerated note-taking during the game also implied there would be detentions handed out later.
After producing the kind of notebook the police carry he bent double to rest it on his thigh and scribble furiously while standing up several times during the game.
Tuchel’s trait of very exaggerated note-taking during the game also implied there would be detentions handed out later.
As a leader his non-verbal profile veered somewhere between the solitary Empirical and the Stress ball types.
He often stood alone like a man waiting for a bus, either with his arms folded or his hands stuffed into his pockets.
His celebratory ritual was a small, rather restrained-looking fist-waggling dance. It was a very personalised celebration rather than one shared with the crowd or the players, as though vindication was important to him.
Describing himself in one word as ‘nervous’ before the game he went on to prove it with some facial twitching, neck scratching and lip-licking as well as a nervous laugh.
