Forget making the shirt lighter, how about the shoes? The England players were padding about in new sneakers on Wednesday — garish numbers which, put it this way, you would never lose in the dark, (Jonathan Northcroft writes).
They were gifts from the team’s kit-maker, Nike, and billed as “pregame mules” which enhance the wearer with “mind-altering science”. Or were they just 80 quid Crocs?
“[The players] told me they can focus better if they wear these shoes and maybe the most important thing is they believe it,” said Thomas Tuchel, who wore a very ordinary pair of trainers — and an amused expression.
Focus better? “I said it’s important you wear them for my meetings,” he replied.
• Read in full: England need hunger, not ‘mind-altering’ shoes, for dead rubbers
Alex Scott will have to wait for England debut
There is no place in tonight’s 23-man squad for the Bournemouth midfielder Alex Scott, who was called up to the senior England team for the first time last week.
The injured Crystal Palace defender Marc Guéhi also misses out, although it is hoped that he may able to play in England’s final World Cup qualifier away to Albania on Sunday.
Atmosphere building at Wembley
Kick-off is just over half an hour away now…
MICHAEL REGAN/THE FA/GETTY IMAGES
PAUL HARDING/THE FA/GETTY IMAGES
Why Rangnick is inspiration for Tuchel’s World Cup masterplan
England smelt blood. As Latvia sought to play out with passes across their defensive line, there would be as many as seven white shirts swarming them, looking to regain possession close to their opponents’ goal (Paul Joyce writes).
Anthony Gordon cut out a ball from Roberts Veips intended for Raivis Jurkovskis near the corner flag and, had it not been for the alertness of the goalkeeper Krisjanis Zviedris, a reverse pass from Harry Kane to Declan Rice might have brought reward.
As it was, England were made to wait only another 22 seconds for their prize.
Once again, it came from Latvian naivety but also the aggressive intent of Thomas Tuchel’s side to win back the ball.
• Read in full: Why Ralf Rangnick is inspiration for Thomas Tuchel’s World Cup masterplan
Bellingham on bench, Rogers starts
As expected, Jude Bellingham starts tonight’s game on the bench, with Morgan Rogers favoured ahead of the Real Madrid midfielder. Here’s the England line-up in full:
England line-upJ Pickford — R James, E Konsa, J Stones, N O’Reilly — M Rogers, E Anderson, D Rice — M Rashford, B Saka, H Kane.Substitutes: A Wharton, J Bellingham, J Bowen, D Burn, T Chalobah, E Eze, P Foden, D Henderson, J Henderson, J Quansah, D Spence, J Trafford.Serbia line-upP Rajkovic — S Pavlovic, N Milenkovic, A Terzic — O Mimovic, I Ilic, N Gudelj, S Lukic, F Kostic — A Zivkovic, D Vlahovic.Substitutes: S Erakovic, M Grujic, L Ilic, V Ilic, L Jovic, A Katai, V Milosavljevic, D Petrovic, N Radonjic, L Samardzic, A Stankovic, M Veljkovic.O’Reilly to make senior England debut
It’s been quite the week for Nico O’Reilly (Hamzah Khalique-Loonat writes). He was handed a call-up to the senior squad on Friday, kept Mohamed Salah (relatively) quiet in Manchester City’s 3-0 win over Liverpool at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday, and is now making his senior England debut. Only a few months ago, he was in Lee Carsley’s Under-21 squad, and if not for the Club World Cup (which he played in for City), he would likely have been at the U21 Euros in the summer. The rise of this former No10 (yes, you read that right) is remarkable.
The real Jude Bellingham: inspirational leader or toxic influence?
Sunday afternoon in Madrid (Owen Slot writes). The two Real Madrid team buses have pulled up outside the Estadio de Vallecas; it’s one hour and 40 minutes before kick-off against their city rivals, Rayo Vallecano. Hordes of fans, fenced off 20 yards away, scream enthusiastically as the players emerge briefly one by one from their bus and into the stadium. And then something happens, fleeting but telling.
The players studiously fail to register their army of attendant followers. This behaviour is now the norm: it’s pre-kick-off, you can wear your headphones, head down, you’re focusing on the game, so we have therefore come to accept that it’s not rude to ignore.
Yet there are two exceptions. One is Fran García, who used to play for Rayo Vallecano. The other is Jude Bellingham. Just a wave is all it takes. Screams of applause come back in return. There, it wasn’t that hard, was it?
• Read in full: The real Jude Bellingham: inspirational leader or toxic influence?
Konsa wants to ‘think like a striker’
Speaking in the lead-up to tonight’s game, Ezri Konsa emphasised the importance of set pieces to England as the national team looks to tap into the craze sweeping the Premier League: 28.2 per cent of goals have been scored from them in the top flight this season.
“We try to work on it as much as we can,” Konsa, 28, said. “It’s a big point here, definitely, working on our set pieces. Ant Barry [Tuchel’s No 2] does a great job at that.”
Konsa scored his first international goal from one routine during England’s 5-0 win over Serbia in Belgrade, drawing upon the expertise of Villa’s set-piece coach, Austin MacPhee.
“He [MacPhee] always says when we’re attacking corners and free-kicks to think like a striker,” Konsa said. “In that situation, I wanted to think like a striker — just run into the box and hopefully there’s a rebound. It just fell to me and I smashed it in with my left foot.”
Bellingham has No10 shirt — but likely to start on bench
The in-house TV cameras have just been in the dressing rooms at Wembley and show Jude Bellingham has the No10 shirt (Paul Joyce writes).
He is unlikely to have the No10 role, however, with Morgan Rogers poised to keep his place in the starting line-up following his recent eye-catching performances.
Bellingham looks set to begin on the substitutes’ bench, with the teams set to be confirmed at about 6.30pm. Rogers, for the record, is wearing No15.
Welcome to our live coverage of England vs Serbia
Good evening and welcome to The Times’ live coverage of England vs Serbia at Wembley. With six wins from six, 18 points and no goals conceded, Thomas Tuchel’s side are looking to extend their perfect record in World Cup qualifying, after having already secured their place at next summer’s tournament as group K winners with two games to spares thanks to the 5-0 win over Latvia last month.
Kick-off is at 7.45pm. Stay tuned for updates from Hamzah Khalique-Loonat at Wembley.