Roy Keane names England star who has caused a ‘problem’ for Thomas Tuchel | Football

Roy Keane believes the performance of Morgan Rogers in England’s 5-0 win over Serbia should give Thomas Tuchel a selection headache moving forward.

With Cole Palmer, Jude Bellingham and Bukayo Saka all missing from October’s international break, an opportunity presented itself for other attackers in England’s squad to stake their claim.

And while an uninspiring 2-0 win over Andorra at the weekend saw few emerge with credit, England were full of positives as they romped to an emphatic victory in Belgrade on Tuesday evening.

Harry Kane got England’s rout underway before three players – Noni Madueke, Ezri Konsa and Marc Guehi – each notched their first international goals prior to Marcus Rashford’s 90th-minute penalty.

And while not on the scoresheet, Rogers certainly caught the eye as well in the No10 role, producing a number of deft flicks and sharp turns which included the assist for Madueke’s goal.

The Aston Villa midfielder was starting just his third game for the Three Lions, but Keane suspects Tuchel will find it hard to drop him after his latest display.

‘What he does is give the manager a problem and a brilliant option,’ he told ITV after the game.

‘When you get an opportunity and you perform like that, you’re sending a message to the manager that you’re going to find it hard to leave me out, and that is all these players can do.’

And Keane went further in his praise, suggesting Rogers’ movement in tight spaces evoked memories of a former, much-beloved England midfielder.

‘When he gets in a tight area and gets away, he reminds me of Gazza (Paul Gascoigne),’ he added.

Four things we learned from England’s thumping win over Serbia

Some Mad options

Given England’s dominance over Serbia, it’s easy to forget they’re missing some of the first names on the team sheet.

Noni Madueke offered one of the few positive notes in the Andorra snorer and offered plenty again in Belgrade, with his first England goal a cracker. He’s only starting because Arsenal team-mate Bukayo Saka is injured.

Morgan Rogers showed some lovely touches (including a sublime flick in the build-up to Madueke’s goal) and, with Elliot Anderson again assured after an impressive debut at the weekend, it augurs well for the depth of Tuchel’s options.

Spot on for confidence

How important will Marcus Rashford’s late penalty prove? Matters not one iota in qualification terms, but some players are confidence players and Rashford seems to be one who hits peaks and troughs more than most.

Stepping in for spot-kick duties with Harry Kane given a breather on the bench, tucking away his first international goal for two years will do him the world of good. I’m still not really a fan of stuttery, pausey run-ups – just Julian Dicks it, lads – but he converted with aplomb.

Marc’s the man

Flagged by many as an example of why not to do the right thing after his transfer woes, Marc Guehi was his usual model-pro self, got his first England goal and told ITV post-match how much he always loves joining up with England.

No sign of a hangover from his deadline-day move to Liverpool collapsing – he just gets on with his job. Unflappable and rock solid. No wonder Liverpool want him and Palace want to keep him.

If the cap’s fit

Harry Kane’s still the main man for goals. Even when England are rubbish, he, more often than not, scores. England started well, but would it have been such a positive night had Kane not broken the deadlock?

Maybe, maybe not, but on past evidence there must be a chance another ten minutes without a goal may have let to frustration and the onset of that turgid inertia we all know too well.

We’ve all heard the ‘moves like he’s towing a caravan’ comments at major tournaments, but nobody knows the way to goal like him. If he’s fit, he starts at the World Cup.

Analysis from Dave Filmer, Metro Deputy Sport Editor

‘He just has that thing where you think you’ve got him and then he gets away from you. Just little moments there, he reminds me of Gaza.’

Ian Wright was equally impressed with Rogers’ display, saying of the 23-year-old: ‘He’s got an assuredness and quality to him to play with his back to goal when the ball comes into him, or if he gets the ball and he’s running at you he’s going past you.

‘When you play in that No.10 space, you have to be able to get the ball with your back to goal, turn quickly, get it on the half turn and make things happen and that’s what he does.’

Tuchel, meanwhile, was full of praise for his entire squad but insisted that Tuesday’s level of performance had to be the benchmark going forward for his England side.

‘I’m more than happy for the team and staff,’ he told ITV. ‘We had an excellent week from start to finish. We’ve just proved what I’ve seen every day in this camp and this makes me very happy.

‘We played with a lot of intensity, a lot of work in teamwork and we showed our quality. We kept Serbia to no shots on target and you have to put in a lot of work to do that, a lot of intensity and the invisible work that you do not get praise for. It is good to watch.

‘Every game is different. We had a meeting in the beginning of the week. We’ve only had three weeks of training and that’s normally half a pre-season. It takes time and in between there are weeks of pause. The players did excellent. The credit goes to them, they did amazing – that’s the bar.’

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