'They won - but have turgid England regressed under Tuchel?'

England have kept a clean sheet all four games, more than any other side in this year's World Cup qualifiers

England's players went through the formalities of a lap around Villa Park at the end of their victory over Andorra, but the sight of their applause being aimed towards thousands of empty seats was the brutal measure of this dire World Cup qualifier.

It is traditionally the role of the visiting team to quieten the home crowd in encounters such as this. In a reversal of the time-honoured strategy, it was the latest underwhelming display delivered by Thomas Tuchel's side that sucked the life out of the atmosphere.

England, as they have now done on four occasions under Tuchel in World Cup qualifying, won to cement a powerful position at the head of Group K. A 2-0 victory against the side ranked 174th in the world.

It would take a collapse of catastrophic proportions for England not to reach next summer's World Cup, but the brave new era that was meant to be ushered in when Tuchel replaced Sir Gareth Southgate after Euro 2024 has yet to arrive.

Indeed, Tuchel has yet to stamp any identity on England, who have arguably regressed rather than improved since Southgate's departure following the defeat by Spain in the Euro 2024 final.

It was graphically illustrated by thousands of England fans heading for the exits well before the end, Villa Park's famous Holte End a sea of unoccupied light blue seats.

England fans started to leave Villa Park before the final whistle

It took an own goal to break the deadlock after 25 minutes, Andorra defender Christian Garcia heading Noni Madueke's cross beyond goalkeeper Iker Alvarez. Declan Rice headed the second from Reece James' excellent delivery after 67 minutes.

The usual caveats apply on these occasions. And there some is merit in them.

England did what they had to do, no matter how turgid and uneventful this was. Another step towards the 2026 World Cup.

Andorra mounted a rearguard action from the first whistle, assembling a yellow wall of defensive defiance, England recording 83% possession while the visitors barely got out of their own half, leaving keeper Jordan Pickford to mind his own business.

Tuchel will rightly point to the statistic that England have yet to concede a goal in World Cup qualifiers - but they have barely been tested.

And the days of racking up eight or nine goals against opponents in competitive international football are largely in the past.

Andorra, sandwiched between St Vincent and the Grenadines and Chad in the world standings, will regard a two-goal margin of defeat as close to a moral victory.

What must be a worry for Tuchel, and it is a concern that has been a consistent thread through his time in charge, is England's lack of ideas, inspiration, end product and momentum in their play.

'Anderson debut delighted England's head coach'

Tuchel gave a debut to Nottingham Forest's Elliot Anderson, who was one of the brighter performers in this mediocre England effort.

He also restored Marcus Rashford on the left flank, but the forward, on loan at Barcelona from Manchester United, faded after the odd early flourish while captain Harry Kane struggled and Eberechi Eze was kept on the margins.

Tuchel insists Rashford is a left-winger but he looked short on confidence and faded as the game went on. Tuchel may need to seek alternatives in Belgrade on Tuesday.

Serbia, in those more hostile surroundings, will present the sternest challenge of Tuchel's reign. This will be the real acid test of Tuchel's new England and they must improve.

Tuchel demanded greater urgency and aggression but there was little of that on show here.

England lacked spark, irrespective of the fact it was a game played against an Andorra side devoid of any ambition other than to avoid being embarrassed.

Tuchel's side edged a 1-0 victory against Andorra in June but, despite Tuchel himself suggesting this was an improved showing, the stats do not necessarily back that up.

Shots were down from 20 to 11 while big chances were down from six to four. Touches in the opposition box were down from 52 to 41, while expected goals were down from four to 2.21.

England's early strategy was clearly to get the ball forward more quickly, but the overall percentage of forward passes was identical to June's game against Andorra at 23%.

Tuchel insists England are moving in the right direction. If they are, they are doing it at a snail's pace.

Anderson's debut delighted England's head coach, but there are areas where he wants to see improvement.

"I think we missed some little moments to accelerate the game," Tuchel said. "Maybe Eberechi Eze did not have his best day in the number 10 position. He trained so well but he struggled a bit with his decision-making.

"The last pass from Noni Madueke was not clinical enough. Marcus Rashford had some good moments but couldn't finish them with an assist. It's stuff that can happen against a narrow 5-4-1."

This was the first England game at Aston Villa's ground for 20 years. None of those inside Villa Park will be rushing to say it was worth the wait.