By Michael Davey
England lost 3-1 to Senegal at the City Ground in Nottingham on Tuesday to complete an underwhelming international break for Thomas Tuchel’s side.
Captain Harry Kane put the hosts in front as early as the seventh minute, but the Lions of Teranga hit back through Ismaila Sarr, Habib Diarra, and Youssouf Sabaly to seal a first-ever win for African opposition over the Three Lions.
Manager Tuchel admitted that the result, which followed an insipid 1-0 win over minnows Andorra on Saturday, left a lot to be desired.
Tuchel laments ‘frozen’ England
Speaking to ITV after the game, Tuchel said: “Disappointing result. Not sure if we did not maybe deserve a little bit more result-wise, but it felt again a bit frozen, not active enough for a long time of the match.
“Defended quite well for a long period in the first half. Then our best period came when we were 2-1 down. I think we conceded the first two goals. Very easy goals that [we] need to defend better.
“The reaction was good after we were down.
“I felt us [become] suddenly kind of more active, more free, more fluid, more aggressive towards the opponent’s goals. We had big chances to equalise. We equalised [but it was disallowed] and [conceded] the last one.”
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Poor form concerns Kane
Kane likewise noted England’s lack of quality in an interview with ITV, saying: “Again, not really good enough. We had moments, but with and without the ball we’re not quite finding the right passes and tempo.
“One-vs-one we’re losing duels, we’re losing that aggressive nature we’ve had.
“We’re not going to panic but we know we have to be better. There’s some ideas which are new, some new players coming in who don’t have experience internationally.
“There’s no excuses, we have to find it quick. We’re not meeting for a couple of months, the World Cup comes around really fast, so every camp is really important.”
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Keane questions hosts’ mentality
Sky Sports pundit Roy Keane, meanwhile, questioned the home team’s mentality.
“Senegal played with freedom, enjoyment, and a bit of quality,” he said on ITV. “They were gifted a couple of goals but the last one was excellent on the counter-attack.
“England, on the one hand you don’t want to overreact but the signs aren’t great. It’s been a bad couple of days for them. They had the dream start, go 1-0 up, made some good changes but it won’t be a good summer break for the manager.
“He’ll be concerned. We’re on the outside looking in, but there’s something missing. They don’t look like a happy group.
“Not in the sense of being disappointed with the result – are they all in it together? Is there that proper spirit in the group? I’m not so sure.
“England were off it in every aspect of the game – physically, mentally, hunger – every aspect of the game.”
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