The land of the free-style. Thomas Tuchel said England played “too much freestyle in the first half” of the uninspiring 1-0 friendly win over New Zealand here in Tampa. “On the right side we were lacking width,” Tuchel said. That was partly because he started a centre-forward,…— Henry Winter (@henrywinter) June 6, 2026
I think he’s right but I think he expected too much from Quansah who’s extremely limited going forward.
I see some people here are feeling 'frustrated' with this game because we didn't score 6 or because we didn't pick our starting 11, some think it was a waste of time but personally I feel it shows how 'foreign' managers are more level headed with these types of games. Firstly we don't want to show Croatia exactly how we intend to line up and play, secondly we don't want the usual (ie our best player picking up an injury just before the tournament), thirdly it was more important to get used to playing in high temperatures than winning by 6. I think for what it was it went pretty well. The only negative is that New Zealand didn't really 'test' our defensive state which is a worry for me because we haven't been tested defensively enough over the last couple of years (thanks to being in a crap Nations League and in an easy qualifying group). I think we will fall short because when we meet elite teams we will struggle defensively.
Tuchel moaning about long balls and long passes in the first half. It felt like those were pretty much all from his ‘camp morale’ pick Jordan Henderson
I’m not frustrated with the performance, I had no expectation we’d win by 6 today at all. He’s just wasted 3 friendlies in a row. Look at the starting 11 of the last 3 and see how different it will be to the match again at Croatia. Is it really that big of deal if Croatia have an idea of how we line up (they probably have a good idea anyway). Surely actually some of the starters playing together even for 45 minute today (no ones vouching they play an entire 90) would help foster some tactical understanding (Kane and Bellingham haven’t played with each other for 7 months).
I get the idea with Henderson being there. He has some kind of role to play. Maybe just to keep Bellingham grounded, as someone wrote here. The real question for me is why Dan Burn is there, today he got that one duel where he could beat the keeper in an aerial duel, and he still missed the target. If he can not even do that, what can he do?
Henderson was always a CM who relied on his intensity attributes to have an effect on the game and contribute to his teams. So now that he's old, his biggest strengths are diminished and he serves no useful purpose to a high level football side.
Yes, Henderson is there for off pitch qualities only. He has no on pitch qualities. But Dan Burn for me he has neither on pitch qualities nor off pitch qualities. So why is he there?
I honestly think Southgate would of taken Rio Nguomoha. You can see a player like him making an instant impact off the bench and creating a goalscoring opportunity when you need something. Contrast Rio with Anthony Gordon who came on 2nd half too and was playing on the opposite wing and the contrast in football ability is startling
I really felt strongly towards the very back end of the season that Ngumoha should go to the World Cup. We just don't have enough players who are reliable 1v1 and can beat their man regularly, especially on the left side. Additionally if Saka doesn't look anything like his usual self then we could be really struggling in terms of players with good wing play fundamentals. It won't be as bad as 2024 but you can also see a scenario where our left side looks really impotent. If you're playing right-footed players at left-back it's even more important you have a left-winger who can regularly beat his full-back 1v1. Rashford & Gordon are too hit and miss in that regard.
Is the situation really looking that much better than 2024? You have got Rashford there now but in 2024, we had Eze and Palmer who were brilliant options off the bench and I dont think Tuchel will play Eze on the left. Slightly off topic, but the only player from this squad who I would immediately take and add to that 2024 team is Anderson
WOW! Is it really that difficult for the tech team or whoever it was that put it up to follow a team sheet, lol.
Moved for the second half from behind the goal to the side that was in shade. Very oppressive still though.
Don’t often agree with his views but I think Durham is pretty spot on here: Adrian Durham lists the three things he learned from England's 1-0 win over New Zealand in their first World Cup warm-up game! 🏴 pic.twitter.com/PDsuBQZbqv— talkSPORT (@talkSPORT) June 6, 2026
Thomas Tuchel sees Nico O’Reilly as an attacking left-back. He played central midfield in the low-key 1-0 win over New Zealand. O’Reilly obviously played there earlier in his Manchester City development and for England age-groups. “Normally, as a left-back,” Tuchel says of his…— Henry Winter (@henrywinter) June 6, 2026
I'm talking specifically about the left side. I think the situation will be better there. Our left side was non-existent in 2024; I'm not sure it could've been much worse. It'll still be far from optimal this time though. While still not knowing how good we'll be, I do also think we'll be better than we were in 2024 on the whole. I think us getting into the final somewhat clouds just how bad we were. We blagged our way to that final, it was a freak of a tournament that would almost never play out that way again if we delivered the same standard of performance. We really should've been knocked out in the round of 16. It was only a one in a million goal from Bellingham that stopped that happening.
I don't agree with much of that tbh. Ngumoha was only OK, made to look better by how bad Gordon was. And the Arsenal players don't need to be there, it defeats the purpose of the rest.