Thomas Tuchel rues England’s failure to land ‘decisive punch’ in Spain thriller
England were leading 2-1 when captain Harry Kane slipped as he took a second-half penalty and hit the crossbar.
England boss Thomas Tuchel rued mistakes and missed opportunities after Harry Kane failed to land the “decisive punch” in Saturday’s Nations League defeat to Spain.
A sold-out Wembley witnessed a breathless return to action for the first time since the World Cup ended in a painful semi-final loss to Argentina and chaotic bronze medal win against France.
England survived an onslaught after Lamine Yamal’s early opener for Spain, with Anthony Gordon’s fine goal on the break followed by a Kane header before half-time.
But the skipper went on to hit the crossbar after slipping when taking a second-half spot-kick as substitutes Alex Baena and Mikel Oyarzabal sealed a 3-2 comeback win for the reigning European and world champions.
“I think we had the worst possible start against a team like Spain, who loves to control the game and loves to play with confidence and on the ball,” frustrated England boss Tuchel said.
“The reaction was OK. It cost us a little bit in confidence. It’s normal.
“I think we had another two big mistakes in the build-up situations and conceded two big chances, survived the chances, and then we grew into the game.
“We got the momentum, the belief back, scored the equaliser, scored the second goal, could have scored a third one in the first half. Should absolutely score the third one in the second half.
“One of the best 15-20 minutes so far of us, a total complete performance. We were clearly the better team, couldn’t score the third.
“I think in this moment it would have been the decisive punch to get this full momentum and full belief into our match with a two-goal advantage.
“Couldn’t do it, made unfortunately another technical mistake that cost us, and then the momentum shifted again. We conceded one goal from open play that we should absolutely defend better because they play through the middle.
“The result is not what we wanted. I think we could have won it, so we have to live with it, recover from it, learn from it, do what we did good on the same level, and reduce and improve our own mistakes.”
Manchester City defenders Marc Guehi and Nico O’Reilly were guilty of mistakes for the Yamal and Baena goals in this Group A3 opener.
The uncharacteristic errors came the day after reports emerged that their club had been found guilty of nearly all charges relating to Premier League financial rules.
Asked if it that was an issue or distraction for this camp, England boss Tuchel said: “Not for me, but I can imagine maybe for the Manchester City players.
“For me not and I will not comment on that because it is an ongoing court case so I will not give any comment.
“I didn’t make it a topic. It was not a topic for me. I hear the news as the latest person in camp.
“I was just thinking about Spain and training and meetings and individual meetings and team meetings. Not for me.
“For the players, they have more time than me. They have one training session, so I can imagine they talk about it. It is good that they do and I didn’t feel they were distracted.”