Gareth Southgate was given a major “wake-up call” as the England boss admitted he got his tactics and team selection wrong in the 2-1 loss to Czech Republic.
England suffered their first defeat in a qualifier for ten years and blew the chance to clinch their place at Euro 2020 on a bad night at the Sinobo Stadium.
Southgate confessed he picked players who are struggling for form at their clubs with Harry Maguire and Michael Keane both out of sorts, and they switched formation at half time because Mason Mount looked lost as they were overrun in midfield.
Three Lions boss Southgate said: “In terms of a wake up call we have had a lot of plaudits but there is a lot of work to be done to be a really top team – tonight was clear evidence of that.
“I always have to accept responsibility. We tried something to be more solid without the ball and that did not happen. We were poorer using the ball in the first half.
“In terms of the players, there are players who are not playing well for their clubs. That is the situation we are in. But we collectively have to accept the result but as manager I have to accept it.
"Collectively we have to accept there were not enough good performances. We tried to change the shape which was not working. Our performance was not good enough, it's as simple as that. The goals we conceded were typical of the chances we gave away.
“We have to respond in the right way, we have a couple of days to prepare and we have to reward our supporters with a better performance. There were not many positives. We accept defeat, and accept we have to be better than we were.”
Harry Kane, who gave England an early lead with a fifth minute penalty, added: "I think it was down to us.
We were sloppy with the ball, we didn't move it as quickly as we normally do.
"Every away game in Europe is difficult. They had the crowd behind them, sometimes the pitch is not as easy to play, but that's no excuse. It's a bit of a wake up call but we're in a good position.
"There's still stuff to work on for sure. We gave the ball away too cheaply and we'll have to go away and look at it. There's no need to panic and we'll go again on Monday."
