Former Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has singled out Blues' wing-back Reece James as one of England's 'poor' players during their opening two games of Euro 2020.
The 21-year-old was one of Chelsea's best players in the UEFA Champions League final last month as Thomas Tuchel's men defeated Manchester City 1-0 to become champions of Europe for the second time in their history.
James' stellar displays throughout the 2020/21 campaign also earned him a place in England's Euro 2020 squad, competing with City's Kyle Walker and Atletico Madrid's Kieran Trippier for the starting right-back slot in Gareth Southgate's team.
Walker played The Three Lions' opening fixture against Croatia, with Trippier controversially starting at left-back, but James was handed the reigns on the right for Friday night's 0-0 draw with Scotland.
The young defender was solid defensively, making a crucial goal-line clearance in the first half but struggled to create any openings going forward, something that Mourinho criticised him for.
"The most important thing is the confidence of players," he told talkSPORT. "I don't believe at all that for example when Gareth decided to play the last game with James and Shaw; I don't believe he told them don't attack, stay on the line of the four, be cautious.
"I don't believe that. To do that, you do that with other players. To do that, then you play Ben White in defence alongside the Mings and Stones as well.
"I think the confidence of the players (is important). James and Shaw are attacking and fast players.
"Normally they go forward and create. They arrive in the box and create. They didn't against Scotland. They stayed very, very quiet. They didn't make mistakes. But offensively they were poor."
England face the Czech Republic tonight in their final group game, with a win sealing their fate as group winners.
The Three Lions would face the runners-up from the difficult Group F, which contains World Cup 2018 winners France, Euro 2016 winners Portugal and World Cup 2014 winners Germany.
