It was 11pm on Tuesday and it sounded as if there was some kind of road rage incident on the forecourt of the City Ground in Nottingham. All that could be heard was the deep blare of a horn from a large vehicle, which went on for an uncomfortably long time. Then the realisation dawned. It was the Senegal team bus and the driver was geeing up the gaggle of fans draped in the country’s colours, still ecstatic at how they had beaten England 3-1.
The celebrations had got into full swing when Cheikh Sabaly, on as a substitute, swept home the clinching goal in stoppage time, the Senegal bench emptying, everybody wanting in on it. No team from Africa had beaten England before and it did not matter it was a friendly. The scene in the visiting dressing room was probably best described – as heard – by Thomas Tuchel.
“The players came in … it was next to my changing room … screaming: ‘Senegal!’ The next one: ‘Senegal!’” the England head coach said. “Hitting on boxes and whatever. It was not offensive. It was nice to see what it means to them.”
Tuchel wondered how his players would have reacted if they had won 3-1. “Would player after player go in the dressing room, would the coach go in the dressing room, screaming: ‘England’? Would the players jump up and down? Or would we all say: ‘Hey guys, it’s a friendly match, this is what we expect’?”
Tuchel’s question was essentially rhetorical. England would not have been overjoyed. “We would have said: ‘Calm down, it’s just a friendly, it was good but OK … a good development, put it into context,’” he said. “It shows me what it means to them, an excitement and joy to celebrate this victory. We are not there at the moment.
“We expect a lot from us. I get it because we expect also a lot from us and myself. I’m missing a little bit the excitement and laughter and the joy. I see it in training. I saw a glimpse of it after the 2-1 [for Senegal in the 62nd minute]. I liked the reaction [to that goal]. But in general: no.”
For Tuchel, something is missing and he seems a little baffled. When he breezed into the job, it was with talk of a quick and aggressive approach, of Premier League passions, of a band of brothers high-fiving their way to World Cup glory. The famous Tommy Tuchel main character energy would light a fire in everyone. It has not happened, the overall sense being a heaviness of body and soul, safe passes into feet, not enough dynamic running or risk-taking. It is a worry.
Tuchel is not the first England coach to see a gap between how the players express themselves at club level and for the national team; how happiness and freedom can be overtaken by fear of what might go wrong, a desire just to muddle through. Against Senegal, there were other causes for alarm, starting with a back four that has a transitional feel with John Stones injured and Tuchel looking beyond Harry Maguire and Luke Shaw.
It was easy to fret about the fourth member of the defensive line that has served England so well for so long. Kyle Walker was awfully slow to react to Ismaïla Sarr’s run for the Senegal equaliser and it chimed with a jittery performance undermined by an apparent lack of certainty in the attribute that has always sustained him: pace. Has it finally deserted him?
Tuchel made the point that Walker lacked rhythm after a disrupted end to the season with Milan, mainly because of a broken arm. It was his first start since 5 April. Tuchel also said it was vital that Walker, and every other England player, was able to resolve his club situation.
Walker is back at Manchester City, but he will not go with them to the Club World Cup. The 35-year-old has been written off before, not least when he went more than a year without a cap under Gareth Southgate from the summer of 2019. He must find the answers again if he is to reach 100 caps. He is on 96.
There were errors across the defence against Senegal; the first two concessions, in particular, so cheap after routine balls over the top. Trevoh Chalobah was exposed on the first, Myles Lewis-Skelly on the second. Then there was the structure as England tried to build out from the goalkeeper, Dean Henderson.
The team were static, the options not there, which also took in those in midfield. Passes went astray under pressure. Tuchel needs time to finesse the patterns and it will be vital to master a controlled, possession-based approach for the expected high temperatures at the World Cup next summer. He does not have time.
The good bit against Senegal, after the stodge of the 1-0 qualifying win over Andorra in Barcelona on Saturday, came in response to Habib Diarra’s goal for 2-1. With Morgan Gibbs-White and Morgan Rogers on and Eberechi Eze coming alive, there was speed and intensity, promising combinations. Tuchel would also introduce Jude Bellingham and Noni Madueke in the 71st minute. An equaliser looked on, although it did not come, Bellingham having a goal disallowed towards the end.
There were questions within this, including where it left Harry Kane, who made way for Rogers. The captain scored England’s early goal and caught the eye, dropping deep to make turns and play searching passes. However, the team danced to his tune and played at a slower pace. Perhaps, as Tuchel has suggested, England will need more than one way of working.
As Tuchel assesses the camp, he will know there were mitigating factors for the performances. The tired legs after a gruelling club season. The awkward break between its climax and the international matches, the need for many players to effectively clock back on. The lack of jeopardy against Andorra and Senegal.
Tuchel is fond of telling reporters what the headline in their newspapers should be. So, what was it after Senegal? “Your headline is maybe a bit harder than I would make a headline,” he said, with a smile. “Headline: yeah … a lot to learn.”
