It has not been an easy time for the England side under Thomas Tuchel. Yesterday, going up against Andorra with two Aston Villa players in the starting XI, the Three Lions had a difficult challenge. Their opponents elected to play in a heavily defensive low block, with numbers back.
Although it needs to be said that Andorra also chose to press higher up the pitch at times and did not exclusively stay camped in their own penalty area, there were moments when England could have and rarely, in fact, did find grass behind the back line.
For Tuchel, he, along with everyone else, knows that it was not a good enough performance. While Harry Kane did end up finding the breakthrough, it was an afternoon mostly of frustration, more than anything else.
Speaking after the match, Tuchel spoke on how the opening portion of the game went, as he would more or less hope it would go. Afterward, there was a noticeable drop-off in energy from the England side as a whole.
Part of this could be explained by Declan Rice's exclusion from the starting lineup. Even so, this is a squad that has plenty of depth, even when taking into consideration Ollie Watkins, for example, being forced to remove himself from the June roster as an injury precaution.
These are the types of matches that England needs to find a way to get the early breakthrough, which then allows for the game to open up from there. Many sides will park the bus against a top-quality opponent. They still have a way to score three or four goals.
England squad will still feature both Aston Villa players against Senegal
For England, it is going to be important for this squad under Tuchel to find some much-needed personality and more fortitude now and to figure out how to break down backlines. It is significantly harder to figure out when facing a team that is higher up in the FIFA rankings.
On a more positive note, Morgan Rogers did impress with his early dribbling in the Andorra penalty area, and Ezri Konsa was a stable force on his side of the three-center-back system. Their spot will likely not have suffered at all in the mind of the German. The Villans should both see a repeat appearance in the starting fixture during the upcoming friendly.
England found a way to earn three points. In their next opportunity against Senegal on Tuesday, everyone will want to see more.