Thomas Tuchel says there is “no need to panic” after shock England defeat against Senegal | OneFootball

Despite going ahead via Harry Kane in the sixth minute, England fell to defeat against Senegal thanks to goals from Ismaïla Sarr, Habib Diarra and Cheikh Sabaly. It was a shock loss for England, albeit in a friendly, but it was a historic win for Senegal as they became the first African side to beat England.

Thomas Tuchel admitted that he was disappointed to suffer defeat for the first time as England boss, yet was able take some positives, in particular with how his side reacted to going behind.

The England boss said: “The reaction after two-one just showed me that suddenly I saw what I see on the training ground. We are able to do double movements. We are able to find combinations. We have better distance to each other. We find better combinations with more fluidity. We go through gaps. We have chances with back heels. We have suddenly creativity that we were struggling with before.”

Tuchel was asked about Ivan Toney and why it took him until the 88th minute to bring the striker on. “We wanted to play with Morgan Rogers, more fluid and much more physical player. I think it was too early for Ivan because the game just like we said was so, so physical. The opponent was very physical and we were not close enough to the goal consistently to get his strength into play. That is my view of the game,” the German responded.

After two disappointing performances in June for England, with one a narrow victory over 173rd ranked Andorra and this defeat against Senegal, Tuchel touched on his frustration over those outcomes and how they looked to challenge themselves with the test against Senegal in the friendly. He was asked whether the two results would come as a learning curve.

“Now we go into a long break with a bad feeling and with a loss, which is simply not nice is not what we wanted. I will never be glad for a loss, and I’m glad for tough tests and for challenges, so we wanted to feel the quality of a top 20 team (Senegal). We felt the quality and individual quality of Senegal,” he said.

There have been questions asked over Kyle Walker’s inclusion in the England squad, with the veteran now coming towards the end of his career at 35-years-old, and potentially showing signs of slowing down. The England boss was asked about his thoughts on the former Manchester City full-back’s performance.

“I see the lack of rhythm clearly. I see the lack of rhythm in misjudgements in duels and in anticipation, of course, I see that. That is also maybe the nature of a June camp and of a player that you say correctly has not every minute in his legs lately in the last minutes, because of injury and struggling to come back.”

Finally, Tuchel was asked whether his key message was “not to panic,” with the 2026 World Cup approaching next summer. Tuchel replied “100%, yes, 100%. We lost a test match, so there is no need to panic. We have three qualification games, we have nine points, and no conceded. We will be competitive in September, and go for two victories, 100%.”