Tuchel recognizes England « frozen » by Senegal in shock defeat

Thomas Tuchell says that his side of England felt « frozen » against Senegal after losing 3-1 on the City Playground in Nottingham.

The three lions rounded their international vacation with friendly against the African country, which recorded the first victory for the continent against them.

Harry Kane’s early goal was not enough to deny Senegal in Midlands, which struck twice in the second half to cursed Tuches to his first defeat.

And he gave a grim evaluation of the performance, admitting that he was not good enough on the field.

Speaking to the press after the match, he said, « Yes, of course, this is a disappointing result. I’m not sure if we have deserved a little bigger result.

« I felt a little frozen, not active enough for a long time during the match. We forgot quite well for long periods in the first half and then our best period came when we were 2-1 down.

« We have acknowledged the first two goals – very easy goals, we need to protect ourselves better.

« Would we express our joy the same as Senegal if we win? » 🗣

Listen to the full interview after Thomas Toshel’s match with @Gabrielclarke05 After the defeat of England by Senegal#Itvfootball | #Threelions pic.twitter.com/jwf6an8iyx

– ITV football (@itvfootball) June 10, 2025

« The reaction was good after we were down. We were suddenly more active, more free, more free, more aggressive. We had a great chance of equalizing ourselves. »

Jude Belingham got off the bench late and thought he was grabbing Equalizer to make 2-2, just to be excluded from VAR for offside.

Currently, Tuchel added: « I just saw it, it looks more shoulder than the hand. I saw it as a goal, it has to be checked, this is the first time the referee reviews the target. So it’s either a mistake, so it is not a mistake, so it’s a goal. »

The German boss was also criticized for taking down Harry Kane, but did not replace him with an attacker, even though he would be next.

Ivan Tony entered the last moments, but at that moment it was too small, too late.

Tuchel said, « It was more than three minutes. I think Ivan is a specialist in these situations, we have created a lot of chance with Morgan Gibbs-White, EBS (Eberechi Eze), Morgan Rogers and Jude (Bellingham) in liquid positions.

« I think Ivan is the strongest when we have a lot of balls in the box and that was the case, so we prepared it at 80 minutes. »