Four games into his England tenure and Thomas Tuchel has made history, albeit not in the manner he would have wished.
England had never before lost to African opposition in 21 matches, but they ended up well beaten in Nottingham. The smiles that Tuchel had hoped to see first-hand were all on Senegalese faces by the end, with opposite number Pape Thiaw’s side running out comfortable and deserved winners.
A much-changed England had led early on. Sharp work from Eberechi Eze and Conor Gallagher presented Anthony Gordon with a chance, Edouard Mendy could not hold his shot, and Harry Kane tapped in the rebound. The England captain has scored in all four of Tuchel’s games in charge.
Yet the hosts did not build on that momentum. Senegal, who are now unbeaten in 22 matches, were energetic and incisive. Dean Henderson was called upon to make a flurry of saves but was helpless when his Crystal Palace team-mate, Ismaila Sarr, sprinted beyond a dawdling Kyle Walker to convert Nicolas Jackson’s hopeful cross.
That was the first time Tuchel’s England had conceded, and Habib Diarra might have added another after the interval. Unperturbed by that miss, the Strasbourg forward burst into space behind Myles Lewis-Skelly and substitute Morgan Gibbs-White to put the visitors ahead just past the hour.
That at least sparked England into life and another substitute, Jude Bellingham, thought he had salvaged a draw only for his close-range finish to be ruled out, after a VAR check, for a handball by Levi Colwill in the buildup. Yet Tuchel’s team were caught on the counter deep into stoppage time with Cheikh Sabaly adding Senegal’s third.
Dan Sheldon and Rob Tanner dissect the key talking points from the City Ground.
How did the City Ground welcome England?
The City Ground has been waiting since 1909 to host an England game again, and this fixture was seized upon as an opportunity to celebrate some of the truly great players who have worn both the Garibaldi red of Nottingham Forest and the white shirt of England down the years.
Legacy caps were presented to some of those celebrated internationals – Frank Wignall, Ian Storey-Moore, Garry Birtles, Steve Hodge, Neil Webb, Colin Cooper and Steve Stone — while the families of some who are sadly no longer with us – brothers Fred and Frank Forman, Trevor Francis and Larry Lloyd — were also present to accept theirs.
But it was the tribute to a true footballing pioneer, Viv Anderson, that was particularly poignant.
The pre-match fan tifo dedicated to Anderson (Eddie Keogh – The FA/The FA via Getty Images)
Anderson was the first Black player to represent England, making his debut in 1978 in a friendly against Czechoslovakia, and went on to earn 30 caps while winning every major domestic trophy in a glittering career, including two European Cups and a UEFA Super Cup during a decade with Forest.
The pre-match tifo in the Trent End, organised by the Forza Garibaldi fan group, acknowledged a local lad who broke down barriers at a time when the game was infected by systemic racism. “From the streets of Clifton to the grass of Wembley,” it read, referring to the area of Nottingham where he was born. “Our Viv is a pioneer who inspired generation after generation.”
Anderson, watching on from the stands, always handled himself with grace, intelligence and control during those times, and he played the game with similar attributes. It was also poignant as those present also said goodbye to another trailblazer: Uriah Rennie, the first Black referee in the Premier League, who passed away earlier this week.
Rob Tanner
The tribute to Uriah Rennie on the big screens at the City Ground (Carl Recine/Getty Images)
How did Dean Henderson fare?
There has been some debate in recent days around whether Jordan Pickford will still be England’s first-choice goalkeeper when next year’s World Cup gets underway.
It was Dean Henderson’s turn to start on Tuesday in this friendly — with the now Crystal Palace man making only his second appearance since his senior debut in November 2020, when a Manchester United player — and he was certainly far busier than Pickford was against Andorra on Saturday.
The 28-year-old was required to make a clearance, followed by a save, inside the first minute, and his evening did not get much quieter.
Henderson impressed in place of Jordan Pickford (Carl Recine/Getty Images)
He was on hand to deny Nicolas Jackson in the fifth minute, and alert to Ismaila Sarr’s header that was on its way into his bottom corner. Left exposed by Kyle Walker’s error, however, there was little he could do about his Palace team-mate’s equaliser from close range before half time. And he would have been infuriated to allow Habib Diarra’s shot through his legs as Senegal took a second-half lead.
Given Pickford has never let England down at a major tournament, it would be a bold call for Tuchel to move on from the Everton goalkeeper, but his spot in the team is perhaps not as guaranteed as it once was. And you would expect Henderson, not Burnley’s James Trafford, to be the one to dislodge him should it come to that.
Henderson showed enough quality at the City Ground tonight to be a permanent fixture in this England setup; it remains to be seen if he finds himself stuck behind an immovable object in Pickford.
Dan Sheldon
Should Tuchel now move away from the old guard?
Thomas Tuchel only signed an 18-month contract and has made it crystal clear that he will make a decision on his future in this job after next year’s World Cup. With that short-termism in mind, you can understand his decision to bring back England’s old guard — Jordan Henderson and Kyle Walker — for his second international window’s games against Andorra and Senegal.
Harry Maguire and John Stones, two central defenders, did not receive the call-up this time, meaning the band was not totally back together.
But 35-year-old Walker’s first-half performance against Senegal, where he was largely at fault for Ismaila Sarr’s equaliser and was unsettled regularly by the Palace forward, and 34-year-old Henderson’s ineffective hour-long stint in Barcelona on Saturday are perhaps evidence that Tuchel needs to close the page on the past and look to the future — even if he himself is only sticking around for another year or so.
A crestfallen Walker picks himself up as Sarr celebrates his equaliser (Carl Recine/Getty Images)
Pep Guardiola, the Manchester City manager, was happy to let Walker leave to Milan on loan in January, and it is time England move on from starting their long-time right-back, especially as there are myriad options in that position: Trent Alexander-Arnold, Reece James and Tino Livramento to name only three.
Walker struggled badly here, with Roy Keane particularly scathing of his failure to check Sarr’s run to score the equaliser. “If that was a young right-back, you’d say he showed a lack of experience, but I think he (Walker) has been lazy,” said the Irishman, working as a pundit for the game’s UK broadcaster ITV. “He can’t be bothered to get back in.
“I know he’s had a difficult few months, but for a vastly experienced player… you can’t be making mistakes like that.”
Walker and Henderson were cornerstones of Gareth Southgate’s England, but even he was starting to look beyond their talents. They are both long past their best and if Tuchel is serious about winning the World Cup next July, it feels unlikely he will do it with either of them in the starting XI, no matter how good they have been for the national team over the years.
Dan Sheldon
Did England “play with a smile”?
“I see us train with a smile, but not play with a smile,” Tuchel said in the build-up to this game. “Then they forget about the shirt and how heavy it is.”
The German hasn’t been in the job long but he has quickly twigged what has been a blight on England in the modern era — the dreaded fear factor. So many of his predecessors have also spoken of the weight of expectation that turns players who look like potential world beaters with their clubs into bang-average performers when they have the Three Lions on their chest.
There haven’t been too many England players who look like they have had smiles on their faces in this international window. But there have been a few exceptions; those squad members who have relished a rare opportunity.
Eze offered flashes of his talent (Carl Recine/Getty Images)
In the laboured but crucial World Cup qualifying win against Andorra on Saturday, it was Noni Madueke who stood out with his freshness and appetite. He plays like a genuine winger who loves to supply his colleagues. Against Senegal, it was Eberechi Eze who played with a smile on his face, a swagger in his stride and the courage to do it his way, with freedom, flicks and an abundance of deft touches.
Local favourite Morgan Gibbs-White also injected some energy and invention when he came onto his club’s home turf in the second half and seemed to relish his opportunity, linking well with Eze. Tuchel will be hoping the Eze grin in particular will become infectious because, at present, there is precious little else for England fans to smile about.
Rob Tanner
What was the point of Ivan Toney’s call-up?
Just before the 70th minute, the camera panned to England’s bench. The focus was on Noni Madueke as he prepared to come on to replace Bukayo Saka with the home side trailing 2-1.
But the better picture was of Ivan Toney looking somewhat bewildered, arms folded, and probably wondering what on earth he was doing in Nottingham on a Monday night in June when he could have been on his summer holiday somewhere.
Having been called up to this England squad by Tuchel, he failed to emerge off the bench on Saturday evening in Spain and was then given a pitiful two minutes of normal time to try to salvage a result against Senegal.
(Mike Egerton/PA Images via Getty Images)
Fresh from his debut season in Saudi Arabia with Al Ahli, where he scored 23 league goals in 30 games and helped the Jeddah-based club win the Asian Champions League, he could be forgiven for thinking there was a good chance he would gain some game time under Tuchel.
Yet, having not been out to Saudi to watch Toney in the flesh since starting in the job in January, Tuchel called him up for this camp to see the former Brentford player in a squad environment. Maybe he did not like what he saw. Or perhaps he felt Kane, who he already knows more than enough about, should definitely start an end-of-season friendly.
Either way, Toney’s face as he sat there on the bench was a picture — and it summed up what many other people also watching tonight’s game are probably thinking: what was the point of bringing him along, just to watch him train and reward him with a handful of minutes on the pitch?
Dan Sheldon
What did Thomas Tuchel say?
On the performance, Tuchel told ITV: “It’s a disappointing result. I felt we were a bit frozen, not active enough for a long time in the match. We defended quite well for a long period in the first half, then our best period came when we were 2-1 down after conceding two very easy goals. We need to defend better.
“The reaction was good after we were down. I felt us suddenly kind of more active, more free, more fluid, more aggressive towards the opponents’ goals. We had big chances to equalise.”
On Bellingham’s disallowed goal after Colwill was penalised for handball: “It looks like it’s more the shoulder than the hand. What I don’t understand is it’s the first time a referee revisits the goal. Either it’s a mistake, so take it away, or it’s not an obvious mistake and it’s a goal. But to look at it again and again and again… this is against the rules.”
(Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)
Why was Toney so under-used? Tuchel said: ”Ivan is a kind of specialist for exactly these situations. We created a lot of chances with Morgan Gibbs-White, with Ebs (Eze), with Morgan Rogers and with Jude in fluid positions. I think Ivan is the strongest if we have then a phase where we have a lot of balls going into the box.
“That was the case so, after 80 minutes, we made him ready. Then we scored. They took the goal away, so it took a while longer than we wanted, but basically that is what he can give — a presence in the box late in the match.”
What’s next for England?
Saturday, September 6: Andorra (Home — Villa Park), World Cup qualifier, 5pm UK, 12pm ET
(Top photo: Carl Recine/Getty Images)
