Thomas Tuchel praised England for a “very good” reaction in an eventual 3-2 Nations League defeat to Spain.
Lamine Yamal fired Spain in front after 110 seconds from Marc Guehi’s error before Anthony Gordon’s finish and Harry Kane’s header put the Three Lions in front at half time.
Kane however struck a 54th-minute penalty onto the crossbar which swung the momentum as Spain equalised through Alex Baena, before Mikel Oyarzabal netted the winner for the world champions.
“The start was terrible, the worst start possible,” lamented Tuchel on Guehi’s mistake which allowed Yamal to dispossess him and score as the German noted that those sort of mistakes make life harder against fellow top teams, but he felt that England settled.
“It makes it so, so difficult to be behind against this kind of team.
“The reaction was very, very good. After 10 or 12 minutes, I think we were the better team. We still made two or three big mistakes and conceded big chances, but overall we were better.
“We dominated at home in the first half. We created, scored two goals and I think it was our best 15 minutes after the whistle.
“Unfortunately, we couldn’t convert the penalty, which maybe would have been the decisive moment, because I think then Spain would have maybe, for the first time, believed that their long run of unbeaten games ends here.”
Tuchel also has called for his players to show quality more consistently akin to the manner of Gordon’s counter-attacking equaliser.
“The top-transition goal we scored was an amazing goal, and we could have created more,” iterated Tuchel on demand for more chances like that in coming matches.
“The effort against the ball is also identity. The effort against the ball and the bravery and courage to have the high ball wins was outstanding.
“I think we had 12 or 15 more ball wins in the opponent’s half than Spain today. But we couldn’t convert enough into chances and goals, because otherwise we would have won the match.”
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