This was not the World Cup send-off that England were hoping for.
Thomas Tuchel’s final match at Wembley before he and his squad travel to the United States — where they will play two more friendlies ahead of the start of the World Cup in June — was supposed to be a celebration of a squad brimming with talent and ambition.
Instead, Tuchel’s flat and disjointed side missing captain Harry Kane through injury were defeated 1-0 by a polished Japan, who made their own statement of intent ahead of the summer thanks to Kaoru Mitoma’s first-half goal.
It was the first time the England men’s team had been defeated by an Asian team, following on from last summer’s defeat to Senegal, their first loss to an African nation.
We examine the main talking points.
Where does this leave Tuchel?
Thomas Tuchel made a point of saying before this game that England’s attacking players — apart from Kane — were not recording sufficiently good attacking numbers this season. Against Japan he had to find a way to play without Kane, who was rested as a precaution. It was a chance for those players to prove Tuchel wrong and make the case for themselves. But instead they effectively proved him right.
This was a huge opportunity for Cole Palmer and Phil Foden, who almost played as tandem 10s, Morgan Rogers and Anthony Gordon. They could provide that they could be decisive without the England captain. But their failure to do so just underlined how reliant England are on Kane.
That has probably been the single biggest lesson of this break. In two games against good teams, with Kane playing neither, England looked flat, blunt and short of ideas. They only managed one goal, Ben White’s against Uruguay, tapped in after a corner. But for all the nominal attacking talent on the pitch, they did not create enough or threaten enough.
Only from set pieces late in the second half, with Dan Burn and Harry Maguire in the opposition box, did they start to threaten. They will have no chance in the U.S. without Kane.
Jack Pitt-Brooke
Thomas Tuchel did not enjoy his evening (Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)
How did England set up without Kane?
In the absence of Kane — England’s talisman was missing for just the sixth time since the 2022 World Cup — Tuchel shifted shape.
He went for a 4-2-3-1 with Foden at the tip, effectively playing two No 10s by pairing the Manchester City forward with Palmer. White provided the width on the right with overlaps from full-back, as Rogers rolled inside like he does for Aston Villa. Gordon and Nico O’Reilly were expected to offer athleticism and fluidity down the left.
Apart from flashes and plenty of possession in the first two-thirds of the pitch, it never quite clicked. Was it a worthwhile moment to try it? Yes. Did it fall flat? Also yes.
Tuchel accepted that on the hour mark, and whether his quadruple sub was pre-arranged or not, he gave up on the technician-heavy system and replaced Palmer and Foden with Dominic Solanke and Jarrod Bowen.
England went to a purer 4-2-3-1, with Bowen’s arrival giving them two proper wingers, Rogers shifted centrally to No 10, and Solanke offered a focal point. England were still without a big chance or shot on target by 70 minutes. In terms of cutting edge, they offered little — completing just eight of 31 crosses — and their 21-game scoring run came to a screeching halt.
Liam Tharme
How was England’s soft underbelly exposed?
England’s World Cup qualifying record made for impressive reading: played eight, won eight, scored 22, conceded 0.
That may sound like perfection, and it isn’t far off. Not many teams will have qualified for this summer’s World Cup finals in such impressive and dominant fashion. They didn’t face the greatest opposition either, and you can only beat who you are drawn against.
But if England needed a warning against any complacency they received it in the first half against Japan. The goal they conceded should be reviewed and analysed, and held up as a stark warning of what to expect in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
First, Palmer was caught in possession in an area of the pitch that was begging for a swift counter-attack.
White was caught high up the pitch and had no chance to get back. Perhaps he was trying to offer some attacking width that wasn’t available from England’s makeshift front four.
Either way, when Japan broke, England had a five-on-three advantage. They just didn’t use it.
Elliot Anderson will have the role of England’s midfield insurance policy this summer but he displayed no awareness of the run of Mitoma as Japan exploited the space White had vacated down the England right flank. He was running alongside Mitoma in the initial build-up but seemed so focused on what was happening on the other side of the pitch he completely lost Mitoma’s run.
Ezri Konsa could have made a more concerted effort to stop the low pullback and O’Reilly could have stepped in to intercept the cross. Neither did, allowing Mitoma to sweep home.
England have many players who are versatile enough to play in different positions but they all still need that natural instinct to sense where the danger lies in the moment or England will find they will concede a similar goal again when it really matters.
Rob Tanner
Why did Palmer struggle?
Palmer looks like a footballer out of sorts and low on confidence.
As the final camp before next summer’s World Cup finals began and Tuchel announced his 35-man squad there was all to play for and Palmer was in the mix. The choice for the No 10 behind Kane seemed to be between Real Madrid’s Jude Bellingham and Aston Villa’s Rogers, leaving a battle between Palmer and Foden for a third option.
That has not worked out well. Foden looked short of ideas as the false nine and even Rogers has looked out of form. But for Palmer, who has missed so much of the season through injury, this camp was a great opportunity to stake his claim and he was unable to do so.
Cole Palmer struggled to influence the game at Wembley (Alex Pantling/Getty Images)
Whether playing in a wide position or in the No 10 role, he has just not shown any of the form that has made him one of the most exciting English players in the Premier League in recent seasons. This display against Japan will be a real concern.
He lost the ball that led to Japan’s goal — although, as illustrated above, there were other mistakes made there — but he never seemed to recover from that mistake and showed none of the self-confidence of a player who believes he can make the final squad. Even his set pieces, usually so threatening, had no real quality.
In the end Tuchel replaced him just before the hour. He looked dejected as he trudged off, his body language suggesting he knew he hadn’t done himself justice. It has left his World Cup hopes hanging in the balance.
Rob Tanner
Could Japan cause a stir this summer?
Make no mistake, this Japan side are good quality. This is their 30th win in 41 matches since the start of 2023. Over the past four years they have beaten Brazil, Spain, Germany, the United States, and now England.
Fair enough, they continue to underperform continentally — not winning the Asian Cup since 2011 — but head coach Hajime Moriyasu has been in place for the past eight years and that shows in how well-coached they are.
The 3-4-3/5-4-1 they played at Wembley is their primary system. Moriyasu’s side excelled at sitting in for long periods, having just 31 per cent possession in the first half, and also made clear, concerted efforts to press together and disrupt England’s build-up.
This Japan fan had plenty to smile about (Alex Pantling/Getty Images)
Their goal on 23 minutes was a scything counter-attack, started and finished by Brighton & Hove Albion winger Mitoma, who played as a No 10. He dispossessed Palmer in midfield and, within just a few passes, Japan had bodies forward. Left wing-back Keito Nakamura squared the ball for Mitoma’s first-time finish.
In the second half they started brighter, threatening with direct balls into the channels. Late on they withstood the England flurry, only ever truly looking like conceding at set pieces.
Liam Tharme
What did Tuchel say?
The England head coach admitted his side had missed Kane in a painful defeat, but insisted he would learn from it.
Asked by UK broadcaster ITV if England were over-reliant on Kane, he replied: “Well, why would Argentina not rely on (Lionel) Messi or Portugal not rely on Cristiano Ronaldo? This is totally normal. Key figures left camp for us and we saw that a bit. We lacked a punch.
“It’s always painful to lose, and to lose at home hurts a lot. We got punished for not a lot, for one counter attack in the first half. We need these matches, we know it is a tough opponent, and we had several players not available. We tried a lot of stuff, and we need to learn.”
What next for England?
Saturday, June 6: New Zealand, Friendly (Florida, United States; exact venue TBA), kick-off time TBA
