England manager Thomas Tuchel has accused his defence of being a danger to themselves ahead of Tuesday's UEFA Nations League tie against the Czech Republic in Prague.
The Three Lions have failed to keep a clean sheet in six matches since beating Panama at the FIFA World Cup. During that stretch, England have conceded 13 goals, including seven in their previous two outings against France and Spain.
Tuchel warned that his side must rapidly eradicate self-destructive mistakes in possession as they hunt for their first shut-out in seven fixtures.
Spain created a sequence of early chances during Sunday's 2-3 fixture, capitalising on mistakes made by England while attempting to build play from deep areas around their own penalty box.
"We suffered from individual mistakes when we had the ball, especially in deep build-up," Tuchel said ahead of the match in the Czech capital. "It's something that we cannot repeat, especially not at this kind of level."
"To take care of this, we have to be technically absolutely clinical, under pressure," Tuchel added. "We need to improve these things. Strangely enough, when we had the ball, we were the biggest danger to ourselves around our box."
Defensive performance and individual errors
Despite the recent defensive statistics, the German head coach insisted he holds no broader concerns about the team's overall defensive structure or their ability to organize a defensive block.
"But purely defending, no concerns. I trust we can do it," Tuchel explained. "Some players of course are not here, who would also help organising our defensive block, I don't have any reason to be concerned."
The manager emphasized that the team had made tangible progress in their tactical setup compared to earlier international performances, even though individual lapses continued to prove costly.
"I didn't see a pattern," Tuchel said. "We defended very well in a block when we were organized, but we had just big individual mistakes. But I could not see any defensive pattern that would concern me."
"I felt that we defended much more disciplined, cohesive and organised than in some matches in the World Cup," he continued. "That was a step in the right direction. We constantly pushed out from our middle block, we tried to go into the opponent's half and pushed out of the deep block."
"We didn't suffer too for long periods of time in defending. We never lost our structure," Tuchel added. "So from all these things I'm not concerned. The result was heavily influenced by some individual mistakes that can happen, but the result was influenced but not the performance."
Goalkeeping choices and upcoming fixtures
Tuchel confirmed that James Trafford will retain his place in goal for the encounter in Prague, earning his fourth senior cap for England.
Regular goalkeeper Jordan Pickford is set to return to the starting line-up for England's upcoming fixtures, beginning with Saturday's match against Croatia before the return tie against the Czech Republic at Wembley Stadium next week.
Tuchel took charge of England with the target of building a resilient side for major international competitions. The UEFA Nations League provides top European teams with competitive matches between major tournaments, giving managers the opportunity to evaluate tactical systems and player depth.
Trafford has stepped into the side to gain valuable experience at international level, while Everton goalkeeper Pickford remains England's established first-choice stopper. Wembley Stadium in London will host the return match against the Czechs as England conclude their international fixtures.
Tuchel acknowledged that conceding seven goals across consecutive matches against France and Spain was highly unusual, but maintained full confidence in his team's defensive foundation.
"The last two matches, 6-4 against France and 2-3 v Spain, in itself seven goals in two matches is very unusual," Tuchel said. "I understand the question. I'm not concerned yet."
