Thomas Tuchel has admitted England's performance left plenty to be desired despite securing a 1-0 victory over New Zealand, with the Three Lions boss criticising his side's lack of structure while singling out Jude Bellingham for special praise.
England edged to victory in their World Cup warm-up clash in Tampa thanks to Harry Kane's first-half header, but the result did little to mask an uneven display that failed to excite supporters ahead of the tournament.
With just one friendly remaining before England begin their World Cup campaign against Croatia, Tuchel made it clear he expected more from his players.
The German coach was particularly frustrated by his side's first-half display, believing England strayed too far from the tactical principles that had been drilled into them on the training pitch.
"I am OK with it. I am not super-happy about it," Tuchel said after the match.
"I liked the second half more than the first half. We played more from our positions and because of that we had more speed in our game. We were also more aggressive without the ball.
"In the first half we were out of position and it became a little bit too much freestyle."
Tuchel felt England's shape caused a number of problems, both in possession and when trying to win the ball back after losing it.
The former Chelsea manager explained that players frequently drifted away from their designated roles, reducing width and making England predictable in attack.
"We lacked width and too many players came inside," he continued.
"We narrowed ourselves down, slowed ourselves down and changed positions for too long. We took too many crosses, too many long-range shots and played too many long balls. That is normally not our style.
"A lot of what we did was not part of our preparation over the last few days."
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England's rhythm was also affected by several external factors.
Tuchel changed his entire team at half-time, while the hot conditions in Florida and the difficult playing surface made life uncomfortable for both sides.
However, the 52-year-old insisted the challenges would ultimately benefit England as they continue adapting to tournament conditions.
"We had one training session in the sun and this match felt really odd," he said.
"But it is good for us to experience these situations because that is exactly why we came here. We need to get used to these conditions because they will come again."
One of the biggest positives for England was the return of Bellingham.
The Real Madrid star replaced Morgan Rogers at the break, took the captain's armband and immediately brought greater intensity to England's play.
His energetic display is likely to increase calls for him to start in the No 10 position when England kick off their World Cup campaign later this month.
"Jude has decisiveness and he has bite," Tuchel said.
"You can see he has come back from injury full of energy and happy to be back on the pitch.
"He had his break at an unfortunate stage of the season but now he is in a really good place. He is fresh, wants to play and is in top shape."
England were ultimately rescued by their most reliable source of goals.
Kane's 79th international strike proved decisive once again, underlining why the Bayern Munich forward remains indispensable to Tuchel's plans heading into the World Cup.
"He is always there to score," Tuchel said.
"It was a decisive goal. Harry is in top shape and when the pressure comes and the tournament starts, I think that will bring the best out of all our players."
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