Wright pinpoints ‘massive problem’ for England as he names one player who ‘stood out’ | OneFootball

Ian Wright is worried that England lack “a focal point” when Harry Kane is not on the pitch after the Three Lions lost 1-0 to Japan on Tuesday night.

Kane suffered a minor injury in training on Monday and the Bayern Munich striker – who also missed their other friendly against Uruguay last week – was left out against Japan as a precaution.

Phil Foden started as a false nine in Kane’s place as England struggled to break down Japan, who scored the only goal of the game through Kaoru Mitoma on 23 minutes.

England now have just two more matches to fine tune before the World Cup, against New Zealand and Costa Rica, and Thomas Tuchel will be hoping for more convincing performances.

When asked if the England shirt was weighing heavy on players who are still uncertain of their place at the World Cup, Tuchel replied: “I don’t want to engage in this discussion.

“I think it is very clear what we want to do and how we want to play, and focus more on the principals and on the doing instead of thinking about what it means.

“Playing for England comes with pressure, it comes with noise, that is just how it is.

“We need to see how the players adapt to that and we can only see it if we try it, so we tried it and we have to learn from it.

“We have two months now to get it out of our system. The players will play a lot of football and then we will be ready.”

When analysing England’s performance, Wright said on ITV: “Japan deserved the win. It was like the one we saw against Uruguay the other day, the kind of performance you might get in a tournament.

“They were very ruthless, very good defensively, attacking-wise.

“There was no Harry Kane, no focal point, and England didn’t look at all like we could lay a glove on them. It didn’t look like that at all.

“To lose to them, especially in the fashion that we did, I can’t worry because it was too many changes.”

Wright added: “I think Japan are a very, very good side, a very underrated side, and I think they showed that, and we didn’t have a focal point.

“That’s the massive problem that we have and I feel that’s why he probably tried Phil Foden in that nine.

“If that’s the case and he’s going to go that way, we might see Anthony Gordon, we might see Marcus Rashford up there.

“But whatever they’re doing, we’ve got to make sure we’re able to pass out with pace and skill instead of going to width all the time. You’ve got to be able to play into the focal point, making movement off people.

“I don’t think we pulled Japan around enough.”

Wright thought Harry Maguire “stood out” when he came off the bench with the Manchester United centre-back having a header cleared off the line by Yukinari Sugawara.

Wright said: “I thought Lewis Hall looked pretty good when he came on and even Marcus Rashford when he came on, he looked sharp.

“I do love the Harry Maguire reemergence, coming on there, three headers straight off the bat, with some set-pieces.

“He came on and showed how much of a [threat he is].

“I can’t see how he’s fifth choice centre-back with his experience and what he can bring.

“I dont know if Tuchel was being a bit facetious there but the fact is, he came on, just like the game the other day, and he stands out: his passing from the back, he’s attacking the ball in both boxes.”

Former England centre-back Joleon Lescott was also pleased to see Maguire putting in a good cameo, he said: “He did his chances no harm in getting on the plane.

“His commitment… we spoke about the quality of the crosses beforehand but if you have someone with that willingness to get on the end of it and make first contacts, it’s so important.

“But I think we’ve got a long way to go and if we’re relying on set-pieces to win us a tournament then it’s going to be a long tournament for us.

“But we can take the game in perspective and recognise that sometimes when you lose this close to a tournament, it’s a blessing in disguise.”

Continuing on Maguire, Lescott continued: “He knows his role in the squad and he’s well respected.

“I’m a big fan having worked with him and I know how much it means to him to play for England and how coachable he is.

“Yes, I think that comment was made from Tuchel because of the season rather than where he’s at technically.”