Tuchel takes positives from scrappy England draw against Uruguay

Thomas Tuchel said he had “learned a lot” from England’s scrappy 1-1 draw against Uruguay at Wembley on Friday even though many of his star players were watching from the stands.

Ben White poked home in the 81st minute to give the home side the lead but the Arsenal defender was adjudged to have fouled Federico Vinas after a VAR review, with Federico Valverde levelling from the spot in stoppage time.

Harry Kane, Bukayo Saka and Declan Rice were among the established 11-strong contingent who will join a group that will now be cut down.

England boss Tuchel, who named an expanded 35-man squad for friendlies against Uruguay and Japan, trialled a variety of different players, with Everton midfielder James Garner and Manchester City goalkeeper James Trafford making their debuts.

But the German insisted he had learned valuable lessons ahead of the game against Japan on Tuesday — England’s final match before the World Cup, which starts in June.

“I learned a lot, because it was a tough opponent and you just see it in the details,” he said. “You learn a lot in the details, also the behaviour, and you see the level.

“If you play against (Manuel) Ugarte, if you play against (Federico) Valverde in midfield, you see the level.

“You play against the winners and these defensive players, it’s a high level and then you instantly see, so we needed this kind of test.”

Tuchel said the match against Marcelo Bielsa’s Uruguay, who have also qualified for the World Cup in Canada, Mexico and the United States, had been “the test that I expected”.

“It was a bit feisty and tough,” he said. “I knew from months ago that Bielsa called me and told me that they will take it very, very seriously and they will play the best possible team.

“You see in the way they did the substitutions, they were not ready to compromise on anything, so it was difficult.

“We had a lot of new players on the pitch, we had a very new formation, a very new XI who had never played with each other.

“They got a lot of information, but they were good in camp and they were good today because I think they put the structure into life, they tried, they helped each other out and they tried to create.”

Tuchel, whose England side are among the favourites to win the World Cup, said the players coming in for the Japan game would have to “re-learn our principles”.

“We have three days of training,” he said. “Japan plays a very unique style, with normally a back five, so wing-backs and then two 10s and then switching sides.

“So we need to be on point tactically to have solutions. But this is what we expect from the guys who got a break. We will deliver some solutions and they need to put it into life.”