Tuchel slams England's "freestyle" football in narrow win over New Zealand

The first half saw Harry Kane open the scoring, despite a slow start, but the second-half introduction of Jude Bellingham lifted the tempo. 

The Real Madrid star, returning from injury, came on for Morgan Rogers, who sent a message to Arteta amid transfer links, and immediately boosted England’s attack. 

Tuchel lauded the midfielder's influence, noting he is hitting his stride just in time for the World Cup opener against Croatia on June 17.

Despite the win in Tampa, Tuchel was unimpressed with what he described as a "freestyle" first-half performance that strayed from his game plan.

Speaking after the match at Raymond James Stadium, Tuchel did not mince words about his frustration with England's lack of structure in the opening 45 minutes. 

While the result was positive, the German coach expressed concern over the team's cohesion ahead of the tournament in North America.

"I’m OK with it," the former Chelsea and Bayern Munich manager stated. "I’m not super-happy about it. I like the second half more than the first half. 

“We played more from our positions and that’s why we played with more speed and off the ball we played with a bit more bite. The first half we were out of positions and it was a bit too much freestyle," he continued. 

"That slowed our game down and made it difficult for the counterpress because we were not in the positions that we wanted to be when we started attacking. That’s basically the story of the match."

England will now travel to Orlando for their final warm-up match against Costa Rica on Wednesday.