Thomas Tuchel finds one positive in England gem despite two forgettable outings

England barely beat Andorra and were then undone by Senegal as Thomas Tuchel was left frustrated – but the brilliance of Eberechi Eze will give him something to hold onto

In his £100,000-a-week gig, Thomas Tuchel has got three months to reflect on two matches that will probably not live in the memory of your average football watcher for much longer than three minutes. If that.

The friendly with Senegal was livelier than the shambles of the Andorra match in Barcelona but as a staging post en route to the World Cup finals next summer, England’s performance hardly produced any serious nuggets of significance.

But there was one. Confirmation – not needed by many, to be fair – that Eberechi Eze, winning his 12th cap just shy of his 27th birthday, should now be considered a key member of this England squad.

He might only have produced a relatively low-key encore to his stunning run-in in the last couple of months of the club season but there were enough glimpses of his class to reaffirm his standing as a blue riband talent that, even at a relatively late stage, is still developing.

To start with, he was probably in a more advanced position than suits his natural game and was certainly not seen on the ball enough. But he did show an aspect to his game that has generally gone unnoticed. He can put in the hard-pressing so treasured by elite managers, his unlikely capture of possession deep in Senegalese territory leading to the early Harry Kane opener.

Crystal Palace supporters are in for another long summer, waiting to see if they can hold on to a prized asset. At least Palace fans probably got quite a bit more from the viewing experience than others, Ismaila Sarr’s opportunism providing a first half equaliser for Senegal.

And by the time Sarr capitalised on some amateurish defending, another Palace luminary, Dean Henderson, had executed a number of very decent saves. There are obvious concerns about Henderson’s distribution, although he was not helped by a back-line that, quite frankly, inspired little confidence.

But while the first half had featured shot-stopping of a good order, Henderson should not have been beaten at his near post by Habib Diarra just after the hour mark. In that moment, it is fair to say, Jordan Pickford’s position as an unrivalled number one was heavily underlined.

Senegal’s second came after a triple substitution from Tuchel, who looked suitably frustrated for a lot of the evening. (Not as frustrated as Ivan Toney, mind.) But Tuchel must have been taken by Eze’s input to an otherwise slapdash England display.

He followed up one audacious overhead pass to Morgan Gibbs-White with what would have been the assist of the year for the same player moments later but Eduoard Mendy pulled off a stunning low save. In those two instances, Eze’s seemingly effortless powers of improvisation were beautifully obvious.

Quite simply, he is a class act and while it was not a match-winning contribution, it was one that was normally at the heart of England’s best passages of play. And while he will inevitably be linked with a move away from Selhurst Park in the coming weeks and months, where he is playing his club football next season – and it would be nice if it is still at Palace – will be irrelevant in the context of the World Cup.

Because wherever he is playing his club football, Eze will get better and better. He is a gem. And if Tuchel did not already know it, he should now.

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