Roy Keane suggested that England’s first-half performance against Panama was “like watching Scotland” as he criticised Thomas Tuchel’s side.
England, looking to top Group L with victory in New Jersey, endured a frustrating 45 minutes as they struggled to create clear chances despite dominating the ball.
Having begun the tournament with a vibrant attacking showing in the win over Croatia, Tuchel’s team had struggled in their second group game against Ghana and the manager had named an attacking line-up in New Jersey.
But despite all of Jude Bellingham, Morgan Rogers, Bukayo Saka, Marcus Rashford and Harry Kane starting, ITV pundit Keane was left frustrated by their output – and compared them unfavourably to Steve Clarke’s Scots, who look set to make a group-stage exit from the tournament.
“They are struggling, lacking that intensity,” Keane suggested on the ITV coverage. “Sometimes when you are playing a team with less quality, you are going to be dragged down to their level. That’s what England kind of seem to have done.
“They are not showing their quality, their top players haven’t shown up. The key for any team is their end product. They look short at the moment. It’s a big 45 minutes for wanting to top the group.
“You think what we saw from France yesterday with their top quality wide players producing, and the players that have the quality aren’t showing it. It’s just like watching Scotland! A real lack of quality. That bad.”
Ex-England right-back Gary Neville agreed with his former Manchester United teammate’s assessment.
“In the last 15 minutes before half time, the crowd started to get a little bit ‘ooh’, and you could feel the pressure start building.
“The faces started to look a little bit drained of the forward players, they looked like they were a little bit tense. They’ve just got to settle themselves down at half time. We’ve got good enough players out there, but they’ve got to start demonstrating it.”
England eventually found a breakthrough, topping the group after a 2-0 win.
