Thomas Tuchel singled out Manchester United misfit Manuel Ugarte for praise following England’s 1-1 draw against Uruguay.
The Three Lions boss watched a makeshift side labour at Wembley with several fringe players failing to simply accept a chance to play their way into the manager’s World Cup plans.
the squad to be rejigged as more familiar faces return for Tuesday’s friendly against Japan.
Harry Kane, Bukayo Saka and Declan Rice were among the many established 11-strong contingent watching from the stands ahead of joining a gaggle that can be cut down after this match.
Tuchel trialled quite a lot of different players, with James Garner and James Trafford making their debuts on night that began brightly, only to swiftly fizzle out.
Harry Maguire, winning his first cap in 18 months, was commanding and assured, while Dominic Solanke saw a shot blocked before seeing one other easily gathered.
However the sting got taken out of proceedings after Joaquin Piquerez suffered an early injury in a tangle with Noni Madueke, leading England fans to amuse themselves by aiming paper planes on the pitch.
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England comfortably handled Uruguay but offered little by means of threat but Tuchel declared himself satisfied by what he saw given the standard of the opposition.
The previous Chelsea boss appeared particularly taken by Uruguay’s central midfield pairing of Fede Valverde and United’s Ugarte who has struggled to claim himself at Old Trafford following a £42m move from PSG 18 months ago.
‘I learned so much, since it was a troublesome opponent and you only see it in the small print,’ he said. ‘You learn so much in the small print, also the behaviour, and also you see the extent.
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‘In case you play against (Manuel) Ugarte, if you happen to play against (Federico) Valverde in midfield, you see the extent.
‘You play against the winners and these defensive players, it’s a high level and then you definately immediately see, so we would have liked this type of test.’
Phil Fodenm meanwhile, limped off within the second half after being caught by a reckless Ronald Araujo tackle and Madueke was seen leaving the stadium in a knee brace having been hurt in the primary half.
Tuchel was angered by each challenges and felt referee Sven Jablonski had a ‘bad day on the office’, including awarding Uruguay’s late penalty having been sent to the monitor to ascertain a White challenge on Federico Vinas.
‘I believe it’s a really soft penalty,’ the England boss said. ‘After all there’s contact, nevertheless it’s so obvious what the striker is attempting to do.
‘Possibly Ben can also be a bit greedy on this moment, but to overturn a call when the referee clearly, clearly made the signal with each hands that he saw it and it was not enough for him.
‘Then to overturn it I used to be surprised VAR is in place because I believed it’s not working, since the tackle on Phil Foden was not even checked, tackle against Noni not even checked.
‘After which suddenly, this one was checked. OK, like I said, I don’t think it’s enough, but OK, it’s what it’s.
‘I heard that our goal was a troublesome block before our goal. I haven’t seen it, so, yeah, overall, that’s what it’s.’
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