TAMPA, Fla. -- Thomas Tuchel has accused England of playing "too much freestyle" football in Saturday's 1-0 win over New Zealand but backed his players to come good when the World Cup starts.
Harry Kane's glancing header in first-half stoppage time was enough to give the Three Lions victory in front of 25,889 fans at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa.
Against the 85th and worst-ranked team to feature at the World Cup, England had 71% possession and registered 23 shots but were unable to score more as Tuchel changed his entire lineup at halftime.
Liverpool winger Rio Ngumoha become the fifth-youngest player to make his England debut aged just 17 years and 281 days while Jude Bellingham was given the captaincy for the second half.
Asked about the performance overall, Tuchel said: "I'm OK with it. I'm not super happy about it. I liked the second half more than the first half. I think we had more bite in the second half, were more aggressive on and off the ball, created a bit more. Some good half-chances and some good penetrations into the box.
"We played more from our positions and that's why we played with more speed. The first half we were out of positions and it was a bit too much freestyle. That slowed our game down and made it difficult for counter-press because we were not in the positions we wanted to be when we started attacking.
"So that's basically the story of the match. We were taking crosses, a lot of long-range shots which is normally not our style of play. We played a lot of long balls, a lot of long passes. That was not part of training in the past four days. It was a bit of a mix of everything. That's why the first half looked as it looked.
"To put it in context, a lot of our players played the last time together in November. So, it is half a year ago. We have [just] four training sessions together and we mixed the team up completely so we never played before in these combinations to give everyone 45 minutes. And then you have the conditions, the pitch, it can look like this."
The playing surface was only laid a few days earlier but both teams avoided any injuries with the World Cup due to begin on June 11.
"It was very difficult to play on," Tuchel said. "I think it was not dangerous to have injuries. We have no injuries and there were no concerns but it was very uneven, very uneven. It was difficult to move the ball and move the ball quickly. When you have the ball for the majority of the match, it doesn't help you.
"It is what it is. It can happen. I know it from preseason tours overseas that you can play in stadiums that are not normally football stadiums, that the pitch is maybe too new and not fully grown and fully even."
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Kane's header was a record-extending 79th international goal and Tuchel added: "That's what he does. He is always there to score. In the end, it is the decisive goal. Like always, no secrets there.
"If you score, it helps you, and give you a bit more rhythm, a bit more confidence. It is a bit easier for the second group to start with a 1-0. Harry is in top shape and I think anyway when the pressure comes and the tournament starts, that will bring the best out of our players."