Gareth Southgate says England got what they deserved after the Czech Republic inflicted their first qualifying defeat in a decade.
The Three Lions blew the chance to seal Euro 2020 qualification with three matches to spare as the Czechs capitalised on the visitorsā listless performance in Prague.
Harry Kaneās fifth-minute penalty was as good as it got for England, with Jakub Brabec quickly levelling and substitute Zdenek Ondrasek netting a dream debut goal late on as the Czech Republic secured a memorable 2-1 comeback win.
Southgate had no arguments about the outcome as his sideās ponderous performance led to a 43-match unbeaten run in European and World Cup qualifying matches coming to an end, 10 years and a day since losing 1-0 in Ukraine.
āClearly thatās not a night that we wanted to be a part of in terms of that record,ā Southgate said.
āWe didnāt play well enough, simple as that. We conceded possession of the ball too cheaply.
āParticularly in the first half we didnāt create enough chances. Second half we had some good chances that we didnāt take and throughout the night we were too open out of possession.
āSome of that was because of giving the ball away. So we gave the Czechs, who played well, got to give them credit, we gave them too many opportunities to score.ā
Few could have foreseen this outcome given the way England carved the Czechs open to win Marchās Group A opener 5-0.
But, much like last monthās 5-3 win against Kosovo, Southgateās side looked shaky at the back ā and this time they lacked the attacking spark to get them through.
āI think whatever the balance, we didnāt use the ball well enough,ā said the England boss, whose side face Bulgaria in Sofia on Monday.
āAnd in terms of a wake-up call, I think weāve had a lot of plaudits. I think weāve always maintained that thereās a lot of work to be done to be a really top team.
āI think tonight was clear evidence of that. We have to respond in the right way. We have a couple of days to regroup, not long, and we have to reward our supporters with a better performance than we gave tonight.
āI donāt think itās a night for positives, thatās for sure. I think itās a night to accept the defeat, congratulate the Czechs and accept that we have to be better than we were.ā
Asked how much blame he accepts having selected some out-of-form players in an ineffective 4-2-3-1 formation, Southgate said: āYeah, look, I always have to accept responsibility.
āWe tried something to make ourselves a bit more solid without the ball, and that didnāt happen.
āWe didnāt look any more solid, and we were poor at using the ball in the first half.
āThat said, at 1-1, at half-time, we were able to change that. I think we were better in the second half and we created chances to win the game.
āIn terms of the players, I think there are players who arenāt playing well for their clubs, but thatās the situation weāre in at the moment, certainly in a couple of positions. So, yeah, we collectively have to accept the result, but of course, as the manager, then Iāve got to accept that as well, absolutely.ā
Czech counterpart Jaroslav Silhavy spoke in the pre-match press conference about targeting Englandās imperfections, yet could hardly believe how much joy they experienced on Friday night.
āIām obviously over the moon but I have to thank my players, first and foremost, because they played great,ā he said.
āIt was a 100 per cent performance and that is the only way to succeed really, so we are very happy and I think time will show that we made history tonight because we defeated England after so many years and at a time when they are playing really well.
āThe performance was really great, we were active and made England sweat even though they are a very strong team.ā