Hungary thrashed England 4-0 away on Tuesday to go top of their Nations League group and hand the Three Lions their worst home defeat for 94 years in a competition Gareth Southgate's side had hoped would be a good warm up for the World Cup later this year.
Southgate made nine changes from the team that drew with Italy at the weekend to give players on the fringe a chance. But despite dominating possession, England created few chances and the experiment backfired.
The result was the Three Lions' worst home defeat since 1928. It was the worst possible end to England's run of four Nations League games in 11 days and will leave a bitter taste in the mouth of fans with just two games in September to go until the World Cup. However, manager Southgate urged his detractors to judge his team at full strength.
"It's a chastening night," said Southgate.
"When you lose so heavily at home, especially, that's going to be very, very painful.
"It was a difficult night for the players, I feel for them. Because in the end, in the two Hungry games in particular, I picked teams where I tried to balance the squad, gave young players opportunities and I didn't get the balance right to help them to be able to perform at the level that they needed to to win those matches.
"The responsibility lies with me on that but there was also a fact that it was really difficult to put the strongest team out in every game.
"So we used it to prepare for Qatar, some of those players are going to be beyond Qatar as well. But of course a night like tonight is really difficult and it's important that I take that off of their shoulders, because that's totally down to me."
England v Hungary ratings
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ENGLAND RATINGS: Aaron Ramsdale - 6: Left badly exposed due to defensive shambles in front of him, although arguably could have done better with at least one of the goals. Bar picking ball out of net four times, not really much to do as Hungary picked England off with ease. Getty -
Kyle Walker - 4: Didn’t offer enough width going forward down right in first half and moved into back three in second but couldn’t stop Sallai scoring second or Gazdag making it four. Booked late on for obvious foul. Reuters -
Marc Guehi - 6: Crystal Palace defender looked more assured than experienced defensive partner Stones and not at fault for any of the goals, although backline in general fell apart at the end. EPA -
John Stones - 3: Not the best of games from Manchester City man, to say the least. Lost header in box that led to Hungary’s early goal, poor defending for third. Beaten to ball on numerous occasions, poor distribution at times and sent-off late on – although second yellow was poor decision. Reuters -
Reece James - 7: Took over from Kieran Trippier as right-back playing on left in first half and supplied fine cross to set-up early chance for Bowen. Headed chance off line as Hungary nearly made it 2-0. Switched to right then back to left after break after changes in formation. England's best player - which isn;t saying much. AP -
Kalvin Phillips - 4: Switched off ahead of first goal and allowed Roland Sallai time and space to take touch and score. Caught in possession ahead of second on day to forget. Like many of his teammates, the Leeds midfielder’s performance was not good enough. EPA -
Jude Bellingham - 5: Dortmund midfielder headed tough chance wide of target in opening half and looked threat when pushing forward – but that didn’t happen anywhere near enough. AP -
Bukayo Saka - 6: He and James combined well in first half and asked Hungary plenty of questions down left. One run and cross almost saw Willi Orban head into his own net. First touch let him down in good position after break following wonder pass from Kane. AP -
Connor Gallagher - 6: First England start for Chelsea midfielder. His clipped cross found Bellingham in first half but teammate couldn’t direct header on target. Buzzed around but not enough impact to force his way into Southgate’s thinking for his first choice XI. AFP -
Jarrod Bowen - 5: Miscued a header right in front of goal from James cross in sixth minute that was easily blocked. Wasted a couple decent counter-attacks but had crowd on feet with one lung-bursting track back to win ball after losing possession on one of those occasions. Hooked at break. AFP -
Harry Kane - 6: Air kick in own penalty area allowed ball to arrive at Sallai’s feet for Hungary opener. One superlative cross-field pass from right flank to Saka in second half. Looping header against bar with team 2-0 down. Concern grows for England – if Kane doesn’t score, who will? Reuters -
SUBS: Raheem Sterling – (On for Bowen 46’) 6: Early introduction for Manchester City attacker who looked lively enough without ever threatening the Hungary goal. Reuters -
Mason Mount – (On for Gallagher 56’) 5: No impact on game on disastrous night for England. Reuters -
Phil Foden – (On for Bellingham 67’) 6: Dragged one shot wide of target from edge of box. Reuters -
Harry Maguire – (On for Saka 85’) N/A. Getty
England captain Harry Kane, who provided some of England's few moments of quality and hit the bar with a header, acknowledged his side's second half capitulation was "unacceptable" but also urged fans to be forgiving.
"It’s our first big defeat in a long time. It's not time to panic, it’s time to keep our heads up," he said.
"A night to forget but we have to take it on the chin and move forward, prepare for a big World Cup, and we’ll learn a lot ... Let’s not forget where we’ve come from. It’s not going to be perfect every game."
Manager Southgate was subjected to chants of "you're getting sacked in the morning". But the manager remained defiant.
"I know the role. I knew the role before I took it," Southgate said.
"I would say it's happened over the period of 10 days, but I saw my predecessors go through that and I know great people like Sir Bobby Robson, what he had to go through and how he was viewed in the end on getting the team to a World Cup semi-final so football is emotional.
"People pay to come and watch. They're going to give an opinion. The team weren't able to deliver tonight, my responsibility and so if the flak comes my way then I have to deal with that.
"It's not realistic to have had the ride I've had for five years and not have bad nights."
