England showing Premier League edge at World Cup, says Eze

KANSAS CITY: Eberechi Eze says England are playing with the Premier League “intensity and passion” demanded by head coach Thomas Tuchel as they seek to wrap up qualification for the World Cup knockout phase.

The Three Lions started the tournament with an impressive 4-2 win against Croatia but lost momentum in a goalless stalemate against Ghana.

England, who face Panama in their final group game in New Jersey on Saturday, are top of Group L, ahead of Ghana on goal difference.

Tuchel’s men must equal or better Ghana’s result against Croatia to remain at the summit.

Arsenal midfielder Eze, speaking at England’s training base in Kansas City on Wednesday, said the players were producing the high-energy football their German head coach desired despite the disappointing Ghana result.

“You can see the intensity and the passion and spirit that we play with,” he said. “Whenever we play a game we have that level of dominance, when we try to impose ourselves in every game.

“You can see how difficult it is for opponents to play against us, that energy and that spirit, so I think adding that plus the quality that we have in this team, it makes us really difficult to play against.”

Eze, 27, who came on as a substitute against Ghana, said making his World Cup debut was a “beautiful experience”.

“It’s a great opportunity for all of us to play in a competition like this, to have a chance of winning it as well and having that as a goal,” he said.

“I think that’s an amazing thing to be part of, and what I’m called upon to do, that’s the mentality I have, I’ll attack it as much as I can.”

England were criticised for their failure to break down a Ghana team that set up defensively at the Gillette Stadium near Boston.

But Eze said it would be tricky for other sides to copy those tactics.

“I don’t know if other teams will play that way because it’s not easy to play that way for 90 minutes,” he said. “They’ve done an incredible job.

“But for sure I think when you have a team that’s sitting back and not really too interested in how much of the ball they have, it does suit attacking players to be in tight spaces, to be creative and to take risks, and that’s something I’m good at.”