Morgan Rogers has admitted Thomas Tuchel ‘didn’t seem too happy’ with his wayward crossing before he eventually put one on a plate for Harry Kane in England’s Nations League victory over the Czech Republic.
The night undoubtedly belonged to England captain Kane, who completed a brace – following an own goal from Vladimir Coufal – to inspire the Three Lions to a comfortable win on home soil.
Kane went level with Peter Shilton’s all-time record of 125 caps with his sublime performance at Wembley – and the striker looks certain to move clear of the legendary goalkeeper when England resume their Nations League campaign next month.
Tuchel opted to give Rogers the nod on the right flank after the attacker came on and scored his country’s final goal in a rampant 7-0 thrashing of Croatia in their previous encounter.
The 24-year-old, who completed a British record move from Aston Villa to Chelsea in the summer, showed signs of rustiness in the opening exchanges and misplaced several crosses into the England skipper from out wide.
But with the half-time whistle beckoning, Rogers fired across an exquisite first-time ball across to Kane, who made no mistake from close range to double the hosts’ advantage.
Rogers was perhaps unfortunate not to add a second assist to his name as he swung over an inch-perfect cross for Jude Bellingham in the 56th minute, only for Lukas Hornicek to deny the Real Madrid midfielder’s flicked effort.
‘That’s the way we want to play and you could see that in the whole camp really, even in the Spain game,’ Rogers told ITV Sport’s Gabriel Clarke when asked about England’s overall performance.
‘We’re trying to be more positive and we’re trying to show ourselves.
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‘At times during the World Cup, looking back at it, there were times in games when we didn’t quite show true ability.
‘Of course it’s tougher in the World Cup and teams are trying to stop you but we knew we wanted to show ourselves a bit more and keep trying to improve and develop as a unit.
‘I think we definitely did that and it’s a step in the right direction.’
On finding his range to assist Kane shortly before the break, Rogers grinned and replied: ‘Yeah, I wasn’t happy about a few of them.
‘The manager looked at me after one of them and didn’t seem too happy.
‘It’s something I take pride in so I was a bit disappointed, but for one to come off was nice.
‘I was happy to get the assist for the captain again.’
Rogers made sure to reserve special praise for Kane, who took his extraordinary goalscoring tally to 91 goals in 125 games with his heroics on the night.
‘You run out of words to describe him,’ Rogers said of the Bayern Munich forward, one of the favourites to win this year’s Ballon d’Or award.
‘He’s really one of a kind and we really, truly have to take it all in how special he is and what he’s doing.
‘It’s incredible. Not only the goals and the amount of caps but the way he applies himself, the way he plays, the way he leads by example.
‘He’s a real idol for young players and myself to look up to.’
Following England’s semi-final exit in the summer, Rogers vowed to do everything in his power to help Kane get his hands on the trophy he ‘deserves’.
‘That’s probably the only thing missing, he’s done literally everything else for England,’ Chelsea’s £117million summer signing added.
‘It’s probably just the trophy and that’s all we’re looking towards.
‘We’ve got a few more opportunities and I know he’ll be there with the shape he keeps himself in, the hunger he’s got in him… he’ll be there, scoring goals in the way he does.
‘Everyone has to muck in to get him that trophy he deserves in an England shirt.’
England sit second behind Spain in Group A3 after picking up three wins and one defeat from their four opening matches in this year’s Nations League.
Tuchel’s men will hope to pick up where they left off when they return to Wembley to lock horns with Croatia in just over a month’s time.
The Three Lions head to Atletico Madrid’s Wanda Metropolitano three days later, where they will look to make amends for their opening loss at the hands of world and European champions Spain.
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