Alan Shearer labels England's draw with Ghana 'a reality check' after poor World Cup performance

Alan Shearer has labelled England's draw against Ghana as "a reality check" after the Three Lions were held to a disappointing 0-0.

Thomas Tuchel's side lacked inspiration going forward, as the 11 men of Ghana defended resiliently to halt an England attack, which missed some golden opportunities.

Shearer, who scored 30 times for England, suggested that the Three Lions' performance was "not a disaster, but it is absolutely a reality check".

"It is a long tournament and there are some very well-organised teams.

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"At this level, you are not going to get everything your own way. You are not going to be able to go out and put in a sparkling performance in every game.

"You are going to be asked different questions and England struggled to find the answers against Ghana.

"I thought they were too slow; they didn't offer enough in wide positions. Everything was too passive, too safe, the easy option.

"England didn't do enough to win the game, but you have to give great credit to Ghana. Their organisation was absolutely superb," Shearer told the BBC.

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Wayne Rooney weighed in, suggesting that England were not creative enough going forward.

He said: "I think you are always hoping for the energy of that performance we had against Croatia, but these games are so difficult when teams sit back and you have most of the possession.

"You have to break them down, find the space. For me, the key was getting crosses into the box - that's where the chances came from.

"They didn't get enough crosses in, but that is a typical [Ghana coach] Carlos Queiroz performance.

"Ghana were excellent, disciplined, [showed] concentration [in] how they defended. You have to give them a lot of praise."

Tuchel insisted that England were "not frustrated" after the draw, appearing to agree with Rooney that his side needs to be more inventive in the final third.

The German said: "I saw it coming. I knew it would be a difficult game.

"I hardly saw a team defend so physically and so committed like Ghana did, so give credit to them.

"It was difficult to break them down; we needed to be patient, to be precise, to commit and be brave, but you can never for one second open spaces for counter-attacks.

"We conceded only two and they were very dangerous, so we were very aware of that.

"I think at the end of the halves we grew into it, we were pushing and pushing, I liked the attitude, we needed a bit of luck, we had enough shots, we had enough crosses, we had enough set-pieces to score the first goal, we had a chance with Harry and it is what it is."

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