Danny Rose and Harry Maguire revealed England's players exchanged stern words at half-time before going on to a 1-0 friendly win over Switzerland.
Gareth Southgate's World Cup semi-finalists came into the match on the back of three consecutive defeats and his much-changed line-up were off the pace at the King Power Stadium.
The second half brought a notable improvement and Marcus Rashford netted the only goal from Kyle Walker's 54th-minute cross.
Man-of-the-match Rose was one of the few players to impress throughout and told Sky Sports there were a few home truths between team-mates at the interval.
"We weren't happy at half-time with how we were playing and how we were pressing," he told Sky Sports.
"Everyone voiced their opinion and I think we did a lot better in the second half."
The famously mild-mannered Southgate was similarly unimpressed, according to centre-back Harry Maguire.
"There were definitely a few words spoken between the boys," the Leicester City favourite told Sky Sports.
"We gave them a bit too much respect with the ball. The gaffer had a stern word with us and in the second half it was much better."
Rose has struggled for form and fitness over the past year but is hopeful his niggles are behind him and he can take an impressive vein of form into club matches with Tottenham.
"I feel really good. I was training for six weeks throughout the summer while I was at the World Cup," he said.
"I've gone back to Tottenham and had a pre-season there. Training's been really hard. I'm fit and training well."
