England defender Gary Cahill said a failure to punish Germany saw Gareth Southgate's first match as permanent manager end in a 1-0 defeat.
Lukas Podolski marked his final appearance for Germany with a stunning winner as Southgate's new attack-minded formation built on a three-man backline was unable to conjure a goal in Dortmund.
England looked comfortable in possession and a far larger threat than the World Cup winners, only to be caught cold as Podolski's 130th and final Germany appearance ended with a fairytale strike that secured victory.
"If you're looking at chances, we had the better chances in the game, it's as simple as that,'' Cahill told ITV.
"I think we will look back and reflect that if we take our chances we would have won that game. It's a learning curve for us.''
Cahill, who was England captain on the night, said Wednesday's terror attack on Westminster had been on the team's mind before the match.
He added: "Obviously that's terrible but we were focused on the job we had to do.''