There are 44 days until Thomas Tuchel takes over as England manager and sets his sights on winning the 2026 World Cup.
After the disappointment of Euro 2024 and the lessons taken from Lee Carsley’s six-game spell as interim boss, Mail Sport looks at Tuchel’s in-tray.
What to do with Harry Kane?
The way Kane plays for England was probably summed up best by his involvement in the moment that changed the course of this game, early in the second half.
The manner in which the England captain picked up possession deep in centre field and dropped a 35-yard pass on to the toe of Jude Bellingham in the Republic of Ireland penalty area said everything about his vision, awareness and range of passing.
It was a superb piece of creative football and won England a penalty, that Kane scored.
But why was England’s No9 dropping so deep to get the ball in the first place?
Against Greece on Thursday, Kane was benched and Ollie Watkins played off the shoulder of the central defenders. This allowed the likes of Bellingham to find space behind him.
With Kane in the team, England play differently and it is not always for the better. It is a puzzle Tuchel must solve.
Harry Kane opened the scoring from the penalty spot at Wembley on Sunday evening
However, he drops deep so often and England are not always better when he is in the team
To tame Bellingham or let him run free?
To understand just how good Bellingham is, you have to watch him play live. His influence on games is fundamental.
Here — admittedly against limited opposition — Bellingham was arguably England’s best player and is without doubt the man around whom Tuchel’s team should be built.
He does come with risk attached, though. His positional discipline can be poor and his temperament needs to improve. He was booked towards the end of the first half at Wembley after running 40 yards to complain about a refereeing decision that had nothing to do with him.
FA sources insist the Real Madrid star is a positive and wholesome influence behind the scenes in England camps, but that is not always apparent on the field.
Like all mavericks, he will require careful and nuanced handling by Tuchel.
Jude Bellingham is without doubt the man around whom Tuchel’s team should be built
Is pace the future or is that just an illusion?
With Carsley missing an entire midfield against Greece and the Republic of Ireland, he was left with little choice but to try something different.
No Phil Foden, no Cole Palmer, no Jack Grealish and no Bukayo Saka. It meant England started both games with two flyers in wide positions.
Chelsea’s Noni Madueke was excellent at Wembley as he was in Athens, while Newcastle’s Anthony Gordon brings a similar straight-line kind of wing play on the left side.
It is in stark contrast to the steady trickery of England’s regular attacking players. Foden and Palmer, for example, like to drift inside. This can lead to congestion in that area, where Bellingham likes to work.
So what is the answer? The likelihood is a combination of both. Madueke and Gordon will find it harder against a better calibre of international full back, for sure. But one thing the Carsley tenure has shown is that there are alternatives available to what we grew used to under Gareth Southgate.
That should bring comfort to Tuchel and his staff.
Chelsea’s Noni Madueke was excellent at Wembley just as he was in Athens during the week
What do we do at left back?
It was a problem in the Euros and it is a problem now. Lewis Hall and Rico Lewis did more than adequately against Greece and Ireland, but are arguably not quite ready to guide their country through a World Cup qualification campaign.
The answer to the problem is Luke Shaw, but he is simply never fit. The Manchester United defender is currently out of action once again.
With Newcastle’s Kieran Trippier now retired from international football, Tuchel will open that particular cupboard and find it quite bare and that is a real issue.
Modern football coaches ask so much of the full back and Tuchel will be no different. He will be able to make do and mend in other positions when he needs to, but not so much in this one.
Luke Shaw is the answer to England’s left-back problem – but he is never fit. Rico Lewis and Lewis Hall both performed adequately filling in during the international break
Can he bottle the Carsley effect?
Apart from the horror show at home to Greece, when England lost on the back of an experiment with Bellingham at No 9, Carsley’s six-game spell has been progressive and largely impressive.
He has taken away the tricky prospect of Nations League play-off games that loomed in March if England had not won their group, and he has done it by selecting his players and using his ideas, philosophies and tactics.
Just as importantly, he has ensured the culture of belonging and selflessness developed by Southgate over eight years has been preserved. At full time here, many England players were seen thanking Carsley for what he has done for them over the last three months.
Lee Carsley’s six-game spell in charge has been progressive and largely impressive
Thomas Tuchel will want to put his own stamp on this squad and this team and that’s only right
He has used 31 different players and handed out eight debuts. Last night alone, four players scored their first England goal. That had not happened since the 1930s.
Tuchel will want to put his own stamp on this squad and this team and that’s only right.
But, despite what Harry Kane said last week, this is an England team that players really want to play for and the former Chelsea coach must safeguard that feeling.
Who challenges Jordan Pickford in goal?
The win in Athens last week was by three goals and was deserved. It put England back in control of the group.
But at 1-0, goalkeeper Pickford made two brilliant saves, one in each half. They were as important as any goal scored by an England player in this Nations League campaign.
The Everton keeper had a poor game at home to Greece when England lost — who didn’t? — but apart from that he has been exemplary for as long as anyone can remember.
Pickford has grown into the consummate international goalkeeper. He is a brilliant reactive shot stopper and distributes the ball brilliantly. He has also developed the composure top goalkeepers need and ensures he owns the defensive third of the field when teams counter-attack.
So that’s all good. But none of his understudies are in his class and they also lack tournament experience. Tuchel will pray for Pickford’s ongoing form and fitness.
