For Harry Kane, it has been a time for straight-talking. The England captain did row back slightly on his comments from Wednesday – the bombshell ones when he wondered whether the unprecedented number of withdrawals from the squad for this window was the result of players “taking advantage” of a tough period in the season.
At one point, as Kane took a break from the preparations for Sunday’s Nations League tie against Republic of Ireland at Wembley – the final game of Lee Carsley’s interim tenure – he expressed a surprise at the wall-to-wall coverage his words had driven. Memo to Harry: Seriously?
Kane said that the autumn camps after a tournament summer could sometimes be overlooked and he had merely wanted to remind everyone – namely the players – that this cannot happen, partly because the culture and togetherness for the next campaign is sown during these get-togethers.
Kane almost walked into trouble because he was asked whether it was a problem that Thomas Tuchel, the next permanent England manager, who does not begin work until January, had not been here to influence that. Well, it’s not all about these camps, the culture does build after them, too – was the gist of Kane’s recovery.
In essence, though, Kane did not budge too far from his original sentiments, which had dominated the buildup to Thursday’s 3-0 win over Greece in Athens, the result that has left Carsley’s team needing victory against Ireland to ensure they top their Nations League group and are promoted back to the competition’s A section.
Kane repeated his line about how Gareth Southgate had worked so hard to create a more inclusive environment which the players wanted to be a part of. It was the basis for the runs deep into four tournaments under the previous manager. But was it a fragile thing? “I think so,” Kane said. “It takes a long time to build and maybe not so long to lose if you’re not careful. It’s something that you don’t want to lose as you start to get more younger players into the team.”
Tuchel has signed an 18-month contract. It will be a one-ticket gig – the 2026 World Cup – and he has not disagreed with the notion that it will be win or bust for him. Tuchel will not have long to build but slow and steady has never really been him; rather quick and explosive. The idea is Tuchel will hit the ground running and build irresistible momentum. It normally ends in tears with him after two or three years. The Football Association hope the glory can come first.
Kane was brought to Bayern Munich by Tuchel in the summer of 2023 and the way that he tells it, the plan feels sound. Tuchel enjoys working with English players, as he showed at Chelsea; he likes the English mentality, Kane explained. It is clear that Tuchel has the tactical smarts but it is his energy and motivational skills that Kane believes can make the difference.
“Thomas will experience only having 10-day camps and then not seeing us for a while but in those 10 days he’s going to want to bring as much energy as possible – and I think that will be good to see,” Kane said. “For international football, having that energy in short bursts is really important. He will understand the assignment and that a big part of it will be him bringing energy to the squad. I’m hoping that come March [and his first camp] it will be a real injection of energy to lead us up to the World Cup.”
It did not work for Tuchel at Bayern last season. After 11 straight Bundesliga titles, the 11th that he got over the line after joining in March 2023, his team finished third, 18 points behind the champions, Bayer Leverkusen, leaving him out of work. “I think he found it difficult from the moment he got to Bayern,” Kane said. “There were some bigger issues that I don’t know too much about that didn’t quite work out.”
It was widely reported that Tuchel fell out with key members of the squad but if Kane has seen the value in home truths this week, then Tuchel has long embraced them. Kane believes that a player ought to be able to handle them, although not all do.
“Thomas is pretty straight in how he talks and maybe there were some players who didn’t like that or agree with that,” Kane said. “Each coach has their own way of trying to talk to players, to criticise them, to try and motivate them and not every player is going to love the manager. Probably come March there will be [England] players who might disagree with some things. But I think ultimately the way he wants to get us playing will be exciting.”
Kane did not agree with Carsley earlier in the week – specifically when the manager dropped him for Greece; he preferred to give Ollie Watkins a taste from the start of a high-stakes England encounter. Nobody could remember the last time Kane had been left out for a big game, not even Kane himself.
Was it a shock? “Probably a little bit,” Kane replied. “When he told me, it was like: ‘OK’ … getting my head around it. I wasn’t down about it or worried. I understood where he was coming from. Part and parcel of being a captain and a leader is you sometimes have to take things in your stride.”
When Carsley broke the news to Kane, he said he would return him to the lineup against Ireland. Kane knows what he has to do. To him, the fundamentals have always been everything.
