One of Southgate’s other big qualities was an ability to foster a fierce sense of unity in England’s squad, not something that will be helped by suggestions from the captain that some may be more interested in club than country.
A sub-plot is also clear. Would some of those players not here in Athens have been more minded to report had this been Tuchel’s first game in charge as opposed to the dying embers of the Carsley interim regime?
It also adds to the sense that the games in Greece on Thursday and against the Republic of Ireland on Sunday do not carry meaning. Tuchel’s willingness to simply take a watching brief from elsewhere only adds fuel to that fire.
There is some significance to the results, though.
If England beat Greece and then finish top of their Uefa Nations League group, Tuchel’s opening matches in March will be either World Cup qualifiers or friendlies, depending on the size of their qualifying group. If they finish second, England will instead face a two-leg play-off and a potential return to the top tier of the Uefa Nations League.
When Tuchel takes charge, three months will have passed since he signed his deal with the FA. No concrete reason has been offered as to why he starts on 1 January. It is a tidy date to start, but it looks like time wasted.
Is this a feeling also shared by some England players? Kane’s interview will do nothing to make that suspicion go away.
The environment around England’s last camp – when they lost to Greece at Wembley before beating Finland in Helsinki – was chaotic and unsatisfactory, with mixed messaging from Carsley when he appeared to question his own credentials for the job, then insisted he was not ruling himself out of the running only for the FA to reveal at Tuchel’s Wembley unveiling that he had signed on the dotted line two days before the debacle against the side they face in Athens on Wednesday.
The FA and Tuchel may simply believe a start on 1 January, the first day of 2025, represents the new era, a fresh start.
Kane’s pointed words, and recent England camps, heighten the feeling that one is very badly needed.
