England’s Nations League takeaways: Kane makes history, Tuchel steadies ship

LONDON — Harry Kane scored twice on the night he became England‘s joint-record appearance maker as Thomas Tuchel’s side eased to a 3-0 win over Czechia at Wembley Stadium.

Kane made history by tying goalkeeper Peter Shilton on 125 caps. After Vladimír Coufal‘s comical 27th-minute own goal broke the deadlock, the 33-year-old netted a record-extending 90th and 91st international goal either side of halftime.

The first was a simple finish from Morgan Rogers‘ excellent first-time cross and his second a 57th-minute header from Lewis Hall‘s corner.

It brings an end to the first four-game international window as England recovered from an opening defeat to world champions Spain to beat Czechia twice and win 7-0 against Croatia in Rijeka.

ESPN was at all four matches and assesses the key takeaways from a complicated international break as England sit second in UEFA Nations League A Group 3, in a strong position to reach the quarterfinal next March. — James Olley

Tuchel silences murmurs of discontent

This camp threatened to begin under something of a cloud. England’s second-half collapse against Argentina at the World Cup was a problem for Tuchel because he was supposed to be the elite manager who could stop that from happening.

Then throw in the withdrawals. Tino Livramento, Kobbie Mainoo, Cole Palmer, Marcus Rashford and Declan Rice all pulled out from the initial squad due to either injury concerns or load management, leaving Tuchel to fend off questions about whether his “brotherhood” from the summer was at risk of imploding.

The loss to Spain brought further doubts, but England have steadied the ship since then and inflicting Croatia’s heaviest defeat in their history either side of two wins against Czechia represents a solid international break all things considered.

Further issues threatened to blow them off course with the Independent Commission’s devastating guilty verdict in the Manchester City case leaking a day before England’s opening game and then confirmed in a Premier League statement just hours before they played Czechia in Prague.

Marc Guéhi, Nico O’Reilly and Elliot Anderson all made uncharacteristic individual mistakes, and Tuchel was forced to admit later that the City case was a “big topic” in camp. And finally, the old club against country row reared up again when Alex Scott was sidelined for several weeks with a thigh injury some reports suggest was flagged prior to the midfielder’s involvement against Croatia.

Scott played 70 minutes and AFC Bournemouth are said to be furious. Tuchel insisted England took “zero risk” with Scott because he completed all training and extra individual work.

Such issues have proven problematic for past England managers, but this was the first such international window in the reshaped calendar with four games across 11 days, and injuries were an issue for many teams across the world.

Tuchel has gone a long way to reestablishing his authority. Against Spain, it took until the second half for England supporters to sing Tuchel’s name. It took just seconds after kickoff on Tuesday. — Olley

Record-equaling Kane takes lead in the four matches

Tuesday was Kane’s night.

He became England’s joint all-time appearance maker and marked the occasion with two goals. He became just the seventh man in history to score 90 times at international level, and the utter inevitability of his 40th-minute strike was yet another reminder of his devastating finishing prowess. Kane is 33 but in the form of his life and the clear leader of this team.

The continuation of his form alongside Jude Bellingham — who scored 13 goals between them at the World Cup — is a major plus for Tuchel. Interestingly, Bellingham finished two of the four games as Kane’s replacement at center forward, which does hint at a slight concern over the backups should the captain suffer an injury.

His backup in the squad, Dominic Calvert-Lewin, played just 16 minutes across the four matches. It is, though, a further sign of Bellingham fully embracing the England cause and taking his game to new levels.

Further encouragement comes from Anthony Gordon‘s rapid progress at Barcelona following his summer move from Newcastle United. There was a live debate prior to the World Cup over who should start on the left, but Gordon has emphatically ended that argument, and with Bukayo Saka operating on the right, the quartet destroyed Croatia in one of the most stunning displays England have ever produced. — Olley

Style of play debate advances

Tuchel started this camp by pondering whether England had to “embrace the chaos” of a more dynamic approach.

For years, England attempted to pursue a possession-based style akin to world champions Spain, but the manner of their exit from the World Cup triggered more soul-searching as to whether that is the right way forward. England’s ability to keep the ball under pressure in tournaments has long been an issue.

They scored first, lost the ball and then lost the game in exits to Argentina, Spain, Italy and Croatia since 2018. Tuchel and Gordon have spoken about adopting a more Premier League style, chiefly more direct and physical rather than seeking technical control. If losing to Spain in a performance littered with defensive errors cast doubt over their direction, three subsequent wins have strengthened their belief immeasurably.

Tuchel continues to insist these aren’t radical changes, describing them this week as “slight twists in the tactical setup to use the players a little bit differently after we saw them in a tournament, under stress and we had the experiences together, just trying to implement ideas and simplifying the game and playing into our strengths.” Winning will only continue that buy-in. — Olley

England’s defense finds fresh familiarity

When Tuchel named his squad back on Sept. 18, the eyebrow-raising inclusion was Trent Alexander-Arnold, a player who was left out of England’s group for the World Cup.

Alexander-Arnold has had a turbulent relationship with the England right back spot and was an unused substitute for their defeat to Spain. In that match, we saw some familiar errors: Guéhi was at fault for Spain’s opener, an O’Reilly error helped Spain to their second, and Spain played far too easily through England for the third.

Post-match, Tuchel was in no mood to talk about Alexander-Arnold and why he stayed on the bench. But in their match in Prague, Alexander-Arnold started along with Trevoh Chalobah at the back, and Alexander-Arnold’s game-changing brilliance was there in plain sight as his cross found Gordon’s head for the opener.

He impressed again in the win over Czechia at Wembley, finding himself in more central roles — once popping up with a late run through the middle, up front.

It hasn’t been straightforward for Tuchel and defense. Take the Czechia match. He’d already lost Ezri Konsa and O’Reilly to injury, so that gave Hall another chance on the left having started in Croatia, while Jarell Quansah helped cover central defense. Jarrad Branthwaite got 27 minutes off the bench, while James Garner ended up at left back in the latter stages of the Czechia win at Wembley.

It was a successful juggling act as Tuchel was without a host of other players in defense, with Reece James, Ben White, Djed Spence, Dan Burn, John Stones and Livramento all injured. He was also without the familiarity of Rice in front of the back four.

There were still glimpses of moments where England’s concentration lapsed in the four matches: the three minutes they were short of world-class in the comfortable win over Croatia, and then a couple of nervous moments against Czechia on Tuesday, but overall this aspect of England’s play took a step forward over the past couple of weeks, and it will provide Tuchel with some invaluable intel.

He has seen Alexander-Arnold’s unique ability first-hand, and witnessed him within the “brotherhood” he places so much trust in. Tuchel’s also had a good look at Hall, who has impressed at left back and will vie with O’Reilly for that spot heading forward. Hall’s delivery for Kane’s second on Tuesday was a big tick next to his name. At the heart of defense, Guéhi appears to be indispensable.

And then there are the goalkeepers. James Trafford passed the test after starting England’s first two matches, while Jordan Pickford remains No.1 with a pair of clean sheets. England played with four different combinations at the back over their quartet of matches. They kept three clean sheets. Tuchel will take that. — Tom Hamilton

Can England still beat the best?

This is one of the eternal questions weighing heavily on England’s shoulders. Tuchel bristled when he was asked about England’s record against top 10 teams following the Spain defeat — six wins from England’s last 16 matches.

Tuchel was quick to point out he wasn’t in charge for most of them, and they had the win over France as a breakwater between the Argentina and Spain matches. But it’s clearly become an unwanted habit of England teams: when it comes to facing true world-class opposition, England fall short.

But let’s take a step back. Croatia aren’t “the best” but they are a good team. Beating them 7-0 in Rijeka is a truly remarkable result. Don’t write Croatia off as has-beens or a gimme team.

They are decent; just look at how they pushed Spain all the way on Tuesday night. That was one of the finest wins in England’s history. But now we need to see England starting to knock over the world’s best teams whenever they stand in their way. Up next for England are Croatia again at Wembley on Nov. 12 and then comes that match in Madrid with Spain on Nov. 15. It will be fascinating.

England have taken steps forward over the past fortnight, but that game in Spain will be a true test of where they are as a team. Spain remain the best team in the world, further underlined by their performances over the past fortnight, and any result for England in Madrid will be definitive proof of progress for Tuchel’s side. — Hamilton