For Harry Kane, it's been a time for candid conversations. The England captain slightly retracted his earlier comments from Wednesday – the explosive ones where he questioned whether the unprecedented number of withdrawals from the squad for this window was due to players “taking advantage” of a challenging period in the season. At one point, as Kane took a break from preparing for Sunday’s Nations League tie against Republic of Ireland at Wembley – the final game of Lee Carsley’s interim tenure – he expressed surprise at the extensive coverage his words had generated. Memo to Harry: Seriously?
Kane noted that autumn camps following a tournament summer could sometimes be overlooked, and he merely wanted to remind everyone – particularly the players – that this cannot happen, partly because the culture and togetherness for the next campaign is nurtured during these gatherings. Kane almost stumbled into controversy when asked if it was an issue that Thomas Tuchel, the next permanent England manager who starts work in January, had not been present to influence that. The gist of Kane’s response was that it’s not all about these camps; the culture also builds after them.
In essence, Kane did not deviate too far from his original sentiments, which had dominated the buildup to Thursday’s 3-0 win over Greece in Athens. This result left Carsley’s team needing victory against the Republic of Ireland to secure top spot in their Nations League group and ensure promotion back to the competition’s A section. Kane reiterated his stance on how Gareth Southgate had worked hard to create a more inclusive environment that players wanted to be part of. This was the foundation for deep runs in four tournaments under the previous manager. But was it fragile? “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 you don’t want to lose as you start to integrate more younger players into the team.”
Tuchel has signed an 18-month contract, focusing solely on the 2026 World Cup. He has not disagreed with the notion that it will be win or bust for him. Tuchel will not have much time to build but slow and steady has never been his style; rather, quick and explosive. The plan is for Tuchel to hit the ground running and build unstoppable momentum. It usually ends in tears for him after two or three years. The Football Association hopes the glory comes first.
Kane was brought to Bayern Munich by Tuchel in the summer of 2023, and according to Kane, the plan feels sound. Tuchel enjoys working with English players, as he demonstrated at Chelsea; he likes the English mentality, Kane explained. It is clear that Tuchel has tactical acumen, 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 didn’t work for Tuchel at Bayern last season. After 11 straight Bundesliga titles, the 11th that he secured 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 should 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 criticize 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.
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