England meet Czechia in the Nations League this evening, with a 7.45pm BST kick-off at Wembley and a squad in optimistic mood on the evidence of the pre-match interviews.
Harry Kane, who now has 124 caps, spoke to ITV about what pulling on the shirt still means to him. “It’s always special … just seeing Wembley,” he said. “I never take it for granted … it’s obviously a special night but we have to focus on the job.” Kane recalled his debut as “just as I dreamt it”, adding that he is “extremely proud to represent England” and that the moment of a first cap has been repeated “a fair few times” since.
On the question of trophies, Kane struck a note of cautious confidence. “We’ve been extremely close on many occasions … we’re closer than we’ve ever been before,” he said, while stressing that England “still have to prove it on the bigger stage”. He described the current mood as healthy: “We’re in a good place, I’m in a good place, the team is looking really strong and hungry. We keep testing ourselves … hopefully the best is yet to come.”
Thomas Tuchel also spoke to ITV, and used the opportunity to talk through the tactical work England have been doing. Looking back at the previous performance, he said there is “never a perfect 90 minutes” but called it “a very, very good 90 minutes” and “a very impressive performance on and off the ball … for the whole period of the match”. Among the details he highlighted was the movement around Kane when the forward drops, with Jude Bellingham pushed a little closer to him, and Anthony Gordon and Bukayo Saka ready to run through the last line if both drop. Filling the box has been a focus, with four or five players arriving there, and Tuchel said the front four “love to play with each other”, are “very dangerous” and have “full support from behind”.
Tuchel also indicated that legs are being managed, saying he hopes Morgan Rogers “can prove a point” in this game. The longer international break, he suggested, has helped England’s patterns to settle: with more than two matches there is room for a training session, a demonstration and a debrief, allowing the language of a style of play that differs from what the players use at their clubs to sink in.