Harry Kane said incoming England coach Thomas Tuchel has been boosted by the emergence of a crop of young players who have shone in the absence of more experienced internationals after a 5-0 Wembley win against the Republic of Ireland sealed a return to the top tier of the UEFA Nations League.
Former Bayern Munich and Chelsea coach Tuchel will officially take charge of England on Jan 1 and he will avoid having to oversee a two-legged Nations League playoff with interim coach Lee Carsley guiding the team to promotion from Nations League B with five wins in six games.
Sunday’s 5-0 win against the Irish, which Ireland coach Heimir Hallgrimsson called “embarrassing,” followed a 3-0 win against Greece in Athens last Thursday.
Having seen nine players withdraw from his squad ahead of the two games, Carsley drafted in several of the Under-21 players, including Liverpool‘s Curtis Jones, Chelsea’s Noni Madueke and Southampton‘s Taylor Harwood-Bellis, who he coached to Euro U21 glory in 2023.
And England captain Kane said Tuchel will reap the benefits of Carsley’s nod towards youth when he takes charge for the World Cup qualification campaign.
“Thomas [Tuchel] has a lot of players to choose from,” Kane told ITV. “A lot of young players that have come in and done well and some more experienced players that are injured and will be looking to come back so there’s a good balance. I’m sure he [Tuchel] will be looking at everyone.
“We spoke about new opportunities for new lads and they’ve shown why they are here and a couple of good finishes and it was nice for Jarrod [Bowen] too to come on and score straight away.”
Kane opened the scoring for England from the penalty in the 53rd minute — his 69th international goal — after Ireland defender Liam Scales was sent off after receiving a second yellow card for a foul on Jude Bellingham.
Within five minutes, Anthony Gordon and Conor Gallagher made it 3-0 to England, with Bowen and Harwood-Bellis completing the scoring to inflict the Three Lions’ biggest-ever win against Ireland.
“It was a really important win for us,” Kane said. “It has been a really good camp and two tough games. “We got the job done in Greece and again here. It was a tough first-half but we came out with more energy and we finished it off.
“[Lee Carsley] has been top drawer, him and all the staff. After the Euros it was never going to be easy to come and go straight into the Nations League and sometimes the motivation is a bit less. I’m really glad we won today and finish off on a high.”
Interim coach Carsley, who will now return to his role as Under-21 coach, said he will “prepare a document to debrief Thomas [Tuchel]” ahead of start and said it will be a “real challenge” for the German to decide who to select and who to leave out of his first squad.
Meanwhile, Ireland coach Hallgrimsson said he couldn’t explain the performance of his team in the second-half.
“I’m lost for words,” he told reporters. “It was six minutes of a kind of madness. We conceded a penalty and lost a player [to a red card]. We lost our heads and gave up.
“We had a game plan that was working perfectly, but then we conceded three goals in six minutes. It was a shock and we had to limit the damage.
“You cannot explain things like this. It’s a slap in the face when it happens. It’s easy to stand on the sidelines and criticise — we were compact in the first half, but then we conceded three goals so easily. It’s embarrassing to lose 5-0.”
