Lee Carsley continued his entertaining interim spell in charge of England with more big calls and – this time – big success.
A 3-0 win in Athens for a much-changed team puts England close to a return to the elite Group A of the Nations League. It’s a small prize but arrives with the unexpected bonus of a largely shadow squad stepping up.
Carsley deserves credit for that and he stands as arguably the biggest winner of Thursday night. Unafraid to experiment, unruffled by criticism and unapologetically attacking, he has stuck to his principles and England look to have prevailed.
Here are the other big winners and losers.
Winners
Curtis Jones
It is in midfield where England have come up short at the very highest level recently. They have technical players but no-one able to dictate games or offer the sort of balance that Rodri does so seamlessly for Spain.
Step forward Jones? He certainly looked the part in Athens, carrying his stellar Liverpool form into an England shirt. We have been here before with players who burst onto the scene – Adam Wharton was hailed before enduring some understandable growing pains at Crystal Palace this season – but Jones had put together such a body of work that it was almost a surprise that he’d had to wait this long for a debut.
What’s nice about him is how he frequently he looks to get on the front foot.
Asked at times to fill a more restrained, defensive role in Athens he complied before scoring as good an England debut goal as you’ll see.
Jude Bellingham
There was a heart-warming moment outside the Olympic stadium as Bellingham emerged through the glass doors after the game to be assailed by the loudest of choruses from the crop of Greek kids waiting for his autograph.
There’s a school of thought that Bellingham has bought into his own hype since his 2022 breakthrough but here he stopped to pose for every picture and signed every shirt thrust in front of him. The looks of wide-eyed wonderment were a reminder of what a global star he already is.
It felt like a fitting end to a night when he delivered emphatically. If the charge laid at the door of some of the established players was that they had withdrawn from these games rather quickly, what did it say that Bellingham was not only here but looked a class above?
Carsley had constructed a midfield to make the Real Madrid man tick, giving Connor Gallagher and Jones sentry duties while Bellingham charged. And boy did that role suit him.
Tuchel should take note. England can look balanced and squeeze the best out of their megastar.
Jordan Pickford
The scoreline made it look like a routine night for England but appearances can be deceptive. Greece’s start may have been tentative but they grew in the game and Pickford’s razor sharp reflexes from a rising Fotis Ioannidis shot blocked a route back into the contest for the hosts.
So can we finally stop pushing the narrative that Pickford is anything other than England’s undisputed, dominant number one now?
An untroubled night in Helsinki in October proves nothing about Dean Henderson other than he is an able deputy if Pickford is injured. The only thing in doubt is why Pickford isn’t appreciated as much as he should be.
Granted his performance in the reverse fixture wasn’t his finest hour but lets weigh that against his 71 other caps for his country. He has the experience, ability and big game mentality that mean goalkeeper is the least of Tuchel’s dilemmas.
Noni Madueke
Lee Carsley does not seem like one for “told you sos”. You suspect he’s far too decent to remind any of us that he actually meant it when he said at Wednesday’s pre-match press conference that they were focusing on the players who had travelled, rather than those who had withdrawn.
When he said it he was probably thinking of the likes of Madueke, a fearless, direct runner who can put pressure on Bukayo Saka if he continues in this vein. He tortured Greece, setting the tone for a dominant first half with his darts into the penalty area.
Consistency with Chelsea is his target. If he gets that, he’ll be knocking on the door for more starts.
Losers
Harry Kane
Is England’s all-time record goalscorer really under threat? Perhaps if it wasn’t Tuchel – the driving force behind Kane going to Bayern Munich – coming in he would have reason for concern.
Because while he remains a much more accomplished finisher than Ollie Watkins, England didn’t half look more mobile when Kane was stationed on the bench. A slightly stodgy cameo, in which he continued his recent knack of running into cul-de-sacs, hardly swept away the doubts that have crept in this year.
You could get long odds on Tuchel dispensing with Kane’s services. He was his talisman in Bavaria and, as he proved with his comments this week, remains a driver of standards in this squad. But there’s a nagging suspicion that England’s press is much more convincing when they have more energy up front.
Declan Rice
Rice’s broken toe meant he wasn’t here but he’ll almost certainly be back for Arsenal next week. It was probably the smart move to get some rest but it might yet have consequences.
Given his sketchy recent performances for England he might have more reason to be fearful after Jones and Connor Gallagher stepped up the plate in Athens. There is more than one way to construct a midfield shield and Tuchel will have eyed Carsley’s engine room here with some intrigue.
It doesn’t help anyone when players are considered undroppable. Rice needs to start hitting the levels for England consistently again – because there are alternatives out there.
Jarrad Branthwaite
The Everton defender just can’t catch a break with the senior team. Cut from the Euros squad after being named on the long list, injury deprived him of the chance to make a mark here in Athens and add to his 28 minutes of football for England.
You can imagine what he must have made of it when Ezri Konsa, otherwise flawless, was withdrawn as a precaution at half time. His time will come, but this will have felt like an opportunity missed through no fault of his own.
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