WEMBLEY — The half-time chat was all about the end of Harry Kane, how slow he looked, how little he had impacted the game, how long would Lee Carsley give him before the hook? Other than a booking for body slamming an over-attentive defender, Kane was absorbed by the blanket defence of a limited opponent.
And then he turned alchemist with a pass that flipped the narrative, a drilled daisy cutter to the feet of Jude Bellingham. For all his obvious gifts in front of goal Kane might also be England’s best passer, a claim Tottenham Hotspur supporters would readily accept.
Perhaps he imagined he was back in N17, picking out the run of Son Heung-min. Bellingham didn’t let him down, turning inside the clumsy tackle of Liam Scales, that earned the defender a second yellow card, to win the penalty that cracked the night wide open. Kane duly slotted home from the spot to shut down the dissenters and trigger the blitz against 10 men.
Kane had done his job, reminding the absentees in word and deed of the importance of this England, a revived national totem under Gareth Southgate that might yet reach its full potential in the hands of Thomas Tuchel.
Those who weren’t here, those who weren’t in Greece, were clearly the losers no matter how legitimate their reasons for staying away. The players who presented took their opportunities to impress on the final lap of Carsley’s short run, not to mention Tuchel.
Lewis Hall looked at ease at left-back. Well he might. He can kick with his left foot, which helps no end, especially in forward postions when he has the option to go outside instead of recycling inward a la the more advanced Anthony Gordon.
His Newcastle United teammate Tino Livramento was equally impressive on the right, though the issues on that side of the pitch are less pressing. Nevertheless, he did his job defensively and was quick to scamper forward in support of the chief firecracker, Noni Madueke.
Curtis Jones continued his productive cycle promising to be the more versatile, more inventive figure in the middle that England need. And he found a willing partner in Conor Gallagher, who has in these two games re-established himself in the unsung role of fetcher and carrier.
Gallagher’s problem is, with Declan Rice in the team, he is essentially the same player without the brand power. There is, however, no duplication with Jones, who is more creator than destroyer.
Indeed Rice might be the big loser when Tuchel turns up for work. His brand of high-energy hunter-gathering has its limitations the further up the scale the competition rises. The Republic of Ireland’s James McClean was not entirely wrong in the summer when he argued we should expect more from a £100m footballer than industry and straightline speed. We need the luxury models to be good in tight corners too, and to blitz backmarkers.
Stop the clock on 26 minutes here and observe how Jones picked the ball up deep and insinuated his way across the pitch, evading challenges to restart the engine. When teams are massed in two banks of four this is the requirement, to drop a shoulder, to offer a point of difference.
Though they kept England out in the first half, Ireland were overmatched by a group recovering a degree of swagger, which is arguably Carsley’s greatest contribution. He managed to wrestle from the bones of that shocking defeat at home to Greece a sense of order and optimism in his final two engagements despite the mass withdrawals which set the agenda in his farewell camp.
He did this by investing in youth, familiar faces from his full-time role with England Under-21s. The sense of camaraderie when debutant Taylor Harwood-Bellis headed the fifth was clear. Bellingham hugged him like a long-lost friend surprising him at his 21st birthday party. Livramento and Angel Gomes too, the lads putting the gang back together.
Though Ireland did not deserve the end they got after a rugged rearguard in the first half, you always felt they were one mistimed challenge from catastrophe. And England showed how dangerous they can be given the slightest encouragement. It is now for Tuchel to sharpen the blade.
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