Lee Carsley signed off as England’s interim head coach with a 5-0 win over Ireland on Sunday, ensuring he fulfilled his mission of promotion back to the top tier of the Nations League before handing over to Thomas Tuchel.
Carsley’s autumn interregnum was characterised by commitments to widening England’s talent pool and playing more progressive football, but is likely to be best-remembered for his two experiments against Greece.
In the home game, Carsley’s solution to managing England’s cohort of talented No10s was to play them all at once, with disastrous consequences, and away in Athens he bravely dropped Harry Kane for a must-win game.
Carsley will leave Tuchel with a detailed handover document on his experience, which he plans to present to the German in the “next few weeks”.
So what are the big issues facing Tuchel when he starts work on January 1?
Here, Standard Sports takes a look at his possible in-tray…
Plan for a post-Kane future?
The England captain returned to the XI against Ireland and transformed a turgid game with an eye-of-the-needle pass for Jude Bellingham at the start of the second half.
It was a reminder of Kane’s enduring quality following a first half in which he looked heavy and off the pace, just as he did under Gareth Southgate at the European Championship.
Tuchel has a successful history with Kane, who scored 44 goals in 45 games under the German at Bayern Munich last season, but there is a case that England need a more mobile centre-forward if they want to be a modern, high-pressing team.
The squad is already too overcrowded at No10 for Kane to realistically drop deeper.
Plainly, it is premature to write off Kane, 31, who will surely have a role to play for Tuchel, but the question is whether he remains an untouchable figure or if we are entering a new era, in which he is just as mortal as the average England player.
Build on Carsley’s attacking football
“We have tried to change things,” said Carsley after the Ireland game, pointing out that England have attempted to have more possession and control this autumn.
For the most part, it has worked and Carsley’s side have offered glimpses of some eye-catching, passing football.
If Southgate’s tenure proved anything, it is that results alone are not always enough.
Tuchel has a remit to win the 2026 World Cup but he will be expected to win with more style than Southgate’s often-conservative team, and his challenge is to build on and refine the fluid football England played under Carsley.
Accommodate England’s talented playmakers
Carsley was fortunate that Phil Foden and Cole Palmer missed two of his three camps, ensuring he only faced the dilemma of accommodating all of England’s world-class No10s in October.
In Greece’s visit to Wembley, Foden, Palmer, Jude Bellingham, Bukayo Saka and Anthony Gordon all started – but England lacked structure in a shambolic defeat.
It offered no solution to arguably England’s biggest problem, which now passes over to Tuchel. Who does he leave out when all his playmakers are fit and firing?
At least Carsley’s failed experiment should reduce the pressure on Tuchel to crowbar them all into the same team again.
Establish continuity in defence
Carsley started 10 different defenders over his six games in charge, including four left-backs.
Newcastle pair Lewis Hall and Tino Livramento started on Sunday, potentially increasing Tuchel’s options at full-back (or wing-back if he plays with a back five), while Trent Alexander-Arnold finally appeared to establish himself on the right side of defence, starting four games under Carsley (admittedly including one on the left).
A settled defence felt key to England’s success under Southgate and Tuchel’s challenge is to establish continuity at the back, where Alexander-Arnold and Stones appear likely starters but there are at least two positions up for grabs.
Continue to blood young players
Carsley’s biggest legacy will probably be a widening of England’s talent pool for Tuchel.
The 50-year-old gave debuts to eight players, including Livramento, Hall and Taylor Harwood-Bellis in his final game in charge, and recalled Dominic Solanke after a seven-year absence.
He has continued the process – started by Southgate at the Euros – of ushering in a new cycle for England after three tournaments characterised by consistency, and leaves a raft of players with experience of playing at this level.
Those with a history under Carsley – such as Angel Gomes – may find a harder to keep their places but others have the chance to established themselves as regulars.
Hall, for example, looks a possible solution to England’s left-back problem, while Curtis Jones has impressed at holding midfield.
