England began their Nations League campaign with a slender 3-2 defeat to Spain in a pulsating match at Wembley last weekend. Now, Thomas Tuchel’s men are on the road for the first of two successive away games. They head to Croatia on Saturday, but before then comes a trip to face Czech Republic.
Ahead of the game, we list some of the things to look out for in Prague:
Personnel switch-up
After a flurry of withdrawals from his squad in the build-up to this extended break, Tuchel could do without yet more absentees.
But on the eve of their meeting with the Czechs there’s fresh worries about his defence. Nico O’Reilly and Ezri Konsa both started against Spain, each playing the full 90 minutes. But the pair both missed training on Monday. O’Reilly is set to miss out altogether whilst Konsa may only be well enough to be on the bench.
That could mean Tuchel changing half of his backline – hardly ideal with such a glut of fixtures in this window. Lewis Hall looks a good bet to get a start at left-back with Jarrad Branthwaite a potential to sit alongside Marc Guehi, provided Konsa doesn’t make it in time.
There may well be tweaks elsewhere, although James Trafford will definitely start after Tuchel confirmed prior to the Spain game that the Leeds stopper would keep goal for these first two matches. Morgan Rogers may well get the nod from the start after coming on as a sub on Saturday.
More control?
The advantage of starting off against the best team in the world is that, theoretically, the standard of opponent should now automatically lower. That means England are likely to enjoy far more control against the Czechs, ranked 49th in the world.
There were hugely encouraging patterns of play in Saturday’s opener and the key is now stitching more of those together across a 90-minute showing.
Tuchel says: “I think we showed our style, and showed our courage and identity (v Spain) – they showed it throughout the 90 minutes. I think we were a valid part of a very good football match overall, over 90 minutes both teams showed our quality.
“We caused ourselves some problems with individual mistakes. It should not happen, but it happened. But I think we played our way, and we encouraged the players to play their way, and the way they want to play.”
Bellingham’s bite
Jude Bellingham’s performance against Spain was laced with energy and bite. His manager said afterwards that his star man plays better “with a bit of rage”, adding: “It’s what he does. I think sometimes he is looking for these moments to get his fire going.”
Tuchel was indirectly referencing some moments where Spanish players attempted to rile Bellingham or coax a reaction from him – just like against Argentina in the World Cup semi-final last summer.
The hope is that Bellingham keeps the bit between his teeth for this run of matches, although his manager isn’t sure he can start him in all four games, adding: “I would love to have him four times on the pitch. I think the concern is that he hasn’t done it this season in this tight period.
“We will need to check with the physios. We will not put Jude at risk.”
Kane’s response
It’s fair to say that had Harry Kane’s penalty, just after half-time, been converted against the Spanish then England would have fancied their chances of ending the world champions’ long unbeaten run.
Luis de la Fuente’s side would have been two goals behind with just 30 minutes left of the game. Sadly for Kane and England, the captain slipped as he stepped up and saw an effort crash off the crossbar.
It was a sliding doors moment. Spain quickly mounted an equaliser and then the eventual winner.
Kane’s response to that costly miss will be fascinating in Prague. He’ll surely start and if he does, he will be keen to rectify it as he edges closer to Peter Shilton as England’s most-capped men’s player. He’s just three games shy of levelling the 125 caps that Shilton won.
