Gareth Southgate has been preparing for next summer's European Championship since deciding to stay on as England manager in the fraught days following the World Cup quarter-final defeat by France in December.
But the detailed planning can now begin in earnest, after England secured their place in the finals with a 3-1 win over Italy on Tuesday night.
A fourth major tournament is widely expected to be Southgate's last. Drained, bitter and concerned he was negatively impacting his players, Southgate gave serious consideration to walking away after Qatar.
He cannot go on indefinitely and, at any rate, his contract is up after the Euros. If England are crowned champions in Germany, perhaps the 53-year-old could be persuaded to extend his deal and have a crack at conquering the world in 2026.
More likely, though, he will seek a spell of recuperation with his family at his secluded home near Harrogate or perhaps make a quick return to the "absolute rollercoaster" of club management.
Those around Southgate have noticed a change in his mood and rhetoric: he is even more focused on the task at hand, more insular, less willing to appease — all suggesting he is preparing for one final hurrah.
For Southgate, next summer is therefore likely to be his last shot at glory with England and a chance to define his legacy in 'the impossible job'.
Despite everything he has achieved since reluctantly succeeding Sam Allardyce seven years ago this month, Southgate remains an oddly divisive figure in the national consciousness.
For some, the manager who has returned England to an international force has long been holding the team back; an albatross around the necks of a generational squad.
Kyle Walker this week articulated what many of the players feel: that the manager still does not get his dues from the media or the public at large.
"What the boss has done and created, I don't feel like he gets the credit for it at all," said Walker. "It's not easy to qualify for a competition. Have they become used to us just qualifying?"
There is something in Walker's words, and the sense Southgate is now taken for granted; a classic victim of raising standards and, ultimately, his own success. Occasions like last night — a commanding victory over the reigning European champions — did not used to feel so commonplace.
Southgate's critics argue he has taken the team as far as he can, that he is not a tactician in the league of, say, Roberto Mancini — who got the better of him in the final of the last Euros — and that his inherent conservatism will never elevate a top-heavy squad to its full potential.
Southgate is not immune to the criticism, and supporters' perceptions of him was a factor in his deliberations post-Qatar. He has, however, unwavering faith in his approach, having meticulously studied winning national teams of the past, and believes his England side are still to peak and steadily developing into the expansive, attacking team his detractors want to see.
"The players continue to evolve," Southgate said this week. "In the last 12 months we have been able to be more front foot and more aggressive."
Southgate runs England more like a club than a national team, steadfastly refusing to pick his squads on form, and instead staying fiercely loyal to players who have historically performed.
The biggest questions ahead of next summer concern this loyalty to individuals — namely Jordan Henderson, Harry Maguire and Kalvin Phillips.
Southgate has an unwavering faith in his approach and believes his England side are still to peak
Henderson, who came on to more boos, has lost the respect of some England fans since moving to Saudi Arabia, but he retains Southgate's trust, amid doubts over whether he can continue to be as effective in the engine room at 33 after a season in the heat and stasis of the Saudi Pro League.
Maguire and Phillips, meanwhile, cannot get a game for their clubs, and the latter's rusty performance last night suggests his lack of game-time at Manchester City is a problem. Some fans have lost patience with Southgate's stubborn faith in his stalwarts, but the approach has been justified when it matters.
While there are doubts over England's depth at centre-half and in midfield — another reason for Southgate's loyalty to the old guard — elsewhere the manager has an abundance of star quality. Southgate acknowledged this month that Jude Bellingham may be the best player in the world on current form and the rest of the team increasingly orbits around the brilliant 20-year-old, who ran the game against Italy and finished with two assists.
Unlock Bellingham, as Real Madrid have done, and England have a clutch player of the highest order, capable of leading them all the way next summer. Harry Kane, who scored twice last night, has claimed that he will be even better for moving to Germany and should finally be one of the last England players to win a major club trophy by the time the Euros comes around.
There is an embarrassment of options to play alongside the captain, although another criticism regularly levelled at Southgate is that he does not know how to get the best from England's array of creative forwards.
The European Championship is the manager's last chance to answer all these questions definitively and put an end to the noise. He will never convert every doubter — even if England win the Euros, there would inevitably be suggestions that it was in spite of the manager — and expectations have been raised to such an extent that nothing short of glory next summer will ensure that he will be widely considered a success if he does walk away.
If England fall short again, for all their strides forward, his legacy will be tinged with the poignant sense of opportunities missed. History, though, is written by the victors: win the tournament, and Southgate can take his place alongside Sir Alf Ramsey as England's greatest-ever coach.
