“It’s just March,” Thomas Tuchel said after a winless international break. March doesn’t matter. March is for winding up the Wembley crowd by playing Ben White. For Phil Foden as a false 9. For Dominic Calvert-Lewin agonising over narrow misses. For Jason Steele in the crucial emergency fifth goalkeeper spot.
Will any of this matter when England head to Miami for their World Cup training camp on 1 June? History suggests the answer is yes … but also no. The last camps before a tournament can be odd. For Tuchel, comparisons with the past are awkward. The modern calendar has been squeezed by the club game and it is not surprising that his players are exhausted when the physical demands on Premier League teams are so extreme.
