Clubs, country and the sadly withdrawn boys.
Pictures from training grounds and words from press conferences will today begin confirming whether Harry Kane was right to be sceptical about the nine England pull-outs. Six of the sadly withdrawn boys could start at the weekend.
Kane was outspoken, certainly by his usually mild standards, about the eight, eventually nine players who dropped out of the squad to face Greece in Athens and the Republic of Ireland at Wembley. However much some onlookers dismissed the two Nations League games as “meaningless”, they were hugely important for England’s automatic promotion back to League A, and ensuring Thomas Tuchel could start on January 1 by focusing on the World Cup rather than Nations League play-offs. They mattered.
Kane may have been annoyed that he’d loyally reported, as usual, and soon discovered that he was not starting in Athens. Nine others were recuperating/resting at home. Some of the players were unimpressed to have their patriotism questioned. Lee Carsley noted in his squad announcement a week earlier that “a lot of the squad are carrying injuries”. That gave a green light for clubs to argue a player’s withdrawal was legitimate protection.