England’s Ollie Watkins gamble pays off to leave tricky Harry Kane question

In the tale of the captain and the caretaker, Lee Carsley’s great gamble paid off. England managers can be defined by a decision involving a talismanic striker. Graham Taylor ended Gary Lineker’s international career to bring on Alan Smith. Alf Ramsey preferred Geoff Hurst to Jimmy Greaves for a World Cup final. One got it wrong, the other very right.

Carsley’s reign will be briefer, the stakes lower. But if it risked being remembered for one selection, it was justified. Harry Kane, the skipper who criticised the teammates who did not seem to want to play for England, was himself denied a start.

Ollie Watkins began instead, scored with his first touch and set England on course to a redemptive win. Wretched at Wembley last month, when they lost to Greece, they exacted revenge in ultimately impressive fashion. The worst game of Carsley’s tenure came against Greece. So, now, did the best.

A month ago, his tactics were misjudged, his team mismatched, a centre-forward abandoned to pack in a battalion of attacking midfielders. In the rematch, Carsley chose a specialist No 9; just not the usual one. If there is a courageousness to some of his choices, there was vindication, too.

Carsley has tended to turn to his European Under-21 champions as he has put his imprint on the squad. “There’s a generation of Under-21 players just used to winning tournaments so them putting an England shirt on, they expect to win,” Carsley said. One of them, Noni Madueke, set up Watkins’ goal. Another, Morgan Gibbs-White, got an assist for the third. It was scored by Curtis Jones, possibly the player of the match even before his delightful back-heeled finish. The Liverpudlian has the capacity to look unfazed by any occasion. He excelled in possession. “Curtis Jones is an outstanding player,” said Carsley. “He played really well, even without his goal.”

Yet if it was Jones’ day, Kane’s status is such that his exclusion overshadowed everything else. There were four long-jump pits behind the dugouts and a banner demanding the return of the Elgin Marbles. The surreal sights extended to an England team with Kane on the bench. He has occasionally been omitted for friendlies but never really dropped in his international career.

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And, while Carsley talks of the future, the probability is that Thomas Tuchel will parachute his €100m signing back in. So this, then, was Carsley exerting his own independence.

Had Watkins failed, had England lost, it would have formed the first line of the case for the prosecution of the interim manager. Kane has scored 68 international goals. Carsley chose a team with just 11 between them, shared by a mere three scorers. If Jones added his name to the list so, in less deliberate fashion, so did the Greece goalkeeper.

The unfortunate Odysseas Vlachodimos was debited with the second goal, which bounced in off his back after a storming run from Jude Bellingham, who struck the post and saw his shot rebound onto the goalkeeper. Bellingham had almost scored earlier, a header hitting the upright when Vlachidimos was strangely slow to react. Even without a goal to his name, Bellingham was a catalyst, a senior figure in a young team.

And as a team depleted by nine withdrawals took three points, it was testament to Carsley’s adaptability and England’s strength in depth. “The players who weren’t here, we concentrated on the ones who were,” said Carsley. “They took their chance.” There were three debuts by the end, first Lewis Hall and then Morgan Rogers coming on in the second half. There was a makeshift look, too, with Kyle Walker operating as a centre-back after the break. The regulars who were ruled out were reminded they may face competition even if Tuchel might prefer the bigger names to Carsley’s creche.

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But the outlook is brighter for the next manager, in more ways than one. It reshaped the standings. England now top their group. Beat the Republic of Ireland on Sunday and Carsley will have a promotion under his belt, while sparing his successor a play-off in March.

Watkins’ previous England goal came dramatically late, in the Euro 2024 semi-final against the Netherlands. This came early. He had not touched the ball in the first six minutes. When he did, he tucked in Madueke’s near-post cutback. Carsley had argued the mass withdrawals created opportunities for others and, minus Bukayo Saka, Cole Palmer and Phil Foden, Madueke occupied the right flank, tormenting Kostas Tsimikas with his pace, bringing a touch of showmanship.

A 70-minute impasse followed. Watkins spurned the chance of a second with a poor touch. Bellingham hit the post. Greece were underwhelming but Jordan Pickford made a terrific save from the substitute Fotis Ioannidis when he advanced on goal, having also impressively denied Tsimikas in the first half.

Kane came off the bench, a noble, wounded figure emerging. “He’ll start the next game,” Carsley said. He instead finished this, but without a finish himself. He followed up Bellingham’s shot, seeking the final touch, but the ball went in anyway. It summed up his night. In effect, England won without Kane. They won without Saka, Palmer, Foden and Declan Rice, too. But for reasons that irritated Kane.