There comes a point in every manager's honeymoon period where the laughs stop and the actual work has to start. For Thomas Tuchel and England, that point is basically right now. According to Phil McNulty over at BBC Sport, the recent outing was essentially a training exercise dressed up in proper kit, and with only one more game before the World Cup campaign gets going, the time for messing about is well and truly over.
Now, nobody is panicking just yet. Warm-up games are called warm-up games for a reason. You try things, you rotate, you give fringe players a look-in, and you accept that the results do not always reflect what you are actually capable of. Every fan understands that. But there is a difference between using a friendly wisely and sleepwalking through it hoping everything clicks on its own.
Tuchel is a smart manager. Anyone who watched what he did at Chelsea and Bayern Munich knows the man can organise a team and get results when it matters. The question is whether he has figured out what his best England side actually looks like yet, because from the outside it still feels a little unclear. The system, the key players, the identity of this squad under him — it all needs sharpening up, and sharpening up quickly.
England have the players. That is never really the debate with this lot. The debate is always about whether they can actually pull together and perform as a proper team when the pressure lands. World Cup football has a way of exposing anything that has been glossed over in training, and no amount of fancy coaching credentials will paper over the cracks if the foundations are not solid.
So the next game is not just another fixture to tick off. It is the last real chance for Tuchel to test his ideas, settle on his starters, and send a message to the rest of the world that England mean business this time around. One game, one opportunity, no excuses after that.
Let me know your thoughts.