Harry Kane attacks England drop-outs: ‘Country should come before any club’

Harry Kane has launched a stunning attack on England team-mates who pulled out of this week’s must-win clash in Greece and accused them of taking advantage of Thomas Tuchel’s wait to start as manager.

Kane is a doubt himself for the Olympic Stadium, with Lee Carsley considering resting him as a precaution, but the England captain was not among the nine pull-outs for a game in which victory is needed to avoid a Nations League promotion play-off in March under Tuchel.

In an interview with ITV on the eve of the fixture, Kane pulled no punches in his disappointment at senior players withdrawing from the clash.

“It’s a shame this week,” Kane told ITV. “It’s a tough period of the season and maybe it’s been taken advantage of a little bit. I don’t really like it, if I’m totally honest. I think England comes before any club situation.”

Cole Palmer, Phil Foden, Jack Grealish, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Declan Rice were among the players who would have been competing for a starting place before pulling out earlier this week. Jarrad Branthwaite did not train with the squad following his call-up and has returned to Everton, to be replaced by Liverpool centre-back Jarell Quansah.

Kane referenced Gareth Southgate’s eight years in charge of England, when he changed the perception of England call-ups for players.

“I think the joy to play for England – he [Southgate] brought that back. Every camp people were excited to come, and in camp people wanted to play for England,” he said.

“That is the most important thing. England comes before anything, it comes before club. It’s the most important thing you play as a professional footballer. Gareth was hot on that and not afraid to make decisions if that started to drift from certain players.”

Carsley set on attacking game plan

Interim manager Carsley has vowed to attack against Greece, with a two-goal win needed to go ahead of them on head-to-heads before facing Republic of Ireland at the weekend in their final Group B2 game.

Ollie Watkins is in line to start should Kane be rested, with Anthony Gordon set to play as a wide forward and Chelsea winger Noni Madueke pushing for a start. Curtis Jones has been in the frame for a place in midfield alongside Conor Gallagher.

Carsley said his team will be different to the line-up against Greece at Wembley, when his team were defeated 2-1 and he tried to squeeze his No 10s into a system without an out-and-out striker.

“The type of team I will pick – as you can probably guess – will be quite attacking. That’s the way I coach and how I want their attitudes to be, I want to attack,” said Carsley.

“I learnt a lot of things [from Wembley], the tempo we have to play at and taking your chances. You will see something more conventional but we will still play in a good style and an attacking style and hopefully we can get a result.”

Tuchel will not be at the match in Athens, or at Wembley on Sunday for the Ireland game, and does not start work until the new year. Kane worked with the German at Bayern Munich last year until he departed in the summer, leaving him free to take the England job.

Kane failed to win the first major trophy of his career last season under Tuchel but saw a clear “winning mentality” from the 51-year-old.

“I was surprised, to be honest,” Kane said. “I was not expecting it. I worked with Thomas last year and had a really good relationship with him and expected him to go back to club football, but I was pleasantly surprised and he was a big part of me going to Bayern Munich. He is an all-round great person and I sense he will bring a lot of energy and passion to the team.

“You have to try and pick the best coach to win a major tournament and we are at that stage now. The only step is to win and Thomas brings a winning mentality. Especially at tournaments, something he excels in.

“Tactically, he is one of the best managers there is. He had a certain way at Bayern but that was different to Chelsea, so it will be interesting to see how he sees us. Tactically, he has an amazing brain and he understands all the small things which matter.”

When asked if England have appointed the best man for the job, Kane said: “I think they have. He is straight-talking if you are doing well or bad. He treats you like an adult and on the pitch he is demanding.”