The band of brothers make case for Lee as Tuchel's successor

HAVING got a couple of deeply underwhelming performances out of the way in early June, Thomas Tuchel’s summer is not likely to be overly busy.

- By Andy Dunn

Apparently, the England head coach will be at the Club World Cup — he might already be there — to assess conditions in the United States ahead of next summer’s serious tournament.

But if England’s Under-21s squad overcomes the Netherlands and make it to the final of the Euros, Tuchel will, hopefully, be in Bratislava.

Considering he is a gun hired for 18 months, development teams are of limited concern to Tuchel.

While one or two of the U21s party in the semi-final will have a chance of making it to World Cup 2026 — Tino Livramento against either France or Germany is a clash with the Dutch at Bratislava’s Tehelne Pole stadium this afternoon, when temperatures are set to exceed 30C (86F).

Carsley said: “We've not shied away from the heat. We’ve exposed the players to it fully. We're ready for it.

“We've been here long enough now to acclimatise to the heat.

“Our use of the substitutions has been effective in terms of our timings.