It was gone 11pm when Thomas Tuchel was shaking the hands of Harry Kane’s parents on the Wembley pitch while the children of England’s record appearance maker enjoyed the run of the national stadium in front of 90,000 empty seats.

This was time for Kane to fully take in the emotion of an historic night alongside his family and that Tuchel was out there too felt instructive of their relationship.

Kane and Tuchel had frank conversations last month about the World Cup fallout, on how England might be best tinkering with their selection when chasing games. 

The manager respects and values his captain’s opinion on these things, recognising that he is almost completely agenda-free, as they attempt to better plot a route to silverware in readiness for the European Championship in 18 months’ time.

If there was uncertainty about identity and style when the World Cup crunch arrived, when Enzo Fernandez was pulling stupid faces and the colour drained from England faces, then players have felt that the detail on how Tuchel wants to move forward has been clear across the first two camps since America.

Thursday night was not vintage against a Croatia team they battered 7-0 a few weeks back. Tuchel and Kane both admitted that afterwards but it is noticeable that there is a defined plan on how they intend to attack in a slightly different way.

Were Tuchel to have been able to pick a first-choice back four then the win would likely have been more comfortable, Croatia benefiting from individual errors. And a lack of cutting edge inside the box hindered the hosts too.

The idea behind what they were doing appeared well thought out though and that should bring about some gentle encouragement.

The full backs, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Lewis Hall, were both consistently worked into hugely dangerous areas in the inside channels, while the make-up of Tuchel’s midfield felt very deliberate as well. 

It is no coincidence that England enjoyed the highest amount of possession in the half spaces ten yards inside Croatia’s half. That is a clear directive, with both Elliot Anderson and Declan Rice drifting wider to create overloads and the full backs pushed into threatening spaces.

‘Declan understands the game like he’s almost a coach on the field and in a perfect position to manage all these things from behind,’ Tuchel said this week. To have a constant interchanging unit, he does need brains.

These are the rotations that the Three Lions didn’t engineer enough of over in the United States, with Kane dropping deep as he does and completing that wonder crossfield pass for the Morgan Rogers opener. 

They are the moments that Tuchel is preaching, Jude Bellingham taking up an unusual position in order to stretch Croatia as he squared for the Chelsea forward.

What Tuchel needs now is to work on how that can be translated into making sure his very best players can affect matches more regularly inside the opponent’s box. 

That Kane only touched it six times inside the 18-yard area and Bellingham on just four occasions points to a team still figuring themselves out.

That will be put to the severe test in Madrid on Sunday. England do not beat the truly elite nations; never have. 

And it’ll be interesting to see whether Tuchel sticks to this sort of plan, one designed to dominate, or if he instead relies on the counter-attacking ability of a group he has viewed as a ‘Premier League team’ before now, leaning into their physicality.

If England are feeling confident enough, giving this tweaked style a go against the world champions might offer them some answers on what could be achieved when the proper silverware is on the line.

READ: Why England were unremarkable on Harry Kane's big night, the Ben White problem – and established star whose place could be under threat from Morgan Rogers, writes IAN LADYMAN 

READ: The Crowning of King Kane: From the marines to vinyl and the 'perfect' player, those who know Harry best reveal the untold stories of how he became England's new most-capped player