Czechia v England: Jordan Pickford's pitfalls a reminder no one should be safe for Three Lions
On Saturday at Wembley, Thomas Tuchel showed he was prepared to think the almost unthinkable when it came to England's goalkeepers. Is the time fast approaching to do similar at the other end?
As Tuchel experiments with Leeds United's James Trafford, and with England not yet off the mark in this season's Nations League, a game in Czechia is too soon to look beyond Harry Kane, but the time is coming to at least have a peek.
With Trafford told before kick-off on Saturday he would play in Prague, the injuries which kept Ezri Konsa and Nico O'Reilly out of training on Monday could mean changes focus on the back four.
Not risked against world and European champions Spain, an extra three days plus O'Reilly's absence could mean Lewis Hall starts the second of four matches in this break.
Having come off the bench at the weekend, Jarrad Branthwaite will hope to be the next cab off the central defensive rank if it comes to that.
Seeing Kyle Walker presented with a shirt before kick-off at Wembley was a reminder of how ruthless Tuchel can be. Phil Foden was not there to see his former club-mate honoured, and the German’s reaction to Cole Palmer's latest pull-out suggests he could be next cast aside.
Sheffield-born Walker was 96 caps into an England career featuring two European Championship finals and a World Cup semi-final when Tuchel sensed decline.
Not for him four cheap caps in low-difficulty matches in the 12 months before the World Cup, not even with England going from right-backs coming out of their ears to scraping the barrel.
Pickford's demise seems harsher. He was the best goalkeeper in last season's Premier League, and whilst the same cannot be said of the World Cup, it is less than a year since his national record hit ten consecutive clean sheets. He played in both finals Walker did, plus a second World Cup semi-final.
But Tuchel looks ready for a change. Pickford will start against Croatia on Saturday and in the reverse fixture with Czechia three days later, but Trafford facing Spain felt monumental.
If Pickford's demise felt harsh, Kane's would be suicidal, but Tuchel did substitute him 82 minutes into a game in the balance on Saturday.
Having a Plan B for Kane has been a problem for England even longer than it was for Tottenham Hotspur.
Leeds’ Dominic Calvert-Lewin, who came on for him, is far from like-for-like with the world's best "false nine", but has pushed to the front with Oli Watkins and Ivan Toney out of sight in the Middle East, and the latter having legal issues.
Middlesbrough's Will Lankshear – who, like Walker and Calvert-Lewin passed through Sheffield United's academy – could be the coming man after a goalscoring debut from the bench for the under-21s against Kazakhstan on Friday.
Pensioning off Kane, who scored in the 3-2 defeat to Spain but hit a penalty against the crossbar, would be madness, but so would not thinking about life without him.
If Kane is not on the pitch for England, plumping up his goalscoring record, he is not happy. But Tuchel has never been afraid to take on an ego.