HELSINKI: Lee Carsley admitted England deserve a "world class coach” with a winning habit after Sunday’s 3-1 victory against Finland left the interim manager’s future unresolved. Coming just days after England’s shock 2-1 defeat against Greece at Wembley, Carsley could not afford another setback in the Nations League trip to Helsinki.
Carsley had been heavily criticised for playing five attacking midfielders and no recognised striker against Greece and he selected a more conventional line-up this time. England were still far from impressive for long periods, but they mustered enough quality to grind out a third win in four games since Carsley replaced Gareth Southgate.
Jack Grealish opened the scoring in the first half and Trent Alexander-Arnold’s superb free-kick doubled the lead after the interval before Declan Rice’s tap-in wrapped up the points. It was another day of mixed messages both on and off the pitch for England as the Football Association (FA) take their time hiring a permanent successor to Southgate, who quit after the Euro 2024 final loss to Spain.
Carsley had woken to reports on Sunday that the FA are in talks with former Bayern Munich and Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel. And the former Everton midfielder, who had been working as England Under-21 coach before stepping up, appeared to distance himself from the job during a post-match television interview.
"My remit was six games and I’m happy with that. This is a privileged position,” Carsley said. "People are always going to try and put their chips on one side. I’m in the middle. My bosses have made it clear what they need from me.
"This job deserves a world class coach who has won trophies and I am still on the path to that.” It was the second time in a week that Carsley had been curiously coy about declaring his interest in the job. But he backtracked a little in a separate media briefing when pressed on whether he was ruling himself out of the permanent position.
‘I love playing for him’
"Definitely not. I tried to make it as clear as I could. My remit was three camps for the Nations League,” he said. "The point I was trying to make is that it’s one of the top jobs in the world. "Obviously I’m not part of the process. But it deserves a top coach, the players we’ve got available, we’ve got a real chance of winning. That was the point I was making.”
Unsurprisingly for a coach whose only senior management experience came in a brief spell at Brentford and caretaker stints with Coventry and Birmingham, Carsley has appeared uncomfortable in the harsh glare of the England spotlight at times.
He insisted he has enjoyed the experience, but coping with the criticism is not easy. I’m really enjoying it but I didn’t enjoy the last two days. I’m not used to losing in an England team, I don’t take losing well,” he said.
"We were looking for a reaction and this is only four games into it so I’ve still not quite worked out how the team respond to setbacks. But they’ve responded in the best way tonight.” One of Carsley’s more successful decisions has been to recall Grealish after Southgate left the Manchester City winger out of the Euro 2024 squad.
And Grealish, back in the team after missing the Greece game due to injury, offered a glowing review of Carsley’s England credentials. "Whatever happens with the England manager some people will always say negative stuff,” he said.
"I think before people were crying out for more so-called attacking players and we do it and it didn’t work for one game and there are a few people moaning. "In my honest opinion I don’t get it. It can happen in games. He’s a top manager, brilliant guy and I love playing for him.” – AFP