Lee Carsley: I’m happy to go back to the under-21s

Lee Carsley admitted that he is prepared to return to his under-21 job after his experiment with England’s formation backfired in the 2-1 defeat by Greece.

Carsley took the blame for the result after playing Jude Bellingham as a false nine in a formation that he only trained with for 20 minutes on the eve of Thursday’s game.

After also fitting Cole Palmer, Phil Foden, Bukayo Saka and Antony Gordon into his team, England fell behind to Vangelis Pavlidis, who also scored the winner after Bellingham levelled.

“I was quite surprised after the last camp in terms of ‘the job is mine’ and ‘it’s mine to lose’ and all the rest of it,” Carsley said. “My remit has been clear from the start – I’m doing three camps. There are three games left and then hopefully I’ll be going back to the under-21. It has almost no impact.

“Nothing has changed in that respect. My remit was to do the three camps and then to hand over. I’m lucky that I’ve got a good job as it is, in terms of the under-21s, but after the first camp after two really good performances my ambitions didn’t change. It’s important that I give it everything I’ve got for the next three games and I am really happy and comfortable with the communication I have with my bosses.”

Carsley clarified his position by saying he was not ruled in or out of the England job, adding: “That is still the case. I’m comfortable in my position where I am and the remit is clear. I’m comfortable and confident with that.

“After the first camp I didn’t get too excited or believe too much, I’m very aware this is one of the best jobs in the world in terms of having the chance of actually winning a major competition.”

Pavlidis opened the scoring early in the second half with a finish despite five England players in close proximity. It was Greece’s first goal at Wembley and their goalscorer dedicated the opener to his international team-mate George Baldock, who passed away the previous evening.

Greece also had three goals disallowed for offside but Bellingham looked to have earned a point with his late equaliser before Pavlidis struck in stoppage-time when England failed to clear in their own area.

“At this stage as well, coming off the last two games, I never at any point I’d got it cracked, it was a case of, ‘let’s try something different’.  I’d happy to take the blame for that. It was totally my idea,” said Carsley.

“With the players that we’ve got, we’ve got to be courageous at times with our systems and be creative. I could have quite easily gone with a recognised No 9, we had two on the bench, but I thought it was important to go with something different.”

Six bizarre elements of Carsley’s tactical horror-show

By Ella Nunn

The 2-3-5 first-half formation

England’s starting formation, which morphed into a rather unconventional 2-3-5 by half-time, was indefensible. In Lee Carsley’s experiment, there were five men stacked up front, yet they struggled to produce almost a single moment of good attacking play between them.

Before the game, much was said about Carsley’s gamble to play Jude Bellingham (No 8 in the image above) as a false nine. However any threat he attempted to produce was dampened by Cole Palmer (No 20 in the image above) who, as a conventional No10 wanted to play in the same sort of area. Declan Rice (No 4) was left vulnerable in midfield while Levi Colwill (No 15) and John Stones (No 5) struggled to contain Greece’s attacking threat between the two of them.

The missing Jordan Pickford

In a moment of madness, Jordan Pickford was left scrambling when he ran out of the box and onto the ball, then ended up giving it away in midfield. Greece captain Anastasios Bakasetas quickly lobbed it over the goalkeeper’s head, into a virtually empty box, and towards the open goal.

The England goalkeeper’s blushes were saved by Levi Colwill who sprinted towards the goal and managed to hook the ball away before it crossed the line. It was one of a few blunders from the goalkeeper who struggled as the team were often left wide open and susceptible to their opponents’ quick breaks.

Saka’s cynical yellow card

In Carsley’s mystery formation, attackers became defenders – as evidenced by Bukayo Saka’s pursuit and cynical foul on Georgios Masouras who was unmarked as he broke down the right. England’s real defenders were nowhere to be found, compelling the winger to take one for the team and commit to an uncharacteristic, two-footed foul you would never see him forced to make at his structurally-sound club.

Honeypot defensive line

With just minutes left to play, almost comically chaotic defending saw back-peddling England players getting in each other’s way, kicking the ball against each other and bunching narrowly together like kids in the park. It was clear that 90 minutes of structural uncertainty and formation changes had taken a mental toll on the players and there was barely a defensive line left to speak of. Vangelis Pavlidis capitalised on the calamity and calmly found a yard of space to fire in the winning goal the Greeks richly deserved.

Declan Rice’s scattergun touch map

Perhaps one of the players most affected by Carsley’s experimentations was Rice. He was virtually left to fend for himself in midfield as the attacking players were all bunched together in a long line up front. Rice had 76 touches throughout the game and they spread from goal to goal and across the width of the pitch. There was barely a blade of grass left untouched by the midfielder as he was forced to make up for a glaring lack of cover and tried his best to protect his back four.

At last, a striker appears!

Ollie Watkins joined the action in the 61st minute and finally England had an out-and-out striker on the pitch. The team assumed a more familiar 4-3-3 formation and, perhaps out of frustration from watching his team have barely any chances in almost an hour of play, Watkins took matters into his own hands with one of his first touches. Palmer fed the ball into his path and the striker shot from inside the box. However, as was the tale of the night for England, the striker’s effort was off target and flew over the goal.