There have been some mildly concerning suggestions about England playing “slick” and “attractive” football in Lee Carsley’s first game as interim manager.
Of course, it is now time to come back down to earth in their second Nations League match against Finland at Wembley on Tuesday.
And after two players with Irish heritage – Declan Rice and Jack Grealish – scored in Saturday’s 2-0 win over Ireland, Carsley must be searching high and low for a player with Finnish grandparents. Someone call Carl Jenkinson?
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Once again, Carsley appears to have all his 23 players available, down from 26 after Phil Foden withdrew due to illness and Cole Palmer and Ollie Watkins returned to their clubs with injuries early last week.
England were scintillating throughout the first half against Ireland but fell away slightly in the second, something Carsley will be hoping to avoid repeating at Wembley.
So he is likely to stick with much of the starting XI which had so much success.
In goal, there is little reason to replace Jordan Pickford, while Trent Alexander-Arnold excelled at right-back against Ireland.
Rico Lewis could come in to replace him, but Carsley may well believe England would lose too much creatively if he did so.
At the back, John Stones came on for Harry Maguire against Ireland and could replace him in the line-up against Finland, reprising his Euro 2024 partnership alongside Marc Guehi, with Levi Colwill once again on the left.
In midfield, Rice and Grealish both performed well enough to keep their places, while giving Kobbie Mainoo a rest after a busy summer and start to the season would be a responsible decision for such a young player.
Bringing in Angel Gomes, who made his debut against Ireland and is very much Carsley’s surprise package, would provide something slightly different.
On the wings, Anthony Gordon demonstrated why he should have been given more minutes at the Euros and should start once again, while either Jarrod Bowen or the uncapped Noni Madueke should replace Bukayo Saka after he played 90 minutes on Saturday.
And up front, Harry Kane is the only recognised striker in the squad so will almost certainly become the 10th man to win 100 England caps.
Can Finland cause England problems?
Meanwhile, Finland were comfortably beaten 3-0 by Greece on Saturday, managing just one shot on target against the 54th-ranked nation.
Their best-known players are former Rangers and Leeds midfielder Glen Kamara, now at Rennes, Bayer Leverkusen goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky and ex-Norwich striker Teemu Pukki.
Despite still being vice-captain and Finland’s all-time top goalscorer, Pukki didn’t play against Greece and at 34 isn’t hitting the heights he once did.
Perhaps more notably, Teemu Tainio – once of Spurs, Sunderland and Birmingham – is among long-term head coach Markku Kanerva’s assistants.
All in all, do not expect huge opposition from the Finns, who were beaten 4-1 by Wales earlier this year and have only beaten Estonia in their five matches in 2024.
England’s predicted line-up to face Finland
4-3-3: Pickford; Alexander-Arnold, Stones, Guehi, Colwill; Gomes, Rice, Grealish; Madueke, Kane, Gordon
from Football - inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/rg3hOt1
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