Perhaps Lee Carsley knew more than he was letting on when he met the Football Association of Ireland for an informal chat over coffee. England’s search for a permanent replacement for Gareth Southgate is notionally ongoing. In reality it has narrowed to one: Carsley.
The international super coach is financially out of reach. Besides, continuity is very much in vogue.
Witness the success of Spain in the hands of Luis de la Fuente, who has been in the Spanish system for more than a decade working with the Under-19s, Under-21s and Under-23s before replacing Luis Enrique after the World Cup in Qatar.
At St George’s Park, Southgate set the template for the company man. Carsley is very much that, an FA employee since 2020, and a coach with a win over Spain in a final to boot. Southgate, the architect of the England reset and arbiter of enlightened cultural norms, never managed that.
With World Cup qualifying still six months away, Carsley is tasked with negotiating a forgiving Nations League programme, six winnable fixtures beginning with the Republic of Ireland on Saturday. The temporary status prescribed him strips the role of jeopardy, allowing Carsley a free hit in a group that also includes Finland and Greece.
The arrangement also relieves the FA of the fanfare and scrutiny that ordinarily attaches to the pursuit of the England coach. Should Carsley make a success of the next three months, a period that amounts to a low-intensity audition, the need for a high-flying bird is removed. Carsley becomes the default appointment.
Southgate but different
This is ultimately Southgate’s greatest achievement, to leave behind a squad rich in talent with an established organisation to support it.
He was also kind enough to leave room for improvement. For all the progress made in making England a team capable of reaching finals, Southgate’s innate caution stole from him the possibility of winning one.
Enter Carsley, a man with a Spanish conquest on his ledger, albeit with the U21s.
Like Southgate, Carsley arrived at the FA without any success as a club manager. Indeed he has barely managed at all. His 29 matches in charge of the U21s is by far his most substantial body of work.
But international football is a different proposition and at least offers the possibility of a maverick entrant.
Carsley bats away questions about his long-term prospects without dispelling the sense that it is his to lose.
“I understand an international camp and selection,” he told reporters at his unveiling.
“I see myself as a safe pair of hands at the minute. It was a really easy decision. I feel supported and trusted by the people on the board.
“I feel like I have a strong team behind me, that is part of this little period.”
Spanish lessons and the embrace of risk
His first squad reflects a license to be bold.
Few saw Angel Gomes coming, certainly not Manchester United, who flicked him four years ago before he was picked up by Lille and immediately loaned to Boavista. Gomes was a fixture in Carsley’s successful U21 squad and gets his opportunity as a result. Via such wild quirks do careers turn.
Tino Livramento, Morgan Gibbs-White and Noni Madueke benefit from the same association if not the same left-field portal. All four are dynamic selections, which hints at Carsley’s attacking intentions and his understanding of the elements that held England back under Southgate.
Spain, powered by flying wingers in the English tradition, one of them barely 17, taught Southgate a lesson in the importance of risk. It is unlikely any of the four would have gained the immediate attention of a Pep Guardiola or a Jurgen Klopp, the leading candidates on the wish list of England fans.
This is Carsley’s gift, the freedom to take a punt, plus the saving he would make the FA should he prove his worth. Southgate was the highest paid coach at the Euros on £5m a year. The FA would not have to stretch to that for Carsley, let alone reach Guardiola numbers, which start at £20m a year.
Carsley’s U21s reflected his instinct for technical, attacking football and an ability to adapt to circumstances. They pressed high against the likes of Israel but were much deeper against Spain, successfully denying them space behind. The step he must take with this group is to make England less reactive, to establish control in big matches and set a quick, front-foot tempo.
“It was important for these first two matches at least to pick a squad that hits the ground running, players that have match minutes in their legs,” he said.
“It’s important that they are in form, but that does not rule out others who are not in this squad.”
Jude, Jack and the group dynamic
One of those missing is the injured Jude Bellingham, which might be a benefit in terms of Carsley establishing his authority over the group. There was a sense at the Euros that Bellingham’s character and personality was beginning to outstrip Southgate’s ability to control it. Carsley will at least have a foothold at the next gathering in October, the more so if any of his debutants make an immediate impact.
Wisely, Carsley sees his first exposure to the group as an opportunity to reintegrate the less established members of the squad, to give a clear signal that this is as much an opportunity for them as it is him. The return of Jack Grealish, one of nine changes from the Euros, might be seen in this light.
Carsley has shape and a line-up in mind, but is open to persuasion.
“When a new coach comes in players on the outside will see it as a fresh start,” he said.
“That middle group that have been in the squad but not cemented a place in team. A big thing for me is training and understanding what it is going to be like in Dublin. They have a good record there, a tough opener.
“Everyone has a fair chance. I look at combinations and players who play well with each other. You have such a short window, so players playing in positions they are used to and connect with others will be a big thing for me.”
Trent, yes or no?
That begs the eternal question, where might Trent Alexander-Arnold fit into the new scheme?
He was a classic victim of the Southgate paradox, a coach in possession of attacking gold, but too risk-averse to unleash it.
At least Carsley is clear on where he will deploy England’s right-sided conundrum.
“For me he is a right-back playing in defence,” he said.
“He is like a lot of players, especially modern full-backs with all-round attributes that turn them into midfielders. They are comfortable receiving the ball, playing forwards and have a range of passes.
“At some point I’m sure he will be arriving in those areas [attack] but he is a full-back.”
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