Carsley's England...for however long it lasts

Two nil up against Ireland at HT in the first Nations League game.

The FA had no pace in recruitment after the previous manager left, and with the Nations League games so close, they decided to give the role to Carsley on an interim basis. Carsley very familiar with the setup having managed England U21s (where he won a trophy) and U20s.

Carsley's first task is to win the Nations League group and reverse England's relegation that was suffered under the previous manager. It should be a fairly simple task, with England's opponents being Finland, Greece and Ireland - all teams that failed to make the last Euros. Indeed, England were 1/12 to win the group before a ball had been kicked!

All the Nations League games are between September-November, then World Cup qualifying starts next year. It should be easy for Carsley to impress during these Nations League games, but will it be enough to get the job permanently?

Pretty comfy win, intensity dropped off after the first half.

Had some answers to beating the press that dominated England all summer. Gordon and Grealish added dynamism to the attack.

Still Ireland were pretty compliant opposition and the big question of how you get Kane, Jude and Foden into the same team remains

Solid win, but doesn't tell us anything. It's laughable that the BBC are drawing comparisons to the Euros, when England faced much tougher opponents in high intensity fixtures. 'England created six big chances, more than in any match at Euro 2024' or 'Pickford's willingness to play out from the back'. Utterly ludicrous stuff.

It should be easy for Carsley to impress during what the Guardian tell us is a 'six game audition', but it'll be very weird if he gets the job full time on the basis of beating some very miserable opponents. If the FA think he's the best man for the job, then fine appoint him, but these games really don't tell us anything and shouldn't factor in to the equation (unless England lose).

It was a good win albeit against pretty average opponents.
I was glad to see Maguire back in side, he is unfairly maligned as whilst not great for Man Utd he is almost always good in an Eng shirt.

One thing though, Kane still a mile off his best. Looks slow and ponderous and no better than in Euros. Getting harder to justify his selection.

Grealish celebrated scoring as he should do. After all the abuse I'd have done same. Quite why Rice tried to appease crowd I don't know, it didn't work!

And a somewhat similar performance against Finland - had a few moments of quality and never looked in danger, but long spells where we had a lot of aimless passing. So far more an evolution from Southgate rather than a revolution.
Kane better last night, not just for his goals but with being in better positions.
Not convinced by Grealish as a true 10 - seemed happier drifting to the inside left channel, where he did OK but took space from Gordon.

Gomes was busy in central midfield, but would probably benefit from a more progressive passer alongside.

I still don't like the narrowness that comes with left footed right wing, right footed left wing and full backs that don't want to overlap much.

So far, I'd give Carsley's England maybe 7 out of 10 - done what they needed to quite effectively and have been pretty good for two halves out of 4.

Think it probably is Carsleys to lose at this point. Enough to suggest a more progressive style and ideas in the setup while being close enough to maintain the off field work Southgate did.

dummy_half wrote:Not convinced by Grealish as a true 10 - seemed happier drifting to the inside left channel, where he did OK but took space from Gordon.

I still don't like the narrowness that comes with left footed right wing, right footed left wing and full backs that don't want to overlap much.

These two points are easy fixes though, when Bellingham/Foden/Palmer and Shaw are fit again.

The left back role is becoming a bit of an issue though, without Shaw we are resigned to playing players out of position, surprised Tyrick Mitchell or Rico Henry haven't been given a chance in these games, at least they're natural left backs.

I think it's a waste of time trying to make any sense of these Nations League games. The teams England are playing are very bad because none of them made the Euros, and if you miss the Euros when pretty much half the continent gets in, you must be very bad.

Easy to look good against rubbish. The only way we'll know if Carsley has improved on the previous manager is when England arrive at the next World Cup. It's a shame England got relegated from the Nations League in 2022, because if they hadn't then England might be playing some top level nations now and we'd get a better idea of where England are.

Carsley's got the job in the bag if he wants it. I'd be stunned if the FA ditched him to go for someone else at this stage. Let's just hope that whatever Carsley serves up is better than the 1978 football from the previous manager.