Lee Carsley’s tinkering against Greece worked much better the second time as his “huge call” was justified and Thomas Tuchel was given a headache…
One hallmark of Lee Carsley‘s interim stint as England manager is he’s fearlessly made bold changes and formation decisions.
This was to his detriment during last month’s international break as his use of a fluid attacking five-man frontline backfired in England’s dour 2-1 home loss against a pumped-up Greece, who should have won more comfortably.
Safe in the knowledge he’s set to return to his cushy gig with the U21s, Carsley experimented again in England‘s must-win match against table-toppers Greece on Thursday night.
This time around, his hand was largely forced as he named an inexperienced starting XI after there was a wave of withdrawals – which Thomas Tuchel was NOT to blame for – with a host of his key players ‘injured’.
Most rightly assumed England’s new-look XI against Greece would include Harry Kane, but Carsley – his friends call him Mr Tinkerer – named the Bayern Munich forward on the bench and started Ollie Watkins in a “huge call” needlessly deemed “extraordinary” by Sky Sports reporter Rob Dorsett.
The timing of this switch was bemusing, especially following Kane’s – as Roy Keane called it – “strange” decision to call out his teammates who withdrew from Carsley’s final squad.
This was a change demanded during Euro 2024 as England carried an ineffective Kane, who appeared to be carrying a knock of some kind.
But in Kane’s defence, former boss Gareth Southgate – who clearly remains on the striker’s Christmas card list – didn’t play to the leggy 31-year-old’s strengths as England severely lacked pace and width at Euro 2024.
This issue has been amended by Carsley, who has afforded Noni Madueke and Anthony Gordon plenty of game time in recent international breaks.
The Chelsea and Newcastle United pair started in a hostile Athens environment and had plenty of joy on the flanks while being found with too much ease by Jude Bellingham, who was having a great time dictating play in the middle of the park.
Madueke and Gordon immediately had the beating of their opposing full-backs and with Kane having a rest, Watkins was the one to benefit.
READ: England player ratings: Bellingham back to his swaggering best in 3-0 win over Greece
Right from kick-off, England were more balanced than they were in their last game against Greece and the front four of Watkins, Bellingham, Madueke and Gordon combined well.
It took England just seven minutes to carve Greece open and break the deadlock. A sublime reverse pass by Bellingham freed Madueke to silence the jeers from the home crowd by advancing into the penalty era to pull the ball back to Watkins, who held his position well in the six-yard box and converted past Odysseas Vlachodimos.
This silenced a typically whiny Lee Dixon, who had spent the opening few minutes on co-commentary bigging up the importance of the bench-warming Kane.
While Sam Matterface delivered his customary daft take after Watkins found the net, saying: “That’s why he’s in the team”. Yes, because this particularly Kane-esque goal definitely wouldn’t have been scored by the Bayern man. ITV really did back the wrong leading commentator.
READ: A step-by-step guide to show Harry Kane has actually scored precisely zero proper goals for England
Greece would have likely licked their lips upon discovering England’s starting XI, but – barring a 15-minute spell where they came under pressure – the visitors conducted themselves well in the opening half and showed another side to their play in the latter stages as they retained possession to take the sting out of the match.
However, the longer the scoreline remained an uncomfortable 1-0, England risked coming under more pressure in the face of increased enthusiasm and decibels in the stands.
This proved the case as Greece penned England back deep into their half and forced Pickford to save his side on one or two occasions.
As is usually the case with early-season international breaks, there has been very little excitement heading into England’s matches as most football fans would prefer to focus on the proper football in the Premier League.
The Nations League is hardly the most coveted competition, but it’s a great compromise to inconsequential friendlies and the legitimate jeopardy in this game made it more entertaining than it had any right to be.
This site is far from Dixon’s biggest fan and as mentioned, he wasn’t perfect tonight. But he was right to point out that at 1-0, each team needed a goal and not to concede to take control of the group.
This was evident by the development of an increasingly edgy match, but England withstood the pressure and struck on the counter-attack to take the game away from Greece.
In the 78th minute, an England breakaway led by Jude Bellingham resulted in the Real Madrid standout hitting the post from the edge of the box. Luckily for Three Lions and unfortunately for Vlachodimos, the ball rebounded off the helpless goalkeeper and into the net.
Their third goal of the night was far more easy on the eye. Carsley’s utilisation of his U21 all-stars was justified as a superb assist by substitute Morgan Gibbs-White set up Liverpool’s Curtis Jones – who had been one of England’s weaker performers on the night – audaciously backheeled the ball into the bottom corner.
In the context of the group, England’s third could be vital. The new league leaders are level on points with Greece but have a goal difference advantage of three goals heading into their home finale against the Republic of Ireland on Sunday.
Did 3-0 flatter England? Somewhat. But it was a much-improved performance from their last outing against Greece in a system with more legs than the failed 4-2-4 at Wembley.
England’s team will be much-changed again for Thomas Tuchel’s first game, but Carsley’s stand-ins largely gave a good account of themselves.
Madueke gave the new boss food for thought on the right, Bellingham was back to his all-action best, actual left-footed left-back Lewis Hall impressed off the bench and is a shoo-in moving forward and Watkins produced a Kane-style finish to show “why he’s in the team”, apparently.
