Lee Carsley explains surprising ‘hopefully’ comment over England U21s job and answers striker question for Finland clash
LEE CARSLEY has explained his surprising “hopefully” comment that suggested he wanted to return to the England U21s.
The interim boss of the senior side suffered his first defeat on Thursday when the Three Lions lost to Greece.
After the loss, Carsley put doubt on his ambition to land the job on a full-time basis.
He suggested that he would be “hopefully” returning to the youth side once a permanent boss is appointed.
However, the 50-year-old has now explained his use of the word and claimed he and his team are aiming to be in a “good position” at the end of their three camps.
He said: “Hopefully is a word and a phrase I use quite a bit.
“There’s obviously no guarantees in life, including tomorrow.
“It’s a job, the under-21s, that I’m really proud of and massively invested in. But I know there are no guarantees.
“But the plan is to give this job for three camps the best I can do along with the rest of the staff, and hopefully, we can be in a good position.”
The loss to Greece came as Carlsey set his team up to play a tactic that they had only spent 20 MINUTES practising.
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The visitors became the lowest-ranked side ever to beat England on home soil.
Carsley will once again lead the team in the Nations League as they face Finland on Sunday.
England's shocking stats against Greece
Here are the shocking that stats that were set in England's defeat to Greece...
– Lowest ranked side to beat England in a competitive match in 19 years.
– The lowest-ranked side ever beat England on home soil.
– Greece had never beaten England in their history.
– Greece had never scored a goal at Wembley before.
– Pavlidis’ strikes were his first since June 2022 vs Cyprus.
– Bellingham’s 87th-minute equaliser was England’s first shot on target since the third minute (also Bellingham).
He has demanded a reaction in order to get back support and trust from supporters.
He added: “I’m not sure, to be honest. I think it’s important that I’ve got support and trust from the team.
“The amount of praise the team and myself got from the first two games was very good, very positive.
“We fell below those standards the other night that the players have set for themselves.
“The most important thing is a reaction.
“You want the public to trust and love the team because the impact that the national team has on the public is very inspiring.”
Carsley will be hoping Harry Kane can make his return after missing the loss to Greece.
The captain’s absence meant that the team lined up without a recognised striker, as Jude Bellingham played as a false nine.
Carsley has admitted that he will revert to a more traditional side against Finland.
He said: “It’s something that I’ll look back on in two-three months and be better for it.
“I wanted to give this job my best shot for the three camps. I didn’t want to have any regrets.
“I think it’s important that we do try something different at times and I think I’ll be a better coach for that.
“But I think we’ll be a bit more conventional tomorrow night.”
England player ratings vs Greece
By Tom Barclay
LEE CARSLEY’S tactical experiment of playing no strikers backfired as Vangelis Pavlidis’ double secured an emotional shock win for Greece at Wembley.
Interim England boss Carsley played all three of our nation’s gifted No10s – Phil Foden, Jue Bellingham and Cole Palmer – in varying positions.
But it did not work and the Greeks took a deserved lead thanks to Pavlidis’ belting second-half finish.
The visitors then held up a shirt in celebration bearing the name Baldock – in reference to their team-mate George Baldock, whose passing at the age of just 31 on Wednesday rocked the world of football.
Bellingham looked to have ensured the points were shared with a thunderous strike with three minutes to go.
But there was still time for Pavlidis to expose some woeful defending deep into injury time by firing past Jordan Pickford.
Here are SunSport’s player ratings from a dire night for England under the arch.
Jordan Pickford: 4
Wandered into no-man’s-land territory outside his box early on and lost the ball, allowing Greek skipper Tasos Baksetas a free shot at goal – only to be saved by Levi Colwill’s last-gasp clearance. Did not instil confidence, despite his experience.
Trent Alexander-Arnold: 6
Some tasty passes – they are his speciality, after all – but not great at the back. He, John Stones and Cole Palmer were weak in their attempt to close down Vangelis Pavlidis before the Benfica man smashed home the opener.
John Stones: 5
Made captain for what was his 82nd cap, surpassing Rio Ferdinand’s haul. But it was a shaky display from his defence and Stones should have done better to stop Pavlidis.
Levi Colwill: 7
Greece would have been ahead far sooner were it not for Colwill’s athletic hack away to deny Bakasetas. Replays showed it would have crossed the line had the Chelsea man been a split second later with his incredible intervention.
Rico Lewis: 6
Tried to bomb up the left flank where he could but, just like Kieran Trippier at the Euros, was hamstrung by constantly having to cut back onto his favoured right foot.
Declan Rice: 6
Played as England’s only holding midfielder, as fans had been imploring Gareth Southgate to use him for years. It was not like he was overrun but his side did look vulnerable on the counter.
Phil Foden: 4
Spent most of the game pressing the Greek backline as a false nine without really getting on the ball and causing any damage. Ineffective.
Cole Palmer: 6
Deployed in a deeper, central-midfield role which at least meant he saw plenty of the ball, though he blazed England’s best chance of the first half over the bar. Remarkably, his first competitive England start, despite being named on Tuesday as Three Lions player of the 2023-24 season.
Bukayo Saka: 5
Struggled to get into the game and then was forced out of it, worryingly limping off early in the second half. The last thing Arsenal fans wanted to see.
Jude Bellingham: 7 STAR MAN
Played in a false nine position and had a belting early shot well saved. The system did not work but Bellingham still so nearly emerged as the saviour by banging in his first goal of the season for club and country.
Anthony Gordon: 5
Caused Greece few problems and his touch looked off it. Had a decent chance from Alexander-Arnold’s peach of a delivery but headed over.
SUBS:
Noni Madueke (for Saka 52): Played out on the left, rather than his natural right, when coming on. Went down in the box deep into injury time but no penalty was given. 6
Ollie Watkins (for Gordon 60): Almost scored with his first touch when played through by Palmer, but smashed just over. 7
Dominic Solanke (for Foden 72): Grabbed an assist when laying the ball back to Bellingham who thumped in the leveller. 7
Manager Lee Carsley: 4
Seemed to gamble unnecessarily with this experimental system instead of playing it safe to add another win to boost his case to earn the job full-time. Carsley played without a natural centre-forward when winning the Under-21 Euros because he had to after Flo Balogun switched the USA and Rhian Brewster got injured, but here he did it by choice and it did not work. Bellingham looked to have saved his bacon – but then Pavlidis struck again.