Three major changes to expect from Lee Carsley’s England include dominating philosophy with four aces in line for debuts
NEW England interim boss Lee Carsley is preparing for his first games in charge this month.
The Three Lions are ready for a fresh start after losing the Euro 2024 final under Gareth Southgate.
And fans will be hoping Carsley can implement the same attacking style that made his U21s side European champions.
They are already excited following his first squad announcement.
But are there going to be some new faces in England’s starting XI? And will some familiar names get a chance to shine in their natural positions?
Here, SunSport’s TOM BARCLAY gives the rundown on what changes fans could see as Carsley prepares for the Nations League clashes with the Republic of Ireland and Finland…
NEW PLAYERS
STAND-IN Carsley quickly turned to the youngsters who helped bring him success at last summer’s Under-21 Euros when naming his first squad.
Angel Gomes was the standout name, given many fans over here had probably forgotten about the 24-year-old after he left Manchester United on a free for Lille four years ago.
But Gomes was instrumental in Georgia, lining up alongside the excellent Curtis Jones, who surely would have been in Carsley’s contingent were he fit.
Noni Madueke started that Under-21 Euros tournament ahead of close pal Cole Palmer and has been given his first call-up, too.
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Morgan Gibbs-White was a stalwart for Carsley throughout his Under-21s tenure.
And, without Jude Bellingham, do not be surprised to see the Nottingham Forest man get minutes.
Carsley trusts him implicitly and values the track record of winning major tournaments that Gibbs-White has — having also won the Under-17 World Cup, alongside best mate Phil Foden, to whose kids he is godfather.
While Tino Livramento had a handful of games for the Under-21s under Carsley, who appreciates his attacking abilities from full-back.
NEW PHILOSOPHY
IF last summer’s Under-21 Euros triumph is anything to go by, Carsley is expected to stick with a 4-2-3-1 formation.
But that is where the similarities to Gareth Southgate’s tactical approach will likely end.
The inclusion of Gomes, even if he does not start, sums up how Carsley favours ball-manipulators who are comfortable in possession.
Far more emphasis will be placed on dominating the ball and taking the game to the opposition.
That will be music to the ears of fans who had grown tired of Southgate’s more cautious instincts — even if they did get us to back-to-back Euros finals.
It will hopefully help unlock England’s wealth of attacking options, though Jude Bellingham and Phil Foden are not available to play.
Carsley showed he could think outside the box with the Under-21s, too.
He used Anthony Gordon as a makeshift striker to great effect — the Toon star won Player of the Tournament — plus right-back Max Aarons on the left and Palmer at times in deeper central midfield.
But just because the focus will be on our attacking threats rather than stopping the opponents’, that does not mean the floodgates are likely to open at the back.
England won the Under-21 Euros without conceding a single goal.
And for those who may dismiss that success as a case of England having the best players, they need only look at the fact that in five of the six previous tournaments, our Young Lions had gone home at the group stage with their tails between their legs.
NEW TRENT
CAN Carsley be the man to solve the Trent Alexander-Arnold conundrum?
Well, first off, he is down as a defender in the interim manager’s first England squad, which is a positive sign.
Southgate rated the attacking abilities of Alexander-Arnold but not his defensive ones, so saw him as a midfielder.
As we witnessed at the start of the Euros, that experiment did not work.
With Kyle Walker and Reece James out of the squad because of a lack of games and Kieran Trippier retired from international football, now is the perfect chance for TAA to shine in his natural position.
And in Carsley’s new-look possession-hungry side, it could turn out as a match made in heaven.
Lee Carsley followed same path as De La Fuente and learned from Pep - why can't he be England boss?
By Tom Barclay
BE honest. How many of you had heard of Luis de la Fuente before his glorious Euros?
Don’t feel bad. Even Declan Rice admitted ahead of Sunday’s heartbreaking final that he was unaware of the smooth-headed 63-year-old a month or so ago.
We all certainly know who De La Fuente is now after he masterminded La Roja’s perfect Euros campaign which ended with a deserved victory over England.
That showpiece triumph in Berlin made it seven wins out of seven in the competition for his scintillating side.
It rendered De La Fuente the first boss ever to win the Under-19 Euros, Under-21 Euros, the Nations League and the European Championship.
And in so doing, it strengthened the case for another bold, bald tactician to take over as England boss now Gareth Southgate has stepped down.
Lee Carsley has trodden a similar path as De La Fuente, successfully coaching his way up his national team’s youth ranks, culminating in last summer’s Under-21 Euro success.
No doubt there would be questions about his suitability given his experience of coaching senior players is limited to brief caretaker spells at Coventry, Brentford and Birmingham.
For sure, he would not bring the same star quality as a Frank Lampard. Most fans will just about remember Carsley as that ratter of a midfielder who played alongside Thomas Gravesen for Everton in the noughties.
While there is also the thorny issue, at least for some, of the Brummie’s 40 caps for the Republic of Ireland, who ironically would be his first opponents if appointed.
But park all that for a second, focus on his qualities and the argument to give him the big job can be a convincing one.
First off, his team does not play like he used to.
‘Carsball’ is far sexier and heavily influenced by its creator watching Pep Guardiola’s free-flowing Barcelona train a decade ago, alongside 60 members of the public.
That study trip to Catalonia changed his philosophy to be far more front-footed and it paved the way to some fabulous fare during last summer’s triumph in Georgia.
Four of the five tournament goals boasting the most passes in the build-up belonged to his Young Lions.
Fans bemoaning Southgate’s pragmatic style would be salivating if they watched back the build-up to Emile Smith Rowe’s strike against Israel in the group stage, or Cole Palmer’s in the semi against the same opposition.
Carsley is a tactical innovator too.
He was robbed of a centre-forward pretty much on the eve of the tournament last summer, thanks to Rhian Brewster’s injury and Flo Balogun switching to the USA.
His response was to play Gordon through the middle. The Newcastle starlet won player of the tournament.
Manchester United supporters likely remember Angel Gomes as a lightweight winger but Carsley played him as a shield in front of the back four to great effect.
Gordon used the Under-21 Euros experience as his launchpad to make the senior squad this summer.
But talking about Carsley 12 months ago, the Toon forward said: “He is the best man-manager I’ve had so far.
“I feel like I can speak to him about anything on and off the pitch.
“On the pitch, the way we’re playing football is a credit to him because we play the way he tells us to.
“This might be the best footballing team I’ve played in, in terms of how we play and the combination play we play around the box, it’s really at an elite level. That’s down to Lee.”
Those powers of motivation could be crucial to unleashing Jude Bellingham, who, like Solihull-born Carsley, is from the outskirts of Birmingham, specifically Stourbridge.
Like Southgate, Carsley believes in the merits of giving them a comfortable environment to work in, particularly during tournaments.
The 50-year-old is relatively quiet on the touchline, often seen on his haunches making notes in his dugout with his assistant Ashley Cole the more vocal.
England’s greatest left-back Cole has learned a lot from Carsley despite having the far superior playing career.
In the aftermath of the Under-21s success, which was won without conceding a goal, Cole reflected on the different attitudes players have to international duty now and in his day.
The ex-Arsenal and Chelsea defender, 43, said: “We didn’t always want to go and the club manager would pull you out.
“But I feel they truly, truly love coming here now. I think that is testament to what Lee has done here. He is kind, loving, someone that thinks about the players more than himself.”
Other names will be in the frame but the FA will have seen how De La Fuente has taken Spain to new heights, despite his relative obscurity to the wider footballing world.
The promotion of Carsley, who spent these Euros scouting England’s opponents, would take guts and faith in the much-feted ‘pathway’.
He would have to brace himself for unprecedented levels of scrutiny – but he is ambitious.
With his 50th birthday fast approaching, Carsley said in June last year: “Energy-wise, and I’m not saying the clock’s ticking, but if I don’t have a go at it then the boat is going to pass.”
Few Spaniards were bowled over when De La Fuente was appointed in 2022 but he put them on course to sensational success.
Who is to say putting Carsley at the helm could not have a similar effect?