It is an England football team, if not the England team that will take the field in Athens on Thursday night. Aaron Ramsdale, Trent Alexander-Arnold, John Stones, Harry Maguire, Luke Shaw, Declan Rice, Kobbie Mainoo, Bukayo Saka, Cole Palmer, Phil Foden and Jack Grealish is a line-up that would require a false nine. There may be an irony there, given that Lee Carsley’s striker-less formation was a major factor in defeat to Greece last month.
But instead of each playing, they are all absent, either injured or recuperating. Six of them started the Euro 2024 final and a seventh, Palmer, scored in it, so it seems no exaggeration to call it a stronger side than the team Carsley will actually pick.
