Lee Carsley has outlined his determination to play “expansive” football with England but said the players must learn how to control matches if they are to win tournaments.
England’s interim head coach sprang several surprises in his first squad since succeeding Gareth Southgate, including three uncapped members of the under-21 squad he led to victory at the European Championship last year. Lille’s Angel Gomes was the shock inclusion in midfield and Noni Madueke and Morgan Gibbs-White received their first call-ups in a squad that features nine different players from Euro 2024. Tino Livramento also received a first call-up.
Kieran Trippier, who had announced his retirement from international football, Kyle Walker, Lewis Dunk, Joe Gomez, Ivan Toney and Adam Wharton were omitted from the squad to face the Republic of Ireland and Finland in the Nations League.
Jack Grealish and Harry Maguire were selected by Carsley, who insisted he had not thought “that much” about potentially taking the role on a permanent basis but acknowledged he had an opportunity to implement his own style after stepping up from the under-21s.
“The amount of players we’ve got available to us in terms of their attributes and strengths, we’re really lucky in that department,” he said of taking an attacking approach. “I wouldn’t say it’s easy, but it’s easier to be attacking when you’ve got a lot of attacking options. I’ve been at clubs before where you haven’t so you can’t. The majority of my teams when I was playing were very defensive. When I started coaching, it was something I wanted to try and get away from.
“I’d played in teams where you were very well-organised and you sat in and every now and then you had the ball, and then you broke. But I was mindful as a coach of how I wanted the players to feel. I want our players to be on the ball, I want our team to attack. I want us to be expansive.
“ But the opposite to that is: the defensive stuff is still really important. Making sure you’re in a position where you can dominate your opponent in and out of possession is a really big thing. It definitely wouldn’t be for me just to say: ‘Yeah crack on, all out and attack.’ It’s being in control as well, which is a big thing for us.”
Carsley believes Gomes could be key for him in controlling the tempo. Wharton has been moved to the under-21s and replaced by the 23-year-old Gomes, who has been at Lille since 2020, when he left Manchester United on a free after failing to agree a new contract.
“Angel is someone who does it week-in, week-out for a team out in France,” Carsley said. “He is a player that, along with four or five others in the team in central midfield, who is capable of doing that. We will be quite flexible with where we play in terms of I won’t always just play just two holding midfielders. There may be a balance but you might see some attacking players play a little deeper.”
An England team featuring Gomes, Gibbs-White, Madueke, Levi Colwill and Cole Palmer beat Spain in the under-21 final last year courtesy of a penalty from Curtis Jones. Yet Carsley said he never felt they had controlled the game and believes that is the next stage for England’s progression.
“There’s nothing worse than being stood on the sideline and thinking: ‘We’re out of control here. We can’t get the ball back and when we do get the ball back we can’t keep it,’” said Carsley, who attributed Walker’s omission to a lack of game time with Manchester City. “That’s definitely something we need to be better at.
“If we’re going to win a Euros and win a World Cup, we have to push it further forward. I don’t think it’s just a senior issue. It’s a bit of a confidence issue from us. It’s about, in the biggest moments and the biggest games, having the players that are capable of taking the ball and playing — and playing in the right areas and understanding what the opposition are doing and how the game has changed.
“I think we’ve got a lot of players now within the pathway that are used to coming away to St George’s and are used to winning. We’ve got two or three World Cup winners within this squad, lads that have won the Euros at 19s and 21s and are used to winning in an England shirt. That goes a long way.”
Goalkeepers Dean Henderson (Crystal Palace), Jordan Pickford (Everton), Nick Pope (Newcastle United).
Defenders Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool), Levi Colwill (Chelsea), Marc Guéhi (Crystal Palace), Ezri Konsa (Aston Villa), Rico Lewis (Manchester City), Tino Livramento (Newcastle), Harry Maguire (Manchester United), John Stones (Manchester City).
Midfielders Phil Foden (Manchester City), Conor Gallagher (Atlético Madrid), Morgan Gibbs-White (Nottingham Forest), Angel Gomes (Lille), Kobbie Mainoo (Manchester United), Cole Palmer (Chelsea), Declan Rice (Arsenal).
Forwards Jarrod Bowen (West Ham United), Eberechi Eze (Crystal Palace), Anthony Gordon (Newcastle United), Jack Grealish (Manchester City), Harry Kane (Bayern Munich), Noni Madueke (Chelsea), Bukayo Saka (Arsenal), Ollie Watkins (Aston Villa).
