The chief problem was the defending — or rather, the lack of it. Just last month, Lee Carsley could do no wrong as England’s interim manager. Now, though, his credentials as the potential permanent head coach are being seriously questioned.
Never before had Greece scored at Wembley, but Vangelis Pavlidis’ double made history to give them their first-ever win over England and a victory they unequivocally deserved.
Jordan Pickford endured one of his most miserable nights in an England shirt, his distribution woeful, while attacking full-backs Trent Alexander-Arnold and Rico Lewis simply disregarded their defensive responsibilities. John Stones was too easily turned by the Greeks, whose cute touches and purposeful breakaways caused havoc.
It all contributed to a humiliating 2-1 horror show defeat in which the visitors had the ball in the net five times (three of them disallowed). It might have been six if not for Levi Colwill’s Herculean clearance off the line.
Carsley will shoulder the bulk of the blame, and rightly so. His video game starting lineup, packed full of Fantasy Football favourites but without a single striker, whipped up confusion among his players. The pressing was good. Little else was.
England’s fourth defeat of the calendar year was not born of one single thing, however, and just as costly as their hopeless defending was the lack of a conventional centre-forward. One centre-forward in particular.
Ollie Watkins and Dominic Solanke both had goalscoring chances soon after coming off the bench, but inescapable is the fact that England remain overly reliant on their captain and all-time record goalscorer.
Harry Kane’s absence was a constant presence. It was he who was the unfortunate pick as the cover star on the matchday programme at Wembley despite not playing a minute. It was he the cameras panned to whenever his deputies misfired. And it was his minor injury, suffered playing for Bayern Munich last weekend, that prompted Carsley’s experiment, with disastrous results.
While Watkins, Solanke and frankly any other alternative may do a better job of closing down opposition centre-backs, Kane remains, even now, far and away England’s best striker, and a player almost every manager would find space for in any team.
Unlike in the early years under Gareth Southgate, England finally have playmakers who can keep the ball and create from deep — all of them started in one great mess on Thursday. But Kane now has years of practice dropping into the hole and raking stellar passes out wide. His team-mates still want and expect him to.
As for the assertion that dropping deep means Kane is never in the box, the facts just don’t back it up. He almost exclusively scores from inside the area, and while carrying an injury and hopelessly off the pace, he still finished as the tournament’s joint-top scorer at Euro 2024.
A possession-dominant England were looking incapable of breaking through a stubborn Finnish defence last month — just as for long periods against Greece — and it took the space-making and ruthless finishing of England’s world-class No9 to net the game’s only goals and secure victory. His 67th and 68th strikes for his country.
Is Kane past it? The question needs qualifying. Does he run as fast or as much as five years ago? No. But in no other respect is there evidence he is over the hill and a burden rather than a bonus in the England team.
His passing range is still extraordinary, his experience is invaluable, and no one in Europe scored more goals last season. Watkins has become a magnificent striker, but dislodging Kane is one hell of a mountain to move.
This country is superb at overhyping young players, but it is even better at pushing older players out too soon. Surely never before has an English player so good been questioned so much. Kane is only 31; his time of greatest national service — standing down — is not yet upon us.
The overreliance on Kane remains concerning for a national team of England’s stature
The extent of the overreliance on Kane remains concerning for a national team of England’s stature, though. Southgate often worried privately that his team did not have enough sources of goals, and it remains a real issue. No other elite nation is as dependent on one goalscorer as much as England are on Kane. Norway do not count.
Bukayo Saka (12 goals) chips in, and Jude Bellingham (six) showed again on Thursday that he is one of the few who can step up when needed, but too many of England’s attacking stars are peripheral figures with reduced goal threat when they play for their country.
Cole Palmer (two goals) and Anthony Gordon (zero) both missed good chances against Greece; Phil Foden has just four international goals in 42 senior caps.
Kane will be assessed on Friday. If fit, he will likely start against Finland on Sunday, and England will probably win. Everything will be back to normal, with Carsley’s failed experiment having taught people only what they already knew.
