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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Sport
Ed Aarons in Bratislava

Lee Carsley relishing chance to go back to future with England Under-21s

Lee Carsley
Lee Carsley said he ‘wouldn’t have changed’ missing three Under-21 England training camps coaching the senior side. Photograph: Marco Steinbrenner/DeFodi Images/Shutterstock

It is no surprise to hear that the past two years feel like something of a blur for Lee Carsley. After leading England Under-21s to their first European title in a generation in 2023, the former Everton midfielder finds himself back in the semi-finals on ­Wednesday evening having spent almost six months in interim charge of the senior side.

“I was actually thinking about this the other day and how fast things have moved,” said Carsley as ­England prepare to face the Netherlands. “I definitely need a bit of reflection time, but it’s been so exciting. It put us backwards a little bit in terms of coming back to the 21s, in terms of the amount of monitoring that we would have been doing with the players, missing out on the three camps, which obviously I’ve done with the senior team.

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