I’m happy to be back in the 21s

Lee Carsley has admitted he is prepared to return to Under-21 duty after his England formation experiment backfired in the 2-1 defeat to Greece.

Carsley took the blame for the result after playing with Jude Bellingham as a false nine in a formation he had only trained with for 20 minutes before Thursday’s match.

Having also included Cole Palmer, Phil Foden, Bukayo Saka and Antony Gordon in their team, England lost to Vangelis Pavlidis, who also scored the winning goal after Bellingham’s equalizer.

“I was quite surprised after the last camp, saying, ‘this job is mine,’ ‘mine to lose it,’ and all that,” Carsley said. “My tasks were clear from the beginning – I take part in three camps. There are three games left and then I hope to be back in the U21 team. It has almost no impact.

“Nothing has changed in this respect. My duties included completing three camps and then being transferred. I’m lucky to have a good job in the U21 team, but after the first camp, after two really good performances, my ambitions have not changed. It’s important that I give my all in the next three games and I’m really happy and comfortable with the communication I have with my bosses.

Carsley clarified his position, saying he had not been ruled out of the England job and added: “That is still the case. I feel comfortable where I am and the scope of my competences is clear. I feel comfortable and confident about it.

“After the first camp, I wasn’t very excited or had much faith. I am aware that this is one of the best jobs in the world in terms of having a chance to win a major competition.”

Pavlidis opened the scoring early in the second half, finishing off a goal despite having five England players nearby. It was Greece’s first goal at Wembley and the goalscorer dedicated the first goal to his international teammate, George Baldock, who had died the previous evening.

Three Greek goals were also disallowed for offside, but Bellingham appeared to have won a point with a late equalizer before Pavlidis struck in stoppage time when England failed to clear the ball in their own penalty area.

“Also at this stage, after the last two games, I was never let down, it was a matter of: ‘let’s try something different’. I’ll gladly take the blame for this. It was totally my idea,” Carsley said.

“With the players we have, we sometimes have to be brave with our systems and be creative. I could have easily chosen an established number nine, we had two on the bench, but I thought it was important to choose something different.

Six bizarre elements of Carsley’s tactical horror

Author: Ella Nunn

2-3-5 formation for the first half