Interim England manager Lee Carsley won’t rule himself ‘in or out’ of getting the job on a permanent basis following the Three Lions’ disappointing defeat to Greece at Wembley on Thursday.
Ranked 48th in the world, Greece became the lowest-ranked side to defeat England in a competitive game at home since the FIFA rankings were introduced in 1992, thanks to a late strike from Vangelis Pavlidis.
England were far from their best, but Carsley’s decision to field a starting XI without a recognised striker didn’t help matters.
With Harry Kane sidelined due to injury, Carsley opted for a front line featuring Jude Bellingham and Phil Foden as false nines, supported by Bukayo Saka and Anthony Gordon on the wings. Cole Palmer, typically a No. 10, also featured from the start.
The experiment backfired, as England struggled to find a cutting edge. Opta statistics showed that no England player’s average position was inside the final third.
The false nine became a ghost nine.
"We tried something different," said Carsley.
"We tried to overload the midfield and play it a little bit differently. It's something that we tried for 20 minutes yesterday. It's something that we experimented with and it's disappointing that it didn't come off. I think it was probably unrealistic to expect too much and I think it is a case of trying again."
England looked to have rescued a point through Jude Bellingham’s late equaliser after Lee Carsley finally introduced recognised strikers, bringing on Ollie Watkins and Dominic Solanke from the bench.
However, Greece weren’t to be denied their historic victory, as Pavlidis scored his second goal of the game with 94 minutes on the clock, condemning England to a third defeat at Wembley in 2024.
After starting his interim reign with promising wins over Ireland and Finland, Carsley’s honeymoon period is now well and truly over.
For years, England fans have called for a more attacking approach following Gareth Southgate’s pragmatic style, but Carsley pushed the boundaries a step too far on Thursday.
Earlier this week, I suggested that Carsley needed to find the right roles for Bellingham, Palmer and Foden - arguably England’s most talented trio.
I proposed playing Bellingham deeper in midfield while using one of the latter two in the No. 10 role.
Instead, Carsley deployed all three in unfamiliar positions.
With the wealth of attacking talent on the pitch, England looked imbalanced and vulnerable at the back. Greece, in fact, found the back of England’s net four times, with two of their efforts disallowed for offside.
If Carsley wasn’t aware of the immense pressure that comes with managing England, he surely understands it now.
The Football Association still appears no closer to appointing a permanent manager, with reports suggesting Carsley had been viewed as the man capable of ending the nation's 58-year trophy drought. After this shocking loss, questions will be raised over whether he remains that man.
Nevertheless, Carsley continues to stand by his earlier statement, neither ruling himself in nor out of the job.
"I said at the start that I wouldn’t rule myself in or out, and that is still the case,” he said.
“I’m comfortable in my position where I am and the remit is clear,” he said.
"I’m comfortable and confident with that. After the first camp I didn’t get too excited or believe too much, I’m very aware this is one of the best jobs in the world in terms of having the chance of actually winning a major competition."
