Singing, selections and substitutes — how Lee Carsley fared on his big day (original) (raw)

He may have dressed down for the occasion but England’s head coach rose to it with key tactical tweaks that maximised his players’ abilities

Chief Football Correspondent, Dublin

07 September 2024 8:24pm BST

Pre-match

Before kick-off, Lee Carsley was laying out the cones and overseeing the warm-up. It was a clear departure from the approach taken by his predecessors. Gareth Southgate’s assistant, Steve Holland, and his coaching team would take charge of such preparations. Southgate stayed away.

Carsley’s strength is as a tracksuit head coach. Even so, it is unusual to see a manager take such a hands-on approach on a match day. It was no surprise, therefore, to see Carsley stay in his tracksuit, rather than changing into a suit or — as with Southgate a knitted jumper and slacks — for the game.

As the players emerged, he was sat in the dug-out making notes on his iPad. So concentrated was he that he actually went in the home technical area before realising his mistake. Old habits die hard, maybe, and it was a slightly chaotic start to proceedings as a fan dressed in the full England kit joined in as the teams lined up before stewards realised what was going on. Carsley was true to his beliefs, as he stayed silent, when the national anthems were played.

Touchline behaviour

Carsley did not leave the edge of his technical area. He certainly did not take his seat in the dug-out. He was the epitome of the manager-coach who wants to constantly observe how his team is playing from the closest possible point.

Rather like Andre Villas-Boas and, more recently, Marcelo Bielsa, he often adopted a pose in which he was crouching down low. For a 50-year-old, that was testimony to his core strength and the good state of his knees, despite his football career.

Carsley's crouched position emitted strong Marcelo Bielsa vibes Credit: Getty Images/Carl Recine

How did he react when England scored? Carsley allowed himself a brief, intense celebration, clenching both his fists and shouting “yes” before, predictably enough, moving on to how he needed to organise his team. Pre-match, he had talked about how he is in the “zone” and that much was evident.

After England’s second goal, Carsley’s assistant, Ashley Cole, immediately called over Marc Guehi to issue some instructions with Carsley then also speaking to the defender. It was all very focused and business-like, as promised, and there was just one complaint to the fourth official, early on, when Anthony Gordon was penalised for a handball. With England in control, Carsley’s body language relaxed a little.

Team selection

Despite calling up four new players from the Under-21s there was, as expected, no debuts from the start. Carsley needed experience but, even so, there were some interesting decisions which point to the future. For example, having named Trent Alexander-Arnold as a right-back, Carsley played him there. It was the first time in almost four years that Alexander-Arnold had been selected in what is clearly his best position in a competitive England game.

But he was also used as he is for Liverpool — as an inverted full-back with licence to step forward into midfield, which he did from kick-off, where he was able to demonstrate his wonderful passing range. Alexander-Arnold was far more comfortable than when he was asked, as an “experiment” (Southgate’s word) at the European Championship, to play as a more orthodox central midfielder. Even so, he can sometimes still lose concentration.

Deployed at last as a right-back, Trent Alexander-Arnold was able to invert and showcase his superb vision and passing skills Credit: The FA via Getty Images/Michael Regan

With Levi Colwill at left-back, and more naturally a centre-half, it helped England to shift into a three-at-the-back in possession.

Another big call was to use Jack Grealish in the No10 role in what was a 4-2-3-1 formation. It worked with Grealish, following his disappointment at not going to the Euros, playing with a fresh lease of life. Ireland’s attempts to unsettle him backfired badly and played into the Manchester City star’s hands.

In fact, this was more of the Grealish who played for Aston Villa, in a far more liberated role — taking on opponents, creating or drawing fouls and having the freedom to roam and drop deep to claim possession.

The absence of Phil Foden, Cole Palmer, Jude Bellingham and Ollie Watkins made team selection more straightforward, with Gordon selected as a more orthodox left winger. It was effective, especially with Alexander-Arnold playing the right-to-left long, diagonal pass.

Tactics

From the kick-off, there was a simple change. During the Euros there had been criticism of the rather basic approach of playing the ball back to goalkeeper Jordan Pickford, who hoofed it down the pitch. It never worked and it was immediately abandoned as Guehi, instead, built possession.

If that was a small — and welcome — alteration there was a more fundamental shift. Despite Ireland inevitably dropping deep, England were encouraged to play the ball more quickly through the lines with Kobbie Mainoo, in particular, taking up advanced positions.

In a fundamental tactical shift, Kobbie Mainoo was encouraged to take up more advanced positions Credit: PA Wire/Evan Treacy

England overloaded the centre of the pitch, were therefore much more attacking and Ireland could not cope. After less than half an hour, England’s XG — expected goals — was 1.51 with four big chances created. And that was before Grealish scored England’s superbly well-constructed, one-touch-football second goal that surely captured exactly how Carsley wants them to play.

Substitutions

Despite the 2-0 scoreline, there were no changes at half-time. As 70 minutes approached, and having given up two good chances, Carsley was deep in conversation with Cole. Southgate was criticised for being slow in making substitutions and, maybe, Carsley was also delaying too long as England lost some control.

When the subs were made, after 76 minutes, it was a decisive triple change with Morgan Gibbs-White replacing Grealish, Angel Gomes on for Mainoo and Eberechi Eze in place of Gordon. There was no change of shape, just fresh energy and two bold debuts. John Stones, for Harry Maguire, and Jarrod Bowen, for Harry Kane, followed later.