Lee Carsley’s reign as England’s interim manager has not been without its obstacles, but the most impressive performance of his reign may just have made the road to succession a lot smoother for incoming coach Thomas Tuchel.
The low point of Carsley’s time in charge, which will end after the Uefa Nations League meeting with the Republic of Ireland at Wembley on Sunday, was the fiasco of the home defeat by Greece in October, a loss mainly engineered by his own madcap, non-striker, team selection. Redemption and revenge for Carsley, along with a list of positives he can hand over to Tuchel, came in the shape of a stylish victory in Greece, where the vast crowd inside Athens’ Olympic Stadium was silent – not to mention largely absent – by the end of England’s 3-0 win.
The margin of victory means England’s fate in League B Group 2 is in their own hands. Beat the Republic of Ireland and they will be back in the top tier, sparing Tuchel the possibility of a play-off in March. As with much of Carsley’s reign, England entered this Athens hothouse with sub-plots in the background, this time the nine withdrawals from the squad which was met with a critical public response from the normally strictly-on-message captain Harry Kane.
Ironically, Kane was left on the bench in favour of Aston Villa’s Ollie Watkins in a brave selection call which brought instant dividends with the opening goal after seven minutes. It put England on the way to triumph, confirmed late on by a second goal when Jude Bellingham’s shot bounced in off Greece keeper Odysseas Vlachodimos, then a flash of genius from debutant Curtis Jones. And it also means that Tuchel, who starts in the role on 1 January, actually inherits a position he will regard as healthy on many levels.
