Lionel Scaloni had only been an assistant coach at Sevilla and Argentina’s Under-20s manager for the briefest of periods when he was named Lionel Messi’s international manager. Many Argentines, including Diego Maradona, were highly unimpressed with the appointment. But he won the World Cup in 2022 and two Copa America titles either side of that triumph in Qatar.
There was a similar level of bemusement when Luis de la Fuente was given the top job by Spain after a decade of working within the federation, coaching its youth teams. Within six months he had won the Nations League, and then guided La Roja to European Championship glory a year later.
If Lee Carsley’s stint as interim England manager is made permanent, there are likely to be howls of derision all the way from Sunderland to Southampton. But it might just lead to this particular pattern repeating itself, and to the Three Lions finally winning a major tournament.
Already won something
England have tried almost every profile of manager in the 21st century: the star former player-turned-buccaneering coach Kevin Keegan, glamorous international tacticians such as Sven-Goran Eriksson and Fabio Capello, unglamorous but hard-working stalwarts Steve McLaren and Roy Hodgson, the no-nonsense straight-talking Sam Allardyce, and the Football Association’s yes man Gareth Southgate.
All have failed to win a tournament, although Southgate, the one manager who was immersed in the FA’s ways and who was so often a punchbag for the nation, got the closest. Carsley, who followed the same path as Southgate, has already done it.
He led England to win the U21 European Championship in 2023, the first time they had won the prestigious youth tournament for 39 years. They beat Spain in the final, something Southgate was unable to do a year later at senior level.
The Young Lions might have benefitted from goalkeeper James Trafford saving an Abel Ruiz penalty in the 99th minute before also keeping out the rebound, but England were worthy victors in Georgia. They won all five games, each within 90 minutes. They also went the whole tournament without conceding a goal and controlled matches in a way that Southgate’s side looked incapable of doing.
‘Best team I’ve played in’
England played daring football with a licence to thrill, led in attack by Cole Palmer and Anthony Gordon, who didn’t start a game between them under Southgate at Euro 2024, while Angel Gomes and Curtis Jones dictated the play from midfield.
Gordon, who played as a centre-forward in the tournament, said it was “the best footballing team I’ve played in, in terms of how we play and the combination play around the box”. He added: “It’s really an elite level. For me, that’s down to Lee.”
Manchester City’s Rico Lewis, who did not play at the tournament but has played under Carsley, told the Daily Mail that the interim manager was “a great coach, especially with his man-managing”. He also highlighted the entertainment factor in the coach’s vision of football.
“What he says, every time I go with them, is that he wants to play that exciting football,” Lewis said. “Progressive football, where we score lots of goals while defending really well as a unit. In a way it’s similar to City – we want to have the ball and score as many goals as we can. That’ll be a big benefit if he does go up to the seniors.”
Playing well & winning
Southgate’s detractors often pointed to the fact that his England played largely uninspiring, reactive football. His advocates said that he knew how to win, and that no-one had come closer to ending England’s trophy drought. Carsley, however, has shown that you can play exciting football and win, just as De La Fuente’s Spain did.
Carsley might not look like an exciting manager. In his first press conference after announcing his squad for his first two games of his interim spell in charge, against Ireland and Finland, he said he was “a safe pair of hands”.
That is usually an unflattering term and not one many people would use to describe themselves. But he saw it as a compliment. “The fact I’ve worked with so many players, I understand an international camp, I understand selection,” he explained.
He also tried to bat away questions about whether he was likely to get the job on a permanent basis. “It’s probably important I see how the games go,” he said. “I know it is probably a boring answer but the best person is going to get the job, the best person deserves to do this job. There are some brilliant coaches out there, some excellent head coaches and I trust the people involved in the process that they will get the best person.”
Knows the players
Could he be the best person? He has worked with many players in the senior squad already, including Jude Bellingham, Bukayo Saka, Phil Foden, Kobbie Mainoo and Adam Wharton, plus Gordon and Palmer, as well as new additions Gomes, Morgan Gibbs-White, Noni Madueke and Tino Livramento. These players are likely to form the core of the England side over the next decade at least, and an intimate knowledge of them can only help.
“He’s a really good person and knows a lot of the players, the younger ones,” added Lewis. “Similar to Gareth when he took over, he’s going to be somebody that if he goes up to the first team then he’s used to that environment already. I think that will massively benefit him in terms of knowing the players.”
That familiarity certainly did De La Fuente and Scaloni no harm. And while Southgate had many detractors on the outside, he could count on the loyalty of players such as Harry Kane and John Stones precisely because he had worked with them at youth level.
Familiarity and likeability can often count for more than star power. Capello may have won the Champions League plus the Serie A and La Liga titles, but he had no connection with his players and no rapport – and it showed.
Humble character
Carsley certainly does not have star power. He had an unremarkable playing career as a journeyman midfielder, beginning with Derby County and ending at Coventry City.
His best years came with Everton, where his greatest achievement was finishing fourth and reaching the Champions League qualifiers, only to fail to make the group stage. There was a fun conspiracy theory that Real Madrid actually wanted to sign Carsley when they bought his fellow bald Everton midfield team-mate Thomas Gravesen. It is, unfortunately, not true.
“It’s a great story, but anyone who believes a rumour like that couldn’t have watched us play,” Carsley told Four Four Two. “We look quite similar, but Thomas was so much better at football than me. He could dribble and create chances for others. I was better at the things he wasn’t good at, like tackling and tracking runners.” Certainly no one could accuse Carsley of having an inflated ego, then.
What really matters
He never played for England either, representing Ireland 40 times, including at the 2002 World Cup. He played just one minute at the tournament though, although he did have the misfortune to be put up for press conference duty the day after Roy Keane had been sensationally sent home. It is fitting, then, that his first game in charge of England should come against Ireland in Dublin on Saturday.
He could very easily have been sitting in the home dugout instead, having held talks with the FAI earlier this year about becoming their manager. He said no, preferring to stick with England’s U21s. Perhaps he knew that the top job would soon be vacant. Now is his chance to prove he really is the best man for it.
Don’t let Carsley’s self-deprecating humour or lack of a top-level coaching career put you off. Focus on what he has done with England already, which is win a tournament by playing damn good football. That is all that should matter.
Source goal.com
