It was a humbling night for Lee Carsley at Wembley Stadium. The front-runner to be named the full-time successor to Gareth Southgate oversaw one of the most damning defeats for the national team in the last 20 years.
The former Ireland international made sweeping changes to the team, operating with Jude Bellingham in the false nine position.
However, the experiment failed drastically, with Greece scoring five times at Wembley, although three were subsequently disallowed following VAR intervention.
Greek Experiment Leaves Carsley’s Aspirations in Tatters
England’s home match against Greece on Thursday was deemed to be their most challenging of the Nations League campaign.
Straightforward wins over Ireland and Finland last month put Carsley in a strong position to replace Southgate, but all that promise now appears to have fallen away.
It appeared as though the caretaker boss bowed to national demand by including Bellingham, Phil Foden, Bukayo Saka, and Cole Palmer in the same team. But, Thursday appeared to be evidence as to why it was an approach Southgate never attempted.
The Three Lions were wide open defensively when attacking moves broke down, with Greece carving through England with ease in the first half before ultimately taking the lead.
Stats Make For Bad Reading
The stats tell the story for England, as Greece became the lowest-ranked team to beat the Three Lions since Northern Ireland in 2005. The Greeks were also the lowest-ranked nation in history to win an away match on English soil.
Despite fielding a wealth of attacking talent, the Three Lions managed just two shots on target. The last of those was an underserved equalizer in the 87th minute from Jude Bellingham.
Attacking quality was showcased in Carsley’s first two matches in charge. Three players touched the ball more than five times in the box against Ireland, with eight achieving the feat against Finland. On Thursday, no England star could replicate that stat.
Carsley Seemingly Rules Out England Role
The former Premier League midfielder seemingly ruled himself out of the running for the full-time job following the defeat. Carsley stated that he was ‘hopefully’ going back to the U21s.
Despite that, the caretaker boss remains a short price in the betting with Bet365 at +175. However, his place at the top of the betting is no more, with Man United front-runner Thomas Tuchel available at +150.
Pep Guardiola has been linked with the England job when his Man City deal runs out next summer. At present, the Catalonian is available at +600. Graham Potter and Eddie Howe are the next available at +600 and +900, respectively.
Other selections in the betting include, Frank Lampard (+1600), Michael Carrick (+3300), and Carlo Ancelotti (+5000).
England return to action on Sunday when they clash with Finland.
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