Carsley says England were ‘shell-shocked’ during Euros defeat to Germany | OneFootball

England Under-21 head coach Lee Carsley says his side’s slow start to games is something “we need to address” after losing 2-1 to Germany.

Despite the defeat, the Young Lions still qualified for the knockout stages of the European Championship, but they will now have to face their opponents in the 2023 final, Spain, with Germany facing Italy instead.

Carsley had previously warned his side of complacency after their disappointing goalless draw to Slovenia in their second group stage game, and will consider themselves fortunate that Czechia recorded a 2-0 win over them to secure England their place in the knockouts.

The 51-year-old has called on his side to improve their starts to matches, or risk an early exit from the competition.

“I thought there was definitely a bit of shell-shock, going 2-0 down so soon,” said Carsley. “We didn’t start well either in the last game [0-0] against Slovenia. That’s something we need to address.

“The first half was nowhere near good enough. The way we started the game, the goals that we conceded were really disappointing.

“It was important they knew that. The changes we made at half-time, [we] could have made any number of changes. I asked for a reaction in the second half and we definitely saw a reaction.

“The performance was not at the level we need. When you think of the reaction in the second half that was more like it. It took us to go 2-0 down to get to that point which is disappointing.

“With the attention that the team get, living up to some expectations, the responsibility of when you put the shirt on, no-one’s going to roll over for us.

“We’ve spoken about that. But the response was very good and I expect us to start like that in the next game, because if we give Spain a two-goal start, it’s game over.”