Lee Carsley fails England audition on two counts to spark major doubts over job prospects | OneFootball

Disastrous experimentation on the pitch and confusing answers off it showed interim boss is likely not ready to be Gareth Southgate’s successor

After the game, in the depths of Wembley, Carsley muddled through a series of answers about whether he actually wants to succeed Gareth Southgate on a permanent basis, which offered little clarity on how he views the impossible job.

"I was quite surprised after the last camp in terms of [reading] the job’s mine and it’s mine to lose and all the rest of it," said the interim head coach, when asked if the defeat had damaged his chances of landing the position.

"My remit has been clear. I’m doing three camps, there’s three games left and then hopefully I’ll be going back to the [Under] 21s. It’s had almost no impact."

In saying "hopefully", it was not entirely clear if Carsley had betrayed his true feelings or simply misspoken, but his explanation was equally equivocal.

"No, well, I said at the start I wouldn’t rule myself in or out," he said. "That’s still the case. I’m more than comfortable in my position, where I am. The remit was clear. I’m comfortable and confident with that."

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Asked twice more to clarify if he wants the job, Carsley added that it is "one of the best" positions in the world but also talked up his role with the U21s, reiterating that his remit was to "hand over" after next month's fixtures.

Carsley is under no obligation to say publicly what he wants to do, but he did not appear comfortable or convincing under questioning, which in itself raises doubts about his readiness for the England job.

Carsley has spent the vast majority of his post-playing career in youth coaching and it is entirely understandable if he is not used to being grilled by the media.

The ability to clearly articulate yourself and choose your words carefully, however, does feel like a prerequisite for the position today. Carsley's lack of clarity in the press conference room was nothing compared to his side's struggle for coherence on the pitch, however.

Having said before the game he would not "shoe-horn" his best attackers into the XI out of position, Carsley appeared to do just that, with Jude Bellingham deployed as a false nine and Cole Palmer in midfield.

There was logic to both decisions in isolation given Harry Kane and Kobbie Mainoo were missing through injury - and why not experiment in the Nations League? - but also starting Bukayo Saka, Phil Foden and Anthony Gordon left England wildly unbalanced.

"With the players that we've got, that is the challenge, to try and find a way to get our most attacking players on the pitch," Carsley said.

Greece cut through England repeatedly on the counter, with the outstanding Vangelis Pavlidis scoring twice and the visitors having three goals disallowed for offside and an effort spectacularly cleared off the line by Levi Colwill.

England were disjointed in attack, too, though Bellingham looked to have completed another salvage mission with an 87th-minute leveller, only for Pavlidis to capitalise on some chaotic defending deep into stoppage time.

While experimenting from the start was understandable and arguably admirable, there came a point where the hosts clearly needed to establish midfield control but Carsley only kept introducing forwards from the bench, with Saka replaced in a straight swap for Noni Madueke, and strikers Ollie Watkins and Dominic Solanke also coming on.

If this was Carsley's first big test as England boss - and his selection decisions last month were much simpler, with Foden, Palmer and Bellingham all absent - he failed, arguably demonstrating many of the same shortcomings as Southgate, even if his lineup was such a departure from the caution of his predecessor.

Carsley arguably demonstrated many of the same shortcomings as Southgate

Carsley insisted it was important to "try something different" and took responsibility for the result, while suggesting he would be willing to repeat the experiment (though he refused to describe his approach as such) in future.

"I'm happy to take the blame," he said. "It was totally my idea. I thought about it long and hard in terms of how it might look, how it might feel. It probably didn't come off tonight... it definitely didn't but I don't think we give up on having that opportunity to try something different."

Carsley has used a similar set-up at U21 level, when Gordon and Morgan Gibbs-White often played as false nines, but it was still easy to wonder if he had bowed to the clamour to play with a fantasy football XI, which again, may raise doubts about his readiness for such a high-profile position.

The upshot of a strange night is surely less clarity from both sides over the likelihood of Carsley being the next permanent England manager, and the interim boss needing to get his own audition back on track against Finland on Sunday.