Lee Carsley has 'plan in place' to knit England's attacking talent together | OneFootball

Cole Palmer, Jude Bellingham and Phil Foden return to squad after missing last month’s games

For England's interim head coach Lee Carsley, driving up and down the country between watching games is the perfect time to mull over how to get the best from his squad.

Jude Bellingham, Phil Foden and Cole Palmer all missed the wins over the Republic of Ireland and Finland in September, leaving Carsley with the relatively straightforward decision to start Jack Grealish at No10 in both matches.

"I’ve definitely got a plan in place," Carsley said on Wednesday.

"The beauty of this job is you get a lot of time to think. In between driving from game to game you are constantly thinking about combinations, relationships."

Foden and Bellingham were the outstanding players in England and Spain, respectively, last season, while Palmer is maintaining his remarkable levels from his breakthrough campaign. In seven League appearances this term, the Chelsea forward already has 11 goal involvements.

Palmer did not start a single game in Germany but was so impressive from the bench – he scored in the final, having set-up Ollie Watkins winner in the semi – that he was this week voted England fans' player of the year.

Carsley was giving relatively little away ahead of Greece's visit to Wembley but suggested Foden is "at his most effective in central areas", suggesting he could replace his club-mate Grealish at No10 with Bellingham deployed in a deeper role next to Declan Rice.

That would still leave the problem of Bukayo Saka and Palmer both preferring to play from the right, although either left-footer could play on the other side.

Carsley, though, is wary of "shoehorning" players into the XI in unfamiliar positions.

"Those three players are brilliant players but we have a squad of really, really exciting talented players that you have to have that feeling that you’ve earned your place rather than try and shoe-horn players into positions," he said.

Anthony Gordon started both last month's fixtures and there is also a question of whether Carsley may want to keep two direct, speedy wingers in the side to maintain balance, with Noni Madueke also an option.

Cole Palmer has been in fine form for Chelsea this season

Action Images via Reuters

"[Gordon and Madueke] are definitely in that category in terms of very quick, quite unpredictable in the way that they are playing and players who are in form as well so it’s good for us," Carsley said.

Southgate was accused, perhaps unfairly, of picking players on reputation but Carsley has suggested that between tournaments he will prioritise form, perhaps giving Palmer an edge against Greece and Sunday's game against Finland in Helskini.

"You get diluted as a head coach or manager if you’re picking players who are out of form or aren’t playing well based on what they’ve done in the past," Carsley said. "When you go into a tournament that’s maybe a little bit different because you have to get a blend of players that can cohabit with each other for potentially five to six weeks."

Carsley added of Palmer: "Cole’s in a brilliant position at the minute in terms of he has really found his feet at Chelsea, he’s highly-rated, he’s getting minutes, he’s showing that he can handle the intensity of playing game after game.

"So that’s been a real plus for him and we’re getting the benefit of that because when you talk about players who are in form the fact that he’s getting so much exposure and his numbers in terms of goals and assists is brilliant for us. So hopefully we’ll get the benefit of that.

“He’s a player that whatever you throw at Cole he deals with. But that shouldn’t give us the right to keep putting pressure on him and hyping him up. Ultimately, he’d still a young player, he’s still got a lot of improving to do, even though he’s at an incredible limit at the moment, I still think he can get better."

One option Carsley has categorically ruled out is using Palmer at left-back after causing a stir by suggesting he could play the 23-year-old there last week.

"I definitely won’t be saying anything like that again! That’s a fact," Carsley said. "We’ve definitely got plenty of options in that position. It would be fair to say Cole is not one.”

Carsley, though, does have a more fluid view of positions than Southgate and may be prepared to get creative in finding a solution to his surplus of world-class forwards.

"If we were to play an attacking player a left-back, we’d build totally different," he said. "It would look like a winger, not like a traditional Ashley Cole kind of thing in a back four. We’d have to build differently."