Lee Carsley returns to the England Under 21s with his head held high after guiding the senior squad back to the top tier of the Nations League.
Promotion was achieved after the Three Lions thrashed the Republic of Ireland, the nation that Carsley represented 39 times as a player, 5-0 at Wembley on Sunday. The clash proved to be a emblematic of the 50-year-old’s tenure at the helm as four players netted their first international goal.
Carsley used a total of 32 players in his six matches as England interim boss and handed debuts to eight youngsters, many of whom he had worked with as boss of the junior side.
Time will tell how useful a bridge the former Everton midfielder has been between Gareth Southgate and Thomas Tuchel but in the immediate aftermath of his reign there are a handful of stars who have clearly benefitted from his management.
Conversely, a number of Southgate’s stalwarts have seen the landscape drastically shift over the last two months and may be feeling slightly uneasy ahead of Tuchel’s official start in January.
Mail Sport takes a look at the winners and losers from Carsley’s spell in charge.
Lee Carsley signed off in style on Sunday as his England side secured an immediate promotion back to the Nations League top tier
Carsley used a total of 32 players during his six games in charge and handed out eight debuts
Winners
Trent Alexander-Arnold
The Liverpool defender failed to win the trust of Gareth Southgate, who always favoured Kyle Walker or Kieran Trippier at right back. The former England manager’s experiment playing him in midfield at the European Championship lasted for just 123 minutes.
Alexander-Arnold was afforded just five minutes of action in the knockout stages of the summer competition as the Three Lions fell in the final to Spain.
Carsley, meanwhile, immediately put his faith in the Reds vice captain and hailed the 26-year-old as a ‘a multi-versatile defender’ ahead of his deployment as a left-back in England’s 3-1 win over Finland last month. Carsley’s confidence was rewarded with Player of the Match performances in each of the Three Lions’ first three wins under the ex-midfielder.
Angel Gomes
One of the eight debutants under Carsley, precious few people had been keeping tabs on the tidy midfielder since his departure from Manchester United in 2020.
But the Lille star was very well known to Carsley, who featured him heavily in his U21 side that claimed the junior European Championship in 2023.
‘Angel’s different to what we’ve got in terms of a player who can play deeper but play like a ten.’ Carsley said after announcing his first squad in September. ‘He’s very skillful, the way he can receive balls, the way he can control games.’
The 24-year-old has put himself in a position to be a part of Tuchel’s set up after catching the eye in his two starts against Finland.
Trent Alexander-Arnold has flourished for England during Lee Carsley’s spell in charge of the national team
Angel Gomes was one of the eight players Carsley handed a debut to in his six matches in charge
Noni Madueke
The Chelsea winger is enjoying a breakout year in 2024, having established himself in the Blues starting XI and impressing at international level. The 22-year-old is another Euro U21 winner and he has shown very little problem stepping up to the senior ranks.
Madueke has two assists in his six appearances for the Three Lions and produced a particularly accomplished display in his first start against Greece last week.
Bukayo Saka may just be the hardest player to unseat at the moment but Madueke has already put himself in the mix for first deputy and has perhaps already leapfrogged out-of-sorts Phil Foden.
Curtis Jones
Not to sound like a broken record but Jones was part of the U21 squad that bested Europe in Georgia last year. In fact, the Liverpool midfielder was one of Carsley’s most trusted lieutenants and played almost every minute of the campaign – save for a final group game that saw wholesale changes.
Jones finally got his chance on the big stage last week and he didn’t disappoint, scoring a memorable goal to complete a confident 3-0 win over Greece. The silky midfielder retained his starting berth in the 5-0 win over Ireland and he is looking difficult to leave out for both club and country at the minute.
If he can keep himself fit – an issue that has plagued his young career – he has given himself an incredible chance to star for Tuchel.
Noni Madueke is enjoying a breakout year for both and country and has put himself in the frame to feature under Thomas Tuchel
Carsley handed Jones his first England cap against Greece last week and the Liverpool midfielder responded with a Player of the Match performance
Newcastle left-back Lewis Hall could be the solution to England’s long term problems at the position
Lewis Hall
The novelty of a left-foot left-back is not one England fans have been used to in the past 12 months. Regular first-choice Luke Shaw can’t stay fit and back-up Ben Chilwell can’t get a game for Chelsea
This dearth of options – compounded by Trippier’s international retirement – led Carsley to try Alexander-Arnold, Levi Colwill and Rico Lewis at left-back but none felt as confident or assured as Newcastle’s Lewis Hall, who has firmly put himself in the driving seat for the role moving forward.
The 20-year-ols has been ever present for Eddie Howe’s outfit this season and his performances for the Three Lions showed why the Magpies boss has so much faith in him.
Losers
Kyle Walker
Father time catches up with us all and it appears to be finally taking its toll on Walker. The Manchester City captain, like many of his club team-mates, has had a frankly odd start to the campaign.
Given the workload City players have got through in recent seasons, perhaps its no surprise that levels have dropped but that doesn’t mean it’s any less shocking to witness. Walker has actually been pretty steady for England under Carsley, significantly better than his performances for the Three Lions in the summer.
But with the improved defensive displays of Alexander-Arnold, the emergence of Tino Livramento and the arrival of Tuchel – who you would imagine would be keen to bring Chelsea skipper Reece James back into the fold – Walker’s days playing for England are numbered.
Kyle Walker has not been in the best of form at the start of the new campaign for Manchester City or England
Phil Foden’s struggles in an England shirt have continued under Carsley at the start of this season
Phil Foden
Keeping with the theme of underperforming City stars, Foden’s struggles for the national team have persisted for a number of years now. But where some like Alexander-Arnold or Jack Grealish have shaken off their international malaise with the arrival of a new coach, Foden continues to frustrate.
The attacker played just 82 minutes of action under Carsley, with the vast majority coming in the unsuccessful No 10s experiment against Greece at Wembley.
That appearance was one of 12 for club and country this term where the 24-year-old has failed to register a goal contribution. Dynamic left-footed attackers who are best deployed from the right hand side are a dime a dozen in the England senior side at the moment. Foden is in danger of being cut adrift.
Jarrod Bowen
For many of the reasons discussed above, Bowen has seemingly fallen lower and lower down the ranks in the past couple of months. The West Ham skipper has not done a great deal wrong. In fact, he nabbed his first international goal with his first touch against Ireland.
But the 27-year-old failed to start for Carsley despite being selected in two of his three squads and featuring in four of his six-game interim spell.
With the likes of Saka and Cole Palmer to come back into the set up and Foden and now Madueke ahead of him, you feel this could be the last time we see Bowen in an England shirt for some time.
Harry Kane insisted that he wasn’t worried after being dropped by Carsley for win vs Greece
Marcus Rashford’s last competitive appearance for England was a six-minute cameo against North Macedonia last November
Harry Kane
Murmurs about the England captain’s place in the team during the European Championship have only grown louder in the months that have followed. The strangest thing about the whole situation is that Kane’s production has not slowed for club or country. The debate is all about his fit.
Kane was sensationally dropped by Carsley in England’s 3-0 win over Greece last week. ‘I wasn’t down about it, I wasn’t worried about it, I understood where he was coming from,’ he insisted but you feel he would have been a little more unnerved had Carsley been given the England gig full-time.
Kane is likely thrilled to see the back of the former Everton star and will relish reuniting with Tuchel, who had a front row seat to his record-breaking debut campaign in Munich.
Marcus Rashford
Lee Carsley used 32 players in six internationals, handed out eight debuts, messed around with systems and dropped the captain. He even managed to hand some minutes to Harry Maguire.
The same could not be said for Rashford, who will not have played a competitive match for England for well over a year by the time Tuchel selects his first squad.
From a fairly low starting point, it’s fair to say that the winger’s performances for Manchester United have improved this season.
Yet, it seems like he’s never been further away from the England team. Anthony Gordon, Eberechi Eze, Jack Grealish, perhaps even Jadon Sancho, are all ahead of him at the moment. Can Ruben Amorim transform his fortunes?
