Lee Carsley believes England will have a better chance of glory if they follow Germany and Spain in promoting players who have won trophies at youth level.
Carsley, who steps aside for Thomas Tuchel after Sunday’s home game against the Republic of Ireland, has not been afraid to bring in inexperienced players during his spell as interim head coach. The shift was notable as England rose to the top of Nations League Group B2 thanks to their 3-0 win over Greece on Thursday.
Noni Madueke, Morgan Rogers, Lewis Hall, Curtis Jones, Anthony Gordon, Rico Lewis and Morgan Gibbs-White have had key roles for Carsley in the under-21 side. Angel Gomes, an unused substitute against Greece, was instrumental in Carsley’s side winning the under-21 European Championship last year.
The theory that success in underage football breeds a winning mentality is backed up by Germany’s triumph at the 2014 World Cup and Spain winning Euro 2024.
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Mesut Özil, Sami Khedira, Manuel Neuer, Mats Hummels, Jérôme Boateng and Benedikt Höwedes won the under-21 Euros in 2009 and the World Cup five years later.
Fabián Ruiz, Dani Olmo, Mikel Oyarzabal and Mikel Merino made a similar leap in last summer’s Euros after Spain’s under-21s won the 2019 edition.
England have recent success at various age groups. and Carsley hopes those who have stepped up from the under-21s can establish themselves.
The youngsters were needed after England were hit by nine withdrawals before facing Greece. “They’ve put themselves in a really good position,” Carsley said. “We spoke about the amount of players who weren’t here and the focus has been on the ones who are here. It’s given six or seven some opportunity to be in a venue like this, and to experience that kind of atmosphere. They’ve done themselves a lot of good.
“We’ve seen a lot of these young players in the past but to get an opportunity to play and to be as exciting and attacking as they were is good to watch. We want to see a side that’s attacking, playing with energy, enthusiasm, creating chances and we had that tonight.”
Asked what advantage last year’s under-21 Euros triumph can be, Carsley said: “They’ve won at under-18s as well and I think it definitely helps. We’ve seen that with Germany in the past and with Spain so why can’t that be England?”
Carsley’s gamble of leaving Harry Kane out for Ollie Watkins paid off when the Aston Villa striker opened the scoring against Greece. Kane is set to return to the starting line-up when England look to seal a return to the top tier of the Nations League by beating Ireland.
“He’s playing on Sunday,” Carsley said of England’s skipper. “Yeah, he’ll start. He’s captain he’s so important to the team. It was just a case of having a look at something different, giving someone else the experience who has not had a lot of chances to do so yet. Nothing more than that.
“I definitely didn’t drop Harry Kane. He’s done well for me every game he’s played and been involved with. It wasn’t a case of being dropped, far from it, it was just a case of giving someone an opportunity.
“Ollie is playing in the Champions League with Villa, he’s doing really well, the same with Morgan Rogers. It’s great that he got a goal, it looks like a great decision then doesn’t it? Ultimately he should take a lot of credit and confidence from tonight.”
Sunday will be all-time top scorer Kane’s 103rd international appearance and would see Jude Bellingham hit the 40-cap mark aged just 21. The Real Madrid star shone at the Olympic Stadium on Thursday, where his attitude and aptitude was key in securing the requisite result in a must-win match.
“He always plays with responsibility,” Carsley said. “I know we only see it during games, but he does it in training, he leads by example. He’s a really good person to have around because people want to aspire to him and compete with him. You’ve seen tonight that there are a level of player coming into the squad who are definitely raising the bar.”
