The next full-time England manager remains unknown, but the (temporary) incumbent Lee Carsley has ended a mixed October international break with a 3-1 away win against Finland in the Nations League.
Having picked a line-up packed with attacking players but lacking structure on Thursday for what became a 2-1 home defeat to Greece, Carsley reverted to fit-again Harry Kane up top in Helsinki among a host of changes from Wembley. Angel Gomes impressed in midfield and played a crucial role in Jack Grealish’s opening goal, while Trent Alexander-Arnold was tried at left-back and scored a beautiful free kick late on.
The absence of Phil Foden was notable. What does this mean for his role in the team going forward? And those of Cole Palmer, Jude Bellingham and Grealish, who all started the match?
Jack Pitt-Brooke and Tim Spiers break down what this result and performance means.
How vital is Gomes two games in?
You had to remind yourself that this was only Gomes’ second start for England’s senior side, because over the course of Carsley’s short tenure, the 24-year-old midfielder has made himself so integral to how the interim manager wants the team to play.
They missed him desperately against Greece, with no one to help Declan Rice defensively, and no one to help keep the ball. Carsley admitted before this game that England needed to do the latter better in higher areas of the pitch, and who better to help with that than Gomes?
Everything England did here flowed through the Manchester United academy graduate now with Lille of France’s top flight, who was showing for the ball constantly, taking it on the half-turn and playing clever passes to team-mates.
Gomes made Grealish’s opening goal with his best moment of all (see below).
He takes a ball from Alexander-Arnold, turns and hits a perfect little pass through to the Manchester City man in space to score.
Most importantly, Gomes made the whole idea work.
If you want to play structured, possession football, you need someone who can keep the ball, if only to help his team-mates get into position, and to provide the organisation they need both with and without the ball. Gomes offers that better than anyone else.
Jack Pitt-Brooke
What does Grealish’s selection mean for Foden?
After Carsley’s computer-game approach to Thursday’s game — throwing all his best attackers onto the pitch and hoping for the best — this was structurally far more orthodox.
Foden was left out/rested — a choice that was hard to argue with when you consider whether he should be selected ahead of Palmer, English football’s form player, on the right, or Bellingham playing off Kane in the middle, or, well, anyone on the left flank given Foden’s wholly underwhelming performances there at the European Championship back in the summer.
Grealish was handed that spot and embraced it when slipping inside to score the night’s first goal (see above).
It was a very City performance from Grealish, who in the first half completed all 29 of his passes, didn’t cross the ball once and also didn’t take a single player on. City manager Pep Guardiola’s influence on this England team is strong — the FA may as well just give him the job.
As for Foden, the man who has never made himself indispensable for England, you still struggle to see where he fits into the XI, given England’s plethora of right-forward options, even if Palmer had an anonymous evening here.
Tim Spiers
Where best to play Alexander-Arnold?
Alexander-Arnold’s performance encapsulated the good and bad of England during this match.
It was last year, also against weaker opponents, that then-head coach Gareth Southgate experimented with Alexander-Arnold in central midfield for the first time. It worked against Malta and North Macedonia, as you’d expect for a player of his technical ability, but not subsequently in the Euros.
Here, the Liverpool man was utilised as an inverted left-back for the first time in his senior career (according to positional data on Transfermarkt). How did he get on? Well, pretty much exactly as you’d expect; he was useful going forward, he combined nicely with his good mate Bellingham, he helped instigate the opening goal with positive movement and a pass into Gomes and, in the second half, he scored a magnificent free kick to double the lead (see below).
But defensively, again, as you’d expected for Alexander-Arnold — not least because he was playing in an alien role — he was poor. He gave the ball away, he was closed down when clearing in his own penalty area, or he was beaten by diagonals over his head. Finland targeted him and were rewarded by creating some decent chances.
England were better defensively than they had been against Greece but still, as has been the case in the short post-Southgate era, gave up far too many opportunities against sub-standard opponents. Carsley is more attack-minded than his predecessor, but this issue has felt more down to individual errors than a gung-ho approach.
Trent securing the bag :moneybag::joy:#FINENG pic.twitter.com/FCdWB4pS4U
— Match of the Day (@BBCMOTD) October 13, 2024
As for Alexander-Arnold at left-back, it is not something that would work long-term; either he or Kyle Walker must play on the right.
The experiment again highlighted England’s alarming dearth of left-back options, with Luke Shaw unfit, Ben Chilwell not playing for Chelsea, Levi Colwill better as a centre-back and Rico Lewis a promising but raw option.
Tyrick Mitchell or Rico Henry, anyone? Can England’s left-backs please make themselves known?
Tim Spiers
Lack of Saka, lack of pace
While this team felt better balanced than the one that played against Greece, it did not feel quite there yet. There was more control, but less pace.
Bukayo Saka and Anthony Gordon dropped out, and England now had three No 10s playing behind Kane. So while they enjoyed some excellent possession in the Finland half, they struggled to move the ball forward at pace.
It took the arrivals of Ollie Watkins and Noni Madueke halfway through the second half to bring some dynamism to England’s attacking play. They improved from that point: Madueke should have scored twice, and Watkins created England’s third goal for Rice after bursting down their left. But it did leave you thinking that the balance here is not quite right — not yet.
If Saka is fit, he will come straight back in for the return against Greece next month. But Carsley will be wondering whether he needs even more pace than that to stop his team getting gummed up in the middle of the pitch.
Jack Pitt-Brooke
What did Carsley say?
With the identity of the next permanent England manager still unknown, Carsley was asked about his view on the job after the match.
The interim manager told ITV Sport: “Do I want the job beyond November? I haven’t thought that much about it — my remit was to do six games and I am very happy to be in that privileged position.
“The last few days have been hard work because I don’t take losing very well. People are always going to put their chips on one side, but my bosses have made it totally clear what they need from me. This job deserves a world-class coach who has won trophies, been there and done it.”
On the performance, he said: “We were looking for a reaction and we have seen how the team can respond to a setback, in the best way. We were much better tonight. We played with more control and, looking at the data, there is lots of possession and chance creation, but we can still do better. They were very well organised with five at the back and did not concede much space — we had to wait and create that space, which was always going to happen from 70 minutes onwards and the substitutions that came on made an impact.”
On Alexander-Arnold and Grealish, he said: “Trent’s quality speaks for itself. We get bogged down over his position, but he is great to have with us. It’s important we have players of his quality and we play to their strengths. It is a shame Jack Grealish missed the first game against Greece because we missed him — he is very good and an infectious character. I wished we could have the Greece game again. It is a shame we couldn’t see out the clean sheet; we missed our roles in the set play.”
What next for England?
Thursday, November 14: Greece (A), Nations League, 7.45pm GMT, 2.45pm ET
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(Top photo: Eddie Keogh – The FA/The FA via Getty Images)
