England is being murdered by the press!

Last night, England faced Greece at Wembley in the Nations League (League B). A very special meeting for the Hellenic selection, which experienced a tragedy on Wednesday, on the eve of this shock. Indeed, Greek international George Baldock (31), who played for Panathinaikos, was found lifeless at home in his swimming pool. Terrible news for the country, but also for England, since he was still playing for Sheffield United a few months ago. Despite requests from the Greek federation, which wanted to move this meeting, UEFA refused and the match took place. And Greece won 2 to 1. After Vangelis Pavlidis opened the scoring (0-1, 48th), the Three Lions equalized thanks to Jude Bellingham (1-1, 88th). The locals thought the hardest part had been done.

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A defeat that does not pass

But ultimately, the visitors got back in front on the scoreboard thanks to a double from Pavlidis (1-2, 90th + 4). A defeat that hurts the English. But beyond the result, it was above all the play proposed by Trent Alexander-Arnold’s teammates which made people talk. This Friday morning, the British press is having a field day and destroying its selection. This is the case of Telegraph who titled “ Lee Carsley’s tactical dream ends in one of England’s most humiliating nights. » The English media then developed: “ who could have predicted that Lee Carsley would be the architect of one of the strangest nights of humiliation in English history? A fever dream at Wembley, with a team without soul, a formation that seemed borrowed from another sport and Jordan Pickford freelancing in midfield. There have been a few mayhem over the years, but few have been this surreal. »

To read
England-Greece: UEFA refused to postpone the match after the death of Baldock

The Telegraph added: “ Carsley’s task was very simple: six Nations League matches were entrusted to him by a hierarchy of the English Football Association who seemed keen to install him quietly in his post on a permanent basis. Nothing in a previously solid and uneventful coaching career suggested that he would experience such dysfunction. Attackers everywhere, no midfielders, disoriented players pointing at spaces where a teammate should have been. Did he ruin everything? Does he really want it? This is a question that the FA will have to answer in the coming weeks and it arises now with some urgency. An England team has never lost at home to an opponent as low-ranked as Greece, currently 48th in the FIFA rankings. Certainly a defeat has never been as profoundly self-inflicted as this one, against a team that reached the European Championship final less than three months earlier. »

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Carsley’s failed tactic gets people talking

The Daily Mailwhich titled “ the horror show », also uses harsh words to sum up this setback. “ England were a disaster and were dominated in their 2-1 defeat to Greece. Lee Carsley appeared to be heading towards his coronation as Gareth Southgate’s successor, but it was an ugly misstep […] England were dominated for much of the match and Jude Bellingham, as so often, looked to have saved the tie three minutes from time with a confident strike that Greek goalkeeper Odysseas Vlachodimos couldn’t quite keep away . But England didn’t deserve a draw and they didn’t get it. Another English defensive error in injury time led to a scrum in which the ball was sent to Vangelis Pavlidis, who beat Pickford for the winning goal. »

The publication continues: “ It was a reality check both for the manager – for whom it was his first defeat in three matches in charge – and for those who seemed to think that, without Gareth Southgate in charge, the England would automatically win the World Cup in 2026 and the next European Championship as well. The result also proved one thing: some of the criticism leveled at Southgate, both during last summer’s European Championship and before, was crude and simplistic. It’s easy to demand that all the best English players be starters. It is less easy to turn them into a winning team. » In the columns of Sunthe English selection is also expensive.

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The press criticizes the Three Lions

The British tabloid pointed out the choices of the coach, who also made it clear that he would very quickly find the English U21s. “ Lee Carsley admitted England only worked on their no-striker system for 20 minutes in training. […] Carsley, 50, was without injured captain Harry Kane for the match. In Kane’s absence, he opted not to field Ollie Watkins or Dominic Solanke in attack, instead opting not to pick a recognized number 9. Anthony Gordon, Bukayo Saka, Bellingham, Phil Foden and Cole Palmer all started in the XI without a striker – but Carsley’s risky formation never really took shape. Carsley finally abandoned the system, bringing Watkins on for Gordon on the hour mark. He then replaced Foden with Solanke in the 72nd minute. »

After the meeting, Carsley explained his much-criticized choices. “ We tried something different. We tried to overload the midfield and play a little differently. This is something we tried for 20 minutes yesterday (Wednesday in training, editor’s note). We experimented with something and it’s disappointing that it didn’t work. But I think it was unrealistic to expect too much and we need to try again. I think with the quality we have in defense… you look at all the goals tonight, they came from mistakes, which is disappointing. Even at 1-1 we were pretty lucky at that point. » He concluded by specifying that he could try this system again in the future.

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Cut Pickford

Like the coach, the English players were not spared this morning, notably Jordan Pickford. He got a 4 from the Guardian. The Independent gave it a 3 and called it a game ” calamitous “. Same story on the setITVwhere Roy Keane destroyed the goalkeeper, who according to him totally lacked concentration. After this defeat, England are in a tough situation. John Stones did not spare his teammates. “ I’m completely disgusted. It’s difficult to express in words. We prepared like we usually do and it didn’t work. We have to give them credit, they put pressure on us from the start. We struggled to get out from the back and play through the lines. It’s disappointing on our part too. »

« As Lee Carsley told us, we need to keep our promises, take responsibility and get the job done, but we haven’t done it. We didn’t create enough chances, we didn’t have enough second balls. We were quite scattered on set pieces, we made a lot of counter-attacks which I am personally not satisfied with. There’s a lot at stake for me and for a lot of players. We could have finished at the top of the group. We have to face this and move forward. » A reaction is therefore expected very quickly for the English, who will face Finland on Sunday.