In England, the interim manager shot himself in the foot: who will be the new coach?

Rather than playing it safe, Lee Carsley came up with an offensive plan as courageous as it was reckless: Jude Bellingham, Cole Palmer, Phil Foden, Bukayo Saka and Anthony Gordon were all lined up at the same time in a sort of 4 -2-4 unlikely. If the match had ended in success, the former England U21 coach would have been called a genius. Except that his idea did not work and Greece was able to take advantage of English defensive generosity.

“We tried something differentCarsley commented on ITV. We tried to overload the midfield and play a little differently. It’s disappointing that it didn’t work. But I think the challenge remains to find a way to get as many offensive players on the pitch as possible, although we can’t forget the other side of the pitch and how important that is.”

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The end of the match ended with a much more classic 4-4-2 and two real attackers (Watkins and Solanke). Which allowed Bellingham to equalize (87th), just before Pavlidis’ 1-2 in stoppage time (90th + 4). Oddly, Lee Carsley still says he is ready to repeat the experience this Sunday in Finland. Unless Harry Kane gets back on his feet in time.

“It’s definitely an option.he said. But when you have someone of Harry Kane’s level it rules out that possibility because of the number of goals he scores for us and his importance to the team. We tried something and I think in the future we will have to have that ability and courage to try things.”

Appointed interim after Southgate’s departure last August, the 50-year-old Irishman said:comfortable and confident”but also lucky to have “one of the best jobs in the world in terms of the possibility of winning a major competition”. Except that a slip of the tongue came out of his mouth this Thursday evening: “My mission has been clear from the start: I am participating in three gatherings. And then I hope to be able to return to the under-21s.”

However, this Sunday’s trip could already be his last. Depending on the result and the manner, the English Federation could indeed not wait until the November meeting to decide on the future of the position of coach. It remains to find a worthy candidate. At the moment, the two most plausible free coaches are Graham Potter and Thomas Tuchel. But others, currently under contract, would undoubtedly be interested in the position at the end of the season: Pep Guardiola or Eddie Howe, in particular. In any case, there is an urgent need to move up to League A. Second in its group, England is currently in a play-off position… A duel with Belgium would not be ruled out in this scenario.

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