Lee Carsley's England 'disappointed' by Greece defeat but looking forward to rematch
England's interim manager Lee Carsley admits he's itching for the decisive clash in Greece after their recent home stumble, as he aims to conclude his temporary stint with a Nations League promotion. The former under-21s coach, who isn't clear-cut on his long-term managerial desires, is nonetheless wholly committed to ending his three-camp tenure at the senior level with success.
Despite uplifting victories over the Republic of Ireland and Finland last September, Carsley's recent experiment did not pay off when England suffered a 2-1 loss to Greece at Wembley, leading to public discontent. Still fresh from that hurt, yet somewhat soothed by Sunday's 3-1 bounce-back against Finland, he reflected: "I’m finding this job a challenge in a good way," a sentiment stemming from his role in guiding England to an Under-21 European Championship victory.
The setback against Greece was particularly stinging, as Carsley said: "It was really disappointing the other day against Greece to concede a goal in the last minute and to lose the game. It’s not something I’m used to doing with England. In the past we’ve won so many games. Losing games is not something I enjoy doing."
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Carsley is channeling that frustration into determination for the return match in Athens. Trailing behind by three points in the group, England knows full well that another defeat would put an end to their ambitions of ascending to League A as Group B2 champions.
"It’s just a shame we can’t play Greece next week," he said. "It’s been a real challenge this camp because of the duration of it. The amount of contact time we’ve had with the players coming off the back of the two games a week they’ve had for the last month.
"Obviously next month is going to be the same so, again, the monitoring starts next Saturday, out watching the players and getting the squad together. I’m constantly thinking about the squad, the team, the form of the players, who’s playing with who, who do I think can play together.
"I’ve watched the Greece game back twice, and I’ve almost got to put that to bed now and watch this game. There was a lot of positives to take from tonight. It definitely gave me a lot of food for thought in terms of the way that we can set up against Greece.
"The plan is simple. We have to go to Greece and win, and then we have to follow that with a strong performance and a victory against Republic of Ireland."
The year has been a rollercoaster for England, reaching another European Championship final in July. Jack Grealish, who was notably absent from this summer's campaign in Germany, was quickly reinstated by Carsley and made an impact by scoring in Helsinki. Carsley has dismissed any notion that Grealish had something to prove, praising the player's impressive track record.
"I don’t think Jack had a point to prove," Carsley added. "Jack’s CV speaks for itself – the amount of trophies he’s won, the club he’s playing at, the importance of him and how important he is to the team.
"It was a privilege for me to be able to pick him. The way he’s played in the games where’s he’s been involved, he’s been outstanding."