Lee Carsley says he is more of a head coach than a manager and that the latter may be becoming extinct in international football.
The 50-year-old admitted he previously had doubts about stepping up to take charge of England’s senior team, but that the experience of overseeing a 2-0 win over Ireland in Dublin had been a “massive boost” for his confidence. Morgan Gibbs-White, a previous under-21 player under Carsley who earned his first full cap, said he had noticed the interim boss was “more serious” in his new role.
The build-up to the match had been overshadowed by discussion over Irish links and then whether Carsley would sing the national anthem, only for all that to be swept away with an assertive and initially entertaining performance. The first half was particularly clinical and a show of a tactical movement that differed from that of Gareth Southgate’s side. It was also a show of how simply winning games and playing well can drown out much of the noise that surrounds the England job.
This was what Carsley seemed to be getting at as he spoke about the idea of the manager becoming extinct. Britain, Ireland and arguably Brazil are among the few areas that are still fixated on the boss of the national teams being a true figurehead, despite countries like Germany, Argentina and Spain all winning major tournaments after promoting coaches who were within their structure. Carsley could feasibly emulate Luis de la Fuente in following glory at the Under-21 European Championships with a promotion to the senior job, should his temporary role be made permanent.
“I wouldn’t say I was a manager, definitely not,” Carsley said. “I see myself as a head coach. I have some real good support around me who help and take a lot of pressure away from me. That gives me the chance to coach and be on the grass and hopefully make a difference. That’s the way I have got to do it. I couldn’t see myself doing it any other way.”
A quirky irony is that, for all the focus on the manager as Southgate interpreted the role, Carsley recalls a description of the requirements made by the FA in the 1970s as “a tracksuited young man”. That is what the interim admitted he is, as he pondered whether the “manager” is becoming extinct.
“Yeah, I think so. Looking back to when I first started, the manager would do everything, including organising travel and transfers. Those days are probably gone now. The amount of support now that’s based around a head coach gives coaches the freedom to do what they do best.
“I am really lucky with the people that are in charge and are my bosses. They know what my strengths are and aren’t gonna ask me to be anything I am not. My strength is coaching, being on the pitch. This [talking] isn’t my strength, what I am doing now. It’s something that I understand that comes with the job, as I saw yesterday. I have my own way of doing it.”
Gibbs-White has noticed a slight change in the manager from the under-21s.
“I’d say he’s a bit more serious now, which is a good thing. He’s stepped up a role and I feel like he’s taking everything as seriously as he can and fair play to him, that shows he wants to stay. Hopefully we can keep playing the way we’re playing, keep believing in his idea and strive forward.”
Carsley did speak frankly about some of the doubts he previously had, as he talked about the good relationship he has with director of football at the FA, John McDermott.
“I’m highly supported by John, the fact he trusts me to take the job on an interim basis was a massive boost to my confidence because I think, in the back of my mind, I’m sure you’re the same, you always think it’s easy to be the England manager when you’re sat in the house and there have been times where I’ve thought, ‘I’m not sure I could do it, I’m not sure’. It’s done my confidence good today, and the rest of the staff as well that, actually, we’re OK, we’ll be alright, and I spoke about it at the first press conference – a safe pair of hands, I feel like we’re in a good position with the players.”
Carsley joked that he felt those doubts just before he came to speak to media.
“No … I think it’s natural to have our doubts, going into the Euros with the 21s, with the record that we’ve got, there was a worry we could go home in 10 days but I’ve learned with experience, and dealing with setbacks, having good people around you, it gets easier.”
England certainly did flow with impressive speed in the first half against Ireland, which was a reflection of work done on the training ground.
“We’ve had four sessions so it’s early,” Carsley said. “The players have to take huge credit for trying a few things that we have worked on and going out there and doing it for themselves.
“I think we have to be careful with the ‘freedom’, the terminology. I think we have tried to get really effective players in really effective areas, to do what they’re good at. If you call that freedom, maybe it is, but it comes with a real responsibility out of possession and I thought we did really well at times, made the pitch really small and were able to suffocate Ireland and get the ball back. Jack [Grealish] and Anthony [Gordon] … I thought they were very good. Anthony has taken his club form into the game, on quite a dry pitch, a slow pitch, he looked electric at times.”
Gibbs-White described how his new head coach works.
“He’s a very hands-on manager on and off the pitch. He believes in his own ideas, and us seeing that makes us believe in him. It’s obviously a good thing when you’re hearing it directly from the manager on and off the pitch. I think the boys are really buying into him, really enjoying the time now and hopefully it can stay that way.
“They are his ideas, he’s the one delivering it. Obviously he gets help from the assistants and stuff like that but the control he has is good right now. Hopefully, it can stay that way and we keep progressing as a team.”