It is an England football team, if not the England team that will take the field in Athens on Thursday night. Aaron Ramsdale, Trent Alexander-Arnold, John Stones, Harry Maguire, Luke Shaw, Declan Rice, Kobbie Mainoo, Bukayo Saka, Cole Palmer, Phil Foden and Jack Grealish is a line-up that would require a false nine. There may be an irony there, given that Lee Carsley’s striker-less formation was a major factor in defeat to Greece last month.
But instead of each playing, they are all absent, either injured or recuperating. Six of them started the Euro 2024 final and a seventh, Palmer, scored in it, so it seems no exaggeration to call it a stronger side than the team Carsley will actually pick.
England have been hit by mass withdrawals, with eight on Monday alone. It leaves a squad where only Jordan Pickford, Kyle Walker, Jude Bellingham and Harry Kane possess more than 20 caps and where seven of Carsley’s rejigged group have none.
The question lingering in the background is whether some of England’s injured contingent would have pronounced themselves fit if this had been Thomas Tuchel’s first game in charge, rather than the beginning of the end of the Carsley interregnum.
“It is a shame,” said Kane. “It does feel like some people have taken advantage of the situation. I don’t like it, to be honest.”
Carsley was more diplomatic. If the caretaker risks looking a lame duck, promoting several of his European Under-21 Championship-winning side, but with the possibility Tuchel will recall senior figures when they are available again, Carsley instead focused on the facts and figures.
“November historically has always been a really challenging month for us with the number of the games the players are playing,” he said. “We constantly look for trends within squad selection from September, October and November, and November historically is the camp where we tend to lose four, five, six players and this month has been no different.” Arguably it has, in the sheer number of absentees, and if it reflects an ever-more crowded schedule, England could be suffering from clubs’ packed programmes.
There is no doubt most of the missing are sidelined, even if some of their managers seemed quick to rule them out. Yet Anthony Gordon, who had seemed among the doubts, is a notable inclusion. “There was no chance I would not come,” said the Newcastle winger, who reported to St George’s Park, was passed fit and is set to play in Athens. He, at least, was desperate to be involved. “The type of team I will pick – as you can probably guess – will be quite attacking,” said Carsley. Noni Madueke, another of his European champions, is likely to get a first start on the right flank. Curtis Jones may earn a belated debut from the bench. Either on Thursday or against the Republic of Ireland on Sunday, Lewis Hall might get an opportunity at left-back.
“It gives other players a chance,” rationalised Carsley. “Hopefully from a long-term point of view it gives the new head coach even more options in terms of the pool of players.” And if it can seem strange that Tuchel is not starting until January and won’t be in Greece this week, Gordon argued: “I think he can watch the games back wherever he is in the world, which I’m sure he’ll be doing. He’ll be wanting to take a look at the squad.”
Carsley’s legacy could lie in young players. The less welcome part is that, unless England beat Greece by two or more goals, he could bequeath Tuchel a Nations League play-off in March. The side who finished second in Euro 2024 are currently second in Group 2 of the second tier of the Nations League.
It is the consequence of the Wembley defeat to Greece, the one blemish on Carsley’s record and his decision to operate without a specialist centre-forward. “It’s easy to regret something after you know the results and the performance. I believed in what we tried,” he said. “But it’s important that sometimes we have that leeway to try something. From a long-term point of view, it’s another opportunity for the new head coach to see something we have tried.” Indeed, the next head coach won the Champions League with a false nine, in Kai Havertz, although as he paid €100m for Kane when he was Bayern Munich manager, it feels a safe assumption he sees the captain as an integral part of his England side.
Kane, with his desire to get 100 international goals, was another who always seemed likely to play if available. There is the chance that some of his teammates may only get a cap or two if Tuchel discards them. If some of Carsley’s kids stand out for the brevity of their international careers, the interim manager is adamant his depleted squad know there is significance still attached to the England cap. “One hundred percent and we have to make sure we keep that value,” he said. “There is a real excitement and buzz around the squad and I don’t get the feeling it’s been diluted too much.” And yet it is still tempting to wonder what the group would have looked like if Tuchel’s reign had begun already.