Raise your hands if you think the England football team is capable of absolutely dominating the International stage. We bet most of you raised your hands. Then what is keeping them from doing so? For a long time, most of those who watched football thought it was Gareth Southgate. But as it turns out, Gareth Southgate might not really be the issue in England’s Men’s National team.
After Southgate was let go following his inability to win his second consecutive Euros Final, Lee Carsley the former England U-21 manager was handed the interim job. Up until Thursday evening, all was well and good for Lee Carsley after winning 2/2 matches with the Three Lions in the Group stages of the UEFA Nations League, but then all fell apart as Greece came to visit.
In Wembley on Thursday night, England faltered against the Greeks as they lost 2-1 to an injury-time winner by the Greek striker Vangelis Pavledis. Believe it or not, the score could have easily been 3-1 to Greece if not for Levi Colwill’s goal-line clearance after Jordan Pickford made a horror mistake in front of goal.
After two matches where England played a brand of football that wasn’t as haram ball as the type they played under Southgate, the English players and manager alike were back to the very worst. Lee Carsley opted for a very weird formation and personnel at Wembley with Jude Bellingham playing as the false nine against a barrage full of wingers and midfielders. What this did was the quality of shots that England took on goal and in general reduced massively.
In fact, for all of the 64% possession that England kept, they only took 12 shots in the game, the same as Greece while actually having 1 less shot on target, 3 for Greece, and 2 for England. So it wasn’t surprising when Greece went 2-1 up in the stoppage time humiliating England in front of their home fans in their Capital.
This defeat might not mean much, but for Lee Carsley, it could see him out of contention for being England’s head coach in the long run. Who do you think should be Gareth Southgate’s long-term replacement? Let us know in the comments below.
