Sky Sports' Paul Merson's latest column on Lee Carsley's chances of landing the role as permanent England manager ahead of their Nations League matches; England face Republic of Ireland on September 7 in Dublin and Finland on September 10 at Wembley in their opening fixtures under Carsley
Friday 6 September 2024 08:15, UK
The England job is Lee Carsley's to lose.
The games coming up are all winnable where you can go and let the players express themselves while knowing you won't really get hurt at the other end.
And if he won all six, why would you get rid of him and who would want to take over? It's in his hands, otherwise they'd have got someone else. They're well-winnable games, all of them. And he could easily win all six of these. Easily.
I like what he's done with the squad already - he's done it his way. He's brought players in that he's worked with that are in form, but you can't always keep on picking in-form players because they lose form and then we'd never have a solid team.
You've got to trust in the people that you're picking and he's done that.
It feels a bit like when Peter Taylor was caretaker in 2000 when I was playing and he made David Beckham captain and changed it around. It was good for the next manager coming in.
But this lad Carsley has got a chance. He's worked with a lot of these players. He'll want to cement it the way he wants to play.
It will be interesting to see Angel Gomes, who is playing in France at Lille. This looks like the next generation coming through.
We keep going on about golden generations and nearly moments, but you can't keep on with that. Sooner or later, you've got to change it. We've been in semis and finals and haven't got over the line.
If you keep on doing the same thing, you're going to get the same results - and that's going to be semi-final and final defeats. We need to change it up now and fair play to the manager who has done that.
I think he's a good coach. We have to give him a chance. We've had some of the best in the world - Fabio Capello, one of the greatest managers of all time, didn't do anything.
You've got to give people a chance, that's how it works. He's managed the younger lot and now he's got a chance with the big boys. And this really is the big boys.
If he gets them onside, he's got every chance.
Goalkeepers: Jordan Pickford (Everton), Dean Henderson (Crystal Palace), Nick Pope (Newcastle).
Defenders: Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool), Tino Livramento (Newcastle), Rico Lewis (Man City), Levi Colwill (Chelsea), Harry Maguire (Man Utd), Marc Guehi (Crystal Palace), Ezri Konsa (Aston Villa), John Stones (Man City).
Midfielders: Conor Gallagher (Atletico Madrid), Kobbie Mainoo (Man Utd), Morgan Gibbs-White (Nottm Forest), Angel Gomes (Lille), Declan Rice (Arsenal).
Forwards: Noni Madueke (Chelsea), Jack Grealish (Man City), Jarrod Bowen (West Ham), Eberechi Eze (Crystal Palace), Anthony Gordon (Newcastle), Harry Kane (Bayern Munich), Bukayo Saka (Arsenal).
England's Nations League opener away to Republic of Ireland kicks off at 5pm on Saturday September 7 before their meeting with Finland at Wembley on Tuesday September 10, kicking off at 7.45pm.
