Lee Carsley faced criticism after England lost 2-1 to Greece at Wembley Stadium. This was Greece’s first win against England at Wembley. Carsley was the interim England manager for this match. He made a controversial decision to play Jude Bellingham as a false nine. This choice upset many fans especially those supporting Aston Villa and Tottenham Hotspur.
Harry Kane was not available for the match. Carsley chose not to start Ollie Watkins or Dominic Solanke who are both strikers. Instead he created an unbalanced midfield. Bellingham scored for England in the 87th minute. This goal seemed to equalize the match after Vangelis Pavlidis scored for Greece just after halftime. However Pavlidis scored again in stoppage time. This gave Greece a famous victory in the UEFA Nations League. Many people thought Greece deserved to win.
They matched England’s attack while having less possession of the ball. A report from talkSPORT said England only practiced Carsley’s new system for 20 minutes during training. This information made many fans angry. They went on social media to criticize Carsley’s team selection. Many fans said Watkins and Solanke were obvious choices to start the match. One fan wrote that Carsley had ruined his chances of becoming the permanent England manager. They called the team selection stupid. Another fan said Greece deserved to win more than England. They blamed Carsley’s arrogance for the loss.
They also said England needs to appoint a permanent manager soon. A different fan said the match was bad. They said if they were Watkins or Solanke they would be very angry. Both players are in good form and scoring goals. The fan accused Carsley of trying to be too innovative. They said the team had no focal point and no fluidity. Too many players wanted to play in the same spaces. Another fan said Carsley only picked that team to get Foden Bellingham and Palmer in the starting eleven.
They said if Solanke and especially Watkins can’t start when Kane is injured they might as well go back to their clubs. One more fan simply said not playing Watkins or Solanke is why Carsley isn’t the right choice for manager. The article suggests that managing player fatigue and quickly integrating returning international players will be key challenges for Carsley and his staff. They need to prepare for the upcoming London derby against West Ham. The article doesn’t give many details about the West Ham game. It focuses more on when players will return from international duty. Some Tottenham players are already at Hotspur Way. Son Heung-min is recovering from a hamstring injury. Wilson Odobert also has a hamstring problem. Richarlison is coming back from a calf injury. James Maddison Rodrigo Bentancur Timo Werner Djed Spence Sergio Reguilon and goalkeepers Fraser Forster Brandon Austin and Alfie Whiteman are training this week.
Bentancur is suspended from international duty and waiting for a decision on his FA charge. Other players will come back from Monday onwards. Dominic Solanke plays for England on Sunday evening in Finland. Lucas Bergvall Dejan Kulusevski Yves Bissouma Ben Davies Brennan Johnson Destiny Udogie Guglielmo Vicario and Micky van de Ven have games on Monday evening. They’ll be back on Tuesday. Mikey Moore Pape Matar Sarr Radu Dragusin Pedro Porro and Archie Gray play on Tuesday. Cristian Romero’s game for Argentina is early Wednesday morning UK time.
These players will return on Wednesday or Thursday. This gives manager Ange Postecoglou little time with some players before the West Ham game. The article talks about Tottenham’s good first-half performance against Brighton. It says they had 18 bad minutes in the second half. The West Ham game is called a London derby. Spurs want to make up for their loss to Brighton but the international break stopped them from doing this right away. The international break has split up the team with some players staying at Hotspur Way and others playing for their national teams. This creates a challenge for Postecoglou as he prepares for the important match against West Ham
