Lee Carsley: Interim England manager says there will be no ‘copy and paste’ squads
Interim England manager Lee Carsley says his squad selections will not be “copy and paste” and players will only be picked on merit during his time in charge of the Three Lions.
Carsley, 50, named his latest 25-man squad for upcoming Nations League matches against Greece and Finland on Thursday, with Tottenham striker Dominic Solanke included for the first time in seven years.
There are four changes from last month’s 26-man England squad, which was Carsley’s first after taking temporary charge following the departure of Gareth Southgate.
“In the back of my mind, I wanted to make sure it feels fresh… feels that when you get that email or WhatsApp [to say] that you’ve been called up, that it’s an achievement because it shouldn’t be something that is taken for granted,” Carsley said.
“I thought it was important that it is not just a copy and paste. I want them to feel like they have earned their place in the squad.”
Eberechi Eze, Harry Maguire, Tino Livramento and Jarrod Bowen have been left out of Carsley’s latest squad, which achieved victories over the Republic of Ireland and Finland in September.
They have been replaced by Jude Bellingham, Kyle Walker and Solanke, who made his only previous appearance in a friendly against Brazil in 2017.
Aston Villa’s Morgan Rogers, Tottenham’s James Maddison and Manchester United’s Marcus Rashford are among the players to be overlooked.
“The players I’ve left out, I could make a case for them being in, but ultimately I have to make those decisions,” Carsley said.
“The reality is you want a player to be coming in in top form and fighting for a position in the team.
“Getting out of this Nations League is important for us in terms of setting up the World Cup qualification. Whether I’m here or not, it’s important we are in a favourable pattern and in a position to win the World Cup.”
Carsley said his counterparts were discussing England’s attacking riches at a Uefa conference last month, although some thought it could present an issue for the team’s manager.
However, Carsley, who for the first time will have a trio of world-class number 10s at his disposal this month in Bellingham, Phil Foden and Cole Palmer, disagrees.
“When I attended the conference a couple of weeks ago, a lot of the head coaches spoke about how many good players we’ve got, but they almost referred to it as a problem,” he said, “whereas I am thinking it’s a nice problem to have.
“With the period of the season we are in, I can probably justify why we wouldn’t start all three of them at the same time in terms of the amount of games they’re playing, what they are going back to and what they have come from.
“What’s important is that we get them all on the pitch at some point and we try to find the balance. But, like I say, I think it’s a nice problem to have.”
