Lee Carsley has not ruled out using a false nine again despite admitting it didn’t work tonight as England were “second best” against Greece at Wembley.
Without the injured Harry Kane, Carsley opted against a like-for-like replacement in the form of Ollie Watkins or Dominic Solanke and instead utilised Jude Bellingham as a makeshift forward ahead of attacking midfielders Bukayo Saka, Cole Palmer, Phil Foden and Anthony Gordon.
It resulted in a disjointed performance that saw England create little as an attacking force – they had just two shots on target, including Bellingham’s late goal that looked to have given them a point – while they also looked undermanned defensively with Rico Lewis and Trent Alexander-Arnold’s willingness to push into midfield repeatedly seeing John Stones and Levi Colwill exposed.
Vangelis Pavlidis scored both goals for Greece, including the winner deep into stoppage time, as the visitors honoured the memory of George Baldock, who died yesterday after drowning in a swimming pool in Athens, with a stirring performance and a well-deserved win.
🗣️ “We tried to overload the midfield… It was something that we tried for 20 minutes yesterday, it’s something we experimented with.”
Lee Carsley on England’s new system#ITVFootball | #NationsLeague | 🎙️ @gabrielclarke05 pic.twitter.com/7C39UZ3dWc
— ITV Football (@itvfootball) October 10, 2024
Carsley told ITV: “We were second best for a lot of tonight, it is disappointing. You are going to get setbacks and it’s important we respond.
“We tried something different and tried to overload the midfield. We tried it for 20 minutes yesterday, we experimented, and disappointed it didn’t come off. It’s unrealistic to expect too much and we will have to try again. All the goals were from mistakes, which is disappointing.
“It is definitely an option going forward. When you have someone of Kane’s quality though it rules it out when he is available. But in…
Source link : https://www.101greatgoals.com/football/internationals/carsley-admits-england-were-second-best-but-refuses-to-rule-out-using-false-nine-again/
Author : Jon Fisher
Publish date : 2024-10-10 21:45:24
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