England started with a false nine experiment, ended it with the most classic of English formations – and lost – on a damaging night for Lee Carsley’s job prospects.
Some England fans had called for previous boss Gareth Southgate to pick more attacking players – and even drop striker Harry Kane – at Euro 2024.
Even further back, England rued their inability to effectively combine the likes of Steven Gerrard, Paul Scholes and Frank Lampard in the same side.
Those supporters who wanted sweeping changes in this new post-Southgate era got their wishes at Wembley on Thursday against Greece, with Kane ruled out by a slight knock.
Carsley did not name a recognised striker from the start – for what is thought to be a first for the Three Lions – with Jude Bellingham and Phil Foden false nines, Bukayo Saka and Anthony Gordon on the wings – and Cole Palmer starting in midfield.
“It goes one of two ways, doesn’t it?” said former England keeper Paul Robinson on BBC Radio 5 Live beforehand.
“We’re either calling him a genius or we’re calling for [strikers] Ollie Watkins or Dominic Solanke to come on. He’s doing it his way.”
Nobody is calling Carsley a genius after that defeat.
Greece, at 48th, became the lowest-ranked side to beat England in a competitive away game since the Fifa world rankings were developed in 1992.
Watkins did come on after 60 minutes – and Solanke followed 12 minutes later – as England ended up playing 4-4-2.
But they fell to a shock 2-1 defeat with Vangelis Pavlidis netting a double. Bellingham looked like he had rescued a point with three minutes to go before Greece’s injury-time winner.
“We tried something different and tried to overload the midfield,” said Carsley. “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.”
Ex-England defender Lee Dixon, on ITV, said: “We were looking forward to a new dawn here but it has come back to bite them.
“Trying something in this game was definitely the right thing, but trying something because everyone is saying you should do it is not the right thing.”
How did England set up and why?
When interim head coach Carsley named his England squad, the main question concerned whether he would be able to fit Bellingham, Palmer and Foden into one team.
Critics of the Southgate reign say that he did not make the most of the attacking talent and depth that England have in their squad.
Carsley has not shied away from that challenge of getting the most out of England’s attacking players and says he focuses more on a player’s attributes rather than traditional positions.
He named two full-backs in Trent Alexander-Arnold and Rico Lewis, who came into midfield alongside holding midfielder Declan Rice when England had possession of the ball.
Foden and Palmer occupied attacking roles, with Bellingham chosen as England’s furthest forward central player.
Palmer played the deepest of the trio and he had fulfilled that role for Carsley when the England Under-21 side won their European Championship last year.
Saka and Gordon played on the wings for England and Carsley had hinted that the Three Lions ‘height and width’ would come from players in those roles to create room for the talent in central areas.
How bad was the defeat? Check the stats…
Greece are the lowest-ranked (48th) side to beat England in a competitive match since Northern Ireland (116th) in September 2005, and the lowest ever on record to do so on English soil.
This was Greece’s first ever win against England – having drawn two and lost seven.
England had two shots on target – in the third minute and their 87th-minute goal – both from Bellingham.
No England player had more than five touches in the opposition penalty area. In Carsley’s first two games in charge, three did against the Republic of Ireland and eight did against Finland.
Two-goal Greece hero Pavlidis had not scored for his country since a June 2022 match against Cyprus – a run of 14 games without a goal for the national side.
Did it work and are we likely to see it again?
The fact that Greece had the ball in the England net five times – including three disallowed goals – means that the Three Lions were far too open in the way they were set up.
England pressed aggressively and high up the pitch but when the Greek side were able to play through that first wave of pressure England looked exposed.
Greece launched their counter-attacks in numbers and Rice was left isolated.
Palmer had England’s best chance of the first half and should have given the Three Lions the lead, but realistically England were fortunate to get to the break level.
Carsley hoped his team would take control, but it scarcely looked like happening and Pavlidis took advantage of space inside the penalty area with a good finish.
England were disjointed, missing Kane’s presence and influence. His continuing importance to England’s cause was underlined in absentia.
“Foden and Bellingham have got in each other’s way. Carsley’s tried to play them both as a 10. This system just hasn’t worked for England,” said former Tottenham keeper Robinson.
“It was a really disappointing performance tonight and it just didn’t work. It was clunky.”
Before the match it looked as though the England job was Carsley’s to lose, but this experiment has backfired and the perception has changed. Defeat is already leading to questions about whether he is the right man for the full-time job.
BBC Radio 5 Live’s John Murray, said: “Lee Carsley gave the public what they wanted but his team selection was both – in his words – courageous and risky. And it back-fired.
“Yes, he was up against a Greek team that was riding on a tide of emotion but after last month’s positivity this one result has dramatically changed the feeling around his prospects of getting the job on a permanent basis. And in his post match press conference it was far from clear if he actually wants it.
“This is a group in the ‘second division’ of the Nations League. Opponents Greece, the Republic of Ireland and Finland lie way below England in the world rankings. Anything other than England finishing top of the table would be seen as a failure, and after this result that is a distinct possibility.”
Disappointment for Watkins
Watkins scored 27 goals for Aston Villa last season and is unfortunate to have England’s record scorer Kane above him in the national side pecking order – in a team that usually only has one space for a striker.
When he did get his chance in the summer, he took it – with one of the most important goals in England’s history, the last-minute Euro 2024 semi-final winner over the Netherlands.
So with Kane ruled out after an injury suffered in his latest game for Bayern Munich, Watkins would surely have thought this was a game where he would start.
“Watkins will be fuming,” said ex-Republic of Ireland captain Roy Keane on ITV on seeing the starting line-up.
Former England striker Ian Wright added: “The way Watkins has played and the impact in the Euros, he is behind England’s greatest scorer and thinks ‘when will I get a chance?’ – then the new manager leaves you out. Very disappointing for Ollie Watkins but it is exciting.”
Speaking at half-time with the score at 0-0, Wright added: “Ollie Watkins will have had a smile on his face after the first half. England have to sort the press out.”
Dixon said: “Sometimes you play your best games when you don’t play and Ollie Watkins came into the category.”
But then Watkins came on with 30 minutes to go and only touched the ball nine times, having one shot.
How BBC Sport readers reacted
Mid-game…
Liam: This is starting to feel like a cruel trick from Carsley to show us all exactly why you can’t play all your best creative players in one go.
Andrew: I have no problem with Carsley playing a different system. However, it would be good if the players looked like they knew what that system is.
Andy: Fair play to Lee for giving people what they wanted but I think this 45 mins has shown that you have to put round pegs in round holes. Pick the best player for the position, if that means some of our better players have to accept a spot on the bench then so be it.
Tony: Sensible selection by Carsley. In future when people moan about all the creative players not being on the pitch together, he can say, “Tried that, 0-0 against Greece. Now what’s your point?”.
Afterwards…
Mark: We are the new Belgium, right? All the talent in the world but can’t put it together on the pitch.
James: Embarrassingly bad. Credit to Greece but there’s no way they should be coming to Wembley and beating that England team. Hoping it’ll be a blessing in disguise because Carsley got that badly wrong and his team didn’t show up.
Tim: Kane or no Kane. We had two qualified strikers on the bench for most of it.
