A flurry of withdrawals from senior players has hit interim England manager Lee Carsley’s plans for his final two games in charge this week.
Experienced internationals Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Phil Foden and Jack Grealish – plus Cole Palmer, Levi Colwill, Aaron Ramsdale and late replacement Jarrad Branthwaite – are the nine players to have pulled out, many citing injury.
Captain Harry Kane questioned whether the fact that it was the third international break of a busy season had been “taken advantage of a little bit” and said he was unhappy about the number of players missing.
“I don’t really like it if I’m totally honest. I think England comes before anything, any club situation,” he told ITV Sport.
Some reports have mentioned pressure from clubs for the amount of drop-outs, with Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola critical of Grealish’s initial call-up for Nations League games against Greece and the Republic of Ireland.
And for players and fans, these two games represent a strange ‘limbo’ period before new head coach Thomas Tuchel takes over in January.
The replacements called up by Carsley, including Aston Villa’s Morgan Rogers, 22, and Liverpool’s Jarell Quansah, 21 have taken the squad’s average age down to just over 25 years. The squad also features six uncapped players.
England’s Euro 2024 squad under former manager Gareth Southgate had an average age of 26.1 years, which was already the third youngest at the tournament behind Turkey (25.8) and the Czech Republic (25.3).
Carsley said he would put “his own stamp” on the England squad during his time as interim boss and “freshen it up” with each get-together. He has certainly done that.
He has again turned to ‘England pathway’ players he knows well from his time as Under-21 manager, and even with Palmer and Colwill dropping out, there are still eight players from his Euro 2023 squad which beat Spain 1-0 in the final.
However, this is one of the least experienced squads in recent history, with Harry Kane (101) and Kyle Walker (91) making up almost half of the 400 caps across the entire squad. England’s high-profile withdrawals have 240 caps between them.
England need to win these two matches to earn automatic promotion back to the top level of the Nations League and ensure Tuchel’s first game is not a Nations League play-off rather than the World Cup qualifier he says he has planned for.
Tuchel will not be in Greece and Carsley said the German has had no influence over the squad selection for this match – and that “he is highly respectful” of the job that Carsley and his staff are doing.
Ultimately, Carsley’s lasting impact could be fast-tracking the next generation of England stars quicker than expected.
It all makes for an interesting ‘audition’ for some players in this squad.
1. Morgan Rogers
A player who has perhaps one of the biggest chances to impress is Aston Villa forward Morgan Rogers.
The 22-year-old has scored three goals and provided two assists in 11 games for his club side and the calls from outside the set-up for him to be included have probably been some of the loudest in recent weeks.
Rogers says he is ready to step up before the “clean slate” when Tuchel takes over.
“I just try and push myself every day and see what new levels I can reach. I have probably surprised myself a bit at times this season in how well I have done,” Rogers said.
“I have always believed in myself that I can get to this level and maintain it.”
Rogers plays in an area of the pitch where England have a lot of depth – but with Foden, Palmer, Grealish and Saka all out, the forward could have a great chance to show what he can do in a hostile environment against opponents that took England apart in September.
2. Curtis Jones
It feels like Liverpool midfielder Curtis Jones has been around the England set-up for a while and it is pretty incredible that the 23-year-old with almost 150 Liverpool appearances is yet to make his debut for the Three Lions.
Jones was named in the pre-Euro squad in June last year but did not make the cut and has been called up to the senior squad when there have been pull-outs in the past.
Carsley said Jones is “one of the best he’s worked with in terms of ability” and he could benefit from the absences of Kobbie Mainoo and Rice.
England have sometimes struggled to dominate possession against the bigger nations in major tournaments and Jones’ performances for Liverpool may be enough for Tuchel to think he’s someone who can help get them over the line.
Jones told BBC Radio 5 live his call-up was “huge” and the “perfect time” given his club form.
“It’s been a thing now which I have said for a while, I am not a young lad anymore,” he added.
“You know I have had the experience of Champions League games and Premier League games.”
3. Lewis Hall
England have had a problem filling the left-back position for a long time.
Southgate’s gamble on Luke Shaw’s fitness for the Euros – and having to use the right-footed Kieran Trippier instead – was one of the biggest talking points for fans.
Ben Chilwell has been frozen out at Chelsea and would need a move in January and some regular football before he can be considered again, although a positive for the full-back is that he won the 2020-21 Champions League under the incoming Tuchel.
Hall is only 20 but is excelling for Newcastle United, playing all 11 Premier League games this season – and was actually given his Chelsea debut by Tuchel as a 17-year-old.
“I am not sure if that means anything now, especially as I feel my game is completely different to how it was back then,” said Hall.
“He was a good person to me, he gave me my debut and without that, it wouldn’t have given me the confidence I got when I was younger.
“I had a bit of feeling [about being called up] purely because of the lack of out-and-out left-backs that there are in the squad.”
4. Angel Gomes
Lille midfielder Angel Gomes is very much a Carsley pick. He was one of the major reasons that the Under-21s won the Euros last summer.
However, it will be interesting to see if Tuchel sees the midfielder in his plans going forward.
Carsley said that Gomes controls games with his technique rather than his physicality and with Tuchel favouring football which can at times be described as pragmatic, it could be that Gomes is one who has more work to do than others to impress the new manager.
