I for one feel sorry that Lee Carsley fucked up so badly as the interim England coach as his team crashed to an embarrassing 2-1 home defeat to Greece last Thursday. A selection I foolishly backed before the game was so very wrong that the only wonder is that England did not lose the game by much more than a mere 2-1. It could easily have been six or seven. A minor redemption took place on Sunday as Carsley’s charges swept past a modest Finland but I fear the real damage has been done.
Sure we were better against Finland but Carsley still managed to piss me off by fielding Trent Alexander Arnold, a once in a generation right back, at left back, leading to a number of defensive errors when the Liverpool vice captain was caught on the wrong, left, foot. At least Carsley has been playing Alexander Arnold where his predecessor stuck loyally with the slowly fading Kyle Walker. The argument that we have no decent left backs, never mind no world class ones, is a fair one, but I am baffled that one of our greatest players gets shunted out of position, just as he was under Southgate.
I wanted, maybe still want, Lee Carsley to succeed Southgate because I want an Englishman to have the job and I understood, perhaps naively, that the FA had put a succession plan in place. It is becoming very clear that the powers that be are prepared to throw a very large fortune the way of Pep Guardiola.
The Catalan has said he wants to manage an international team and clearly that will never be Spain. He rarely goes anywhere unless he is guaranteed enormous resources, at clubs that is usually money and an expensive squad of world class players, and a vast salary. That, combined with England’s bulging treasure trove of talent (except in goal, at left back and there being no obvious alternative to Harry Kane), could well appeal. My guess is that apart from Manchester City fans, Pep’s appointment would be the most popular. He’s a winner, isn’t he? He’s bound to win stuff for England. Isn’t he?
Maybe he might come in and win the World Cup and the European Championships because after all we’ve already been down the road of choosing Fabio Capello and Sven-Goran Eriksson, who both won … er … nothing. But this would be different, except would it?
Pep would not be able to buy Ederson, Rodri or Haaland. A run of injuries would see lower Premier league goalkeepers (actually, they already are) and either inadequate left backs or out of position right backs taking places in the team. No question that Guardiola is a great coach but how much coaching can he get across to his charges in the few days before an international game? More than that, how can he deal with the pressure that often means the England shirt hangs so heavy on our apparent superstars? Arguably, the pressure of expectation would be even greater with The Best Coach In The World in charge.
Is Guardiola a better coach than Carsley? Silly question. In club football, the former is among the best ever. Is Carsley up to the job? The chaos of the selection and team performance last week suggests not, yet people in the game insist that actually he is a fine coach who improves players. Personally, I don’t think any of this will matter.
When it comes to the FA, they have a long history of picking the wrong man, hence England’s failure to win anything in the last 58 years. Gareth Southgate was unquestionably the most successful since Sir Alf Ramsey led us to glory at a time when even God was a child. But for all manner of reasons, the best he could do was heroic failure, which was still a big improvement on embarrassing failure and humiliation.
The FA’s clunking actions and Guardiola’s non-denial denials make me think that he will be England’s next supremo. It could be that he is the man that English football needs and that unlike Capello, who was only interested in the national team, he will transform the game at all levels and encourage a new generation of young English coaches to come through. In which case etc etc.
You can always rely on the FA to make things worse. Perhaps this time they will roll the dice, because this is how they operate, and hit the jackpot and everyone will live happily ever after.
I wanted Carsley to succeed, maybe he still will, but the odds are that Josep Guardiola Sala will be the new head honcho and, because I want England to win, I’ll get behind him, just like I did with all the others, even the chronic missteps like Sam Allardyce, Steve MacClaren and Graham Taylor. It usually ends in tears and, as Gary Lineker always says, it’s the hope that kills you.
