FA ‘impressed’ by two Carsley factors as England appointment deadline and ‘next test’ emerges

Some figures at the FA have been ‘impressed’ by how Lee Carsley has risen to the challenge of becoming interim England manager, with his ‘next test’ clear.

Carsley has been given a six-game run as temporary successor to Gareth Southgate, who stepped down as England manager in the aftermath of the defeat to Spain in the Euro 2024 final .

The interim reign has started with a couple of strong 2-0 victories over the Republic of Ireland and Finland as England have made a flawless start to their latest Nations League campaign.

In making an eye-catching first squad selection, handing senior debuts to Noni Madueke, Morgan Gibbs-White and the excellent Angel Gomes, while dropping Ivan Toney, Kyle Walker and Aaron Ramsdale from the Euros squad, while picking right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold at right-back, Carsley has already shown he can make difficult calls.

But the Daily Telegraph say that figures at the FA were particularly ‘impressed’ with how he sidestepped the ridiculous manufactured controversy surrounding his decision not to sing the national anthem .

That and Carsley’s ‘brave squad and team decisions’ have put him in a strong position to replace Southgate permanently.

He remains towards the top of a shortlist which still includes Eddie Howe, Graham Potter, Frank Lampard and ‘dream appointment’ Pep Guardiola, with the FA already having ‘spoken to a wide variety of managers’ and considered ‘a number of external candidates’.

Former Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp is not among them.

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Their hope is to decide on a permanent Southgate successor before the 2026 World Cup qualification campaign starts in March, with Carsley’s ‘next test’ clear: to ‘integrate’ Jude Bellingham, Phil Foden and Cole Palmer and a select few others into his squad to face Greece and Finland in October, ‘without upsetting England’s balance’.

Carsley himself has underlined his desire to take on the job and lead England into a new era.

“I am up for it. I think I am up for it,” he said. “I think I’m very grounded. The most important thing about this job is the football for me, making sure we create a good environment for the players to perform in.

“It’s been a good week. I think like all these things, when you have such a build-up to it, you play it out in your mind on how it’s going to go.

“It definitely couldn’t have gone any better in terms of the way the players responded to some of the concepts that we tried to put in place, the way that the new players have gelled with the older ones. It’s been an all-round positive camp.

“I think I’ve been lucky enough to see the job quite up close, over the last couple of years with me doing the U21s. I’ve seen some of the challenges that go with it. I think from a [news] conference point of view, it’s shown that I can do it, or we can do it as a staff.”

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