Lee Carsley was one of the first men out from the England dressing room, almost an hour before kick-off. He only had the England goalkeepers for company and he stood arms crossed in the middle of the pitch watching them work.
Eventually, the outfield players and the rest of the staff came out to join him. Carsley stood, arms behind his back, discussing the drills with Ashley Cole. But he wanted to get involved and so with just half an hour to go before his England tenure began, Carsley was there near a mountain of footballs, firing in passes to Kobbie Mainoo and Declan Rice so they could take the ball on the half-turn and drive forward.
Closer and closer to kick-off, Carsley was still out there working with his players. He would stand on the edge of the box, grappling with an attacking player who would then get past him and try to convert a cutback. Only with 20 minutes left before kick-off did Carsley run back into the England dressing room.
Carsley said on Friday, when explaining why he does not sing the national anthem, that in the period immediately before kick-off he is wary of his “mind wandering off” and that he is thinking obsessively about how the game will go and how the opposition will set up. Maybe that explains why he accidentally walked into the home rather than away dugout when he emerged from the tunnel.
Carsley initially sat in the Ireland seats (Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile via Getty Images)
But what is certainly clear is that Carsley lives for this stuff: the little details with players, the precise work of preparation, the tactical scenarios he might have to face. The characterisation of the old regime was that Gareth Southgate was the public-facing leader while Steve Holland oversaw the nuts and bolts of the football. Carsley, however, appears to relish the football minutiae more than anyone.
Even at half-time, you could see Carsley, before he went in to speak to his players, sat in the dugout with his iPad. He explained afterwards that this is where he keeps all of the notes he made during the long thinking time before the game. “If they change to a four, this is how we can build. If they change to a three, this is how we can build.” So he refreshed his memory on key tactical points before going in and giving his players a few key tactical messages, just two or three bullet points for them to take on board.
This is just one small aspect of what has been a fascinating first look at Carsley in his first game in the England job. This weekend has made clear that as much as Carsley might talk about how he wants to build on Southgate’s work — he was very keen to say this was not a “fresh start” — the reality is that he is his own man and will do things his own way.
There was a lot to like about the football England played in the first half, the small tweaks Carsley had made to his Southgate inheritance. Anthony Gordon played as a high and wide winger, running in behind, and his run led to England’s first goal. Declan Rice was released to go box-to-box thanks to Trent Alexander-Arnold shifting into midfield behind him. Rice scored the first goal and set up the second.
Goals from Rice and Grealish gave Carsley victory (Michael Regan – The FA/The FA via Getty Images)
Carsley denied that we were watching the launch of ‘Carsball’ and insisted that this was not his style, but rather that of the players, so they should receive the credit. And yet the fact is players did things today that they did not always do under Southgate — and Carsley is the man responsible for that.
This international window was always going to be a learning experience as Carsley stepped into the senior job for the first time. He looked as if he loved the occasion, saying it was the proudest day of his career. Just to see him crouched down in the technical area, you could see a man living every minute, trying to process every little detail in front of him on the pitch.
And if the England job was only about picking players, coaching, tactics and systems, then you might well say that Carsley was perfect for the job. Here is someone who understands the system, knows the players, and can now fine-tune the team into winners.
But the other lesson of this weekend is that there is another side to being England manager. It involves being the public face and voice of English football, expected to have a considered view on almost everything. It means being able to speak comfortably on endless non-football topics (you might remember the row about the amended St George’s cross on England’s collars) and at times having to choose your words very carefully under great pressure.
This was the side of the job Southgate was exceptional at, pitch-perfect on almost every topic, so much so that he swiftly became the spokesman for the soul of the national game. (No one expected Roy Hodgson or Fabio Capello to do this.) Carsley has only been in the job for one game but has already found himself at the centre of one big controversy over whether he will sing the national anthem.
He gave an honest, genuine and entirely justifiable answer to the question on Friday, but it was also the type of situation Southgate was so good at defusing. Instead, it made the front page of two national newspapers and the back of many others, with The Telegraph saying he “can’t expect to manage England” if he doesn’t sing the anthem and a columnist in fellow right-wing paper The Daily Mail calling for him to be sacked before kick-off. It feels as if this is the side of the job, being that public spokesman, with every word scrutinised, where Carsley will have to learn fast.
Carsley does seem to accept that this comes with the territory. He will also know there will be more issues like this down the line. “I think you’ve probably got to accept that with that (job) does come a bit of judgement,” he said when asked if the fuss was all worth it. “I don’t feel hard done by. We move forward.”
(Top photo: Carl Recine/Getty Images)