September 7th 2024.
Lee Carsley has been the talk of the town since leading England to an impressive 2-0 win against the Republic of Ireland. Fans are now calling for him to be appointed as the permanent manager, and it's not hard to see why.
Before the match, there was a lot of buzz around Carsley's decision not to sing the national anthem, but all that was quickly forgotten as he silenced his critics with a remarkable debut performance in Dublin.
England's cautious approach during Euro 2024, under the leadership of Gareth Southgate, had faced a lot of scrutiny. Despite reaching the final, the team's tactics were heavily criticized in Germany. However, Carsley's side played with a refreshing sense of freedom from the very beginning, and it paid off as they took a convincing 2-0 lead in the first half thanks to goals from Declan Rice and Jack Grealish.
Even though the hosts managed to limit England's attacks in the second half, they were never able to reduce the deficit. Carsley must have been delighted to start his tenure with a win.
Former England and Arsenal striker Ian Wright was full of praise for Carsley's approach at half-time, saying, "There seems to be a willingness to pass it forward, pass it quicker. There's a lot more movement. Obviously, he's [Carsley] talking about playing with freedom. I don't want to give them too much [praise] because Ireland aren't getting tight enough to them, but you have to say that they are moving it quicker, they are playing with a lot more freedom."
The fact that Grealish, who was targeted with loud boos from the Irish fans, scored the second goal only added to the significance of England's victory in Dublin. This win was extra special for Carsley, who had won 40 caps for the Republic of Ireland as a player, qualifying for the country through his grandmother.
There's no confirmation from the FA about Carsley's future in the role, but his performance in Ireland has certainly boosted his chances. He will now look to make it two wins in a row when England host Finland in front of a home crowd at Wembley on Tuesday night.
As fans took to social media to praise Carsley's approach and urge for his appointment as the full-time manager, the man himself remained humble and gave credit to his players for the win. "I thought it was good in parts. I think you've seen some of the things that we've tried to do. The lads have got to take a lot of credit, well all of the credit. I think we've shown that we have some real talent. We can be really pleased with the clean sheet as well," Carsley said in an interview after the match.
He was particularly impressed with Rice and Grealish's goals, saying, "I thought they both took their goals really well, really well-worked moves and brilliant finishes. I think they can both, moving forward, score a lot more goals and add goals to their game." With Carsley at the helm, England fans can look forward to an exciting and positive style of play in the future.
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