Former Everton fans favourite Lee Carsley has dismissed suggestions that Real Madrid signed Thomas Gravesen by mistake instead of himself.
Now coach of the England Under-21s team, who he has steered into the final of the UEFA European Championship in Georgia and Romania against Spain on Saturday, Carsley was a hugely-popular figure for with Blues supporters during his six-year stay at Goodison Park between 2002-08. During the first half of the 2004/05 season when Everton were on their way to finishing fourth – their highest ever Premier League placing to date – Carsley’s central midfield partner was Thomas Gravesen who departed for Real Madrid during the January transfer window.
Given that both men looked similar with their bald heads and once at the Bernabeu the Dane found himself operating in the anchor man role his Republic of Ireland team-mate occupied at Everton, rumours subsequently abounded that the Spanish giants had somehow got the wrong man and that Carsley should have joined the Galacticos instead. However, he played down such suggestions in an interview with FourFourTwo.
Carsley said: “It’s a great story but anyone who believes a rumour like that couldn’t have watched us play that season: we look quite similar, but Thomas was so much better at football than me. He could dribble and create chances for others.
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“I was better at the things he wasn’t good at, like tackling and tracking runners. The funniest thing about him moving to Real Madrid was seeing him wearing his Everton club suit and tie when he attended his first press conference in Spain!”
Birmingham-born Carsley is working for the country of his birth but he was capped 40 times by the Republic of Ireland having qualified through his grandmother from Dunmanway, County Cork. While he is now proving successful as a coach at international level, the 49-year-old believes he could never fully reproduce his club form while turning out for the boys in green. Carsley said: “Representing the Republic of Ireland was big for me and my family. I had some good experiences but I don’t think I played well for Ireland, honestly, in 40 caps, I probably had three good games.
“I couldn’t replicate my club form at international level. I’m not sure why that was, but I think about it a lot.”
