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Lee Carsley is excited to work with a fit and firing Harry Kane after a “supportive” conversation with the England captain.
Carsley has stepped up from his Under-21 role to replace Gareth Southgate as England boss on an interim basis and named his first squad on Thursday for the Nations League fixtures later in September with Republic of Ireland and Finland.
Kane was named captain as expected, but Carsley reflected on the debate over the Bayern Munich forward’s form during Euro 2024 before he backed him to continue to deliver for his country.
“I’ve not spoken to a lot of the players, I always think it is better face to face, but with Harry being the captain I thought it was important to reach out,” Carsley said.
“The conversation will remain private but he was very supportive and looking forward to coming on camp. He is highly motivated to keep doing well which is brilliant for us.
“I think it is really easy to be reactive in a certain period. People do have poor games, people do lack form sometimes. I am not saying he is in that category at all, but there is such an expectancy and weight on him to score the goals and be the leader. I don’t see that being any different.
“Watching the games he’s played in so far and the condition he has come back in, obviously I’ve only seen him on the tactical cam, but he looks like he is in good form and looks really fit.
“So, that is what I have got to judge on. What happened in the summer, in form or out of form, good tournament or bad tournament, it is gone now. It is about what we do moving forward.”
Carsley’s maiden England squad featured nine changes to the Euro 2024 group, some enforced with Luke Shaw and Jude Bellingham injured, but Kieran Trippier has retired and Kyle Walker was left out.
It opened the door for three players from Carsley’s successful U21 group in Angel Gomes, Morgan Gibbs-White and Noni Madueke to earn maiden senior call-ups.
There are six players overall from the England youth team which won the U21 Euros in 2023 and Carsley admitted they do not appear to feel the pressure.
He said: “What I’ve noticed with the players from the Euros (U21s), that generation and age group, they don’t seem to feel it. They just take it in their stride.
“I remember before one of the games, maybe the semi-final, I was expecting them to be a bit nervous.
“You go into the dining room, the music is on, two or three of them are dancing, there is table tennis going on. I’m thinking, ‘hang on, you’re not nervous?!’
“Then I’m thinking should I make them aware they should be nervous? Whatever you put in front of them, they find a way of dealing with it.”
Carsley repeatedly side-stepped questions about whether he wanted the England job on a permanent basis on Thursday, but was happy to discuss his “informal conversations” with Republic of Ireland officials earlier in 2024.
“I just see it as a really good opportunity, a good challenge. I don’t feel I have been thrust into it,” the 50-year-old former Ireland midfielder said.
“I’ve been coaching for almost 20 years now and at different levels. I had numerous opportunities to manage senior teams but didn’t want to do them, I didn’t feel they were right for me.
“It wasn’t that I was offered the (Ireland) job or wanted the job or turned the job down or anything like that. It was far from that. It was quite an informal conversation. It was after the Under-21 Euros.
I started coaching when I was maybe 30 at Everton. David Moyes was very proactive with a lot of us getting our coaching badges.— England interim boss Lee Carsley
“At the start of my career someone’s advice was that if someone wants to meet you, make sure you go and meet them and pay them that respect, so I was really aware going into the conversation that I’ve got a really good job and I’m supported where I am.”
In a strange twist of fate, Carsley’s first match at senior international level will be against Ireland in Dublin and he has a Scotsman to thank for the nudge into coaching.
“I started coaching when I was maybe 30 at Everton. David Moyes was very proactive with a lot of us getting our coaching badges,” said Carsley, who revealed he coaches at Strachan Academy in Warwick once a week.
“So, we were already starting to think about the game and how that looks. Getting the opportunity that I did has brought me to this position.”
