Lee Carsley removes England handbrake with FIVE forwards set to start Greece clash
Lee Carsley's England side will take on Greece on Thursday night minus a striker as the interim boss attempts to get several of his attacking midfielders into the same team
by John Cross · The MirrorLee Carsley says he has got a “plan in place” to get his star midfield trio into the same England line-up.
Three Lions interim boss Carsley is set to unleash Jude Bellingham, Cole Palmer and Phil Foden in an attacking starting XI designed to entertain a sell-out Wembley crowd.
England captain Harry Kane is set to miss Thursday’s Nations League clash with Greece but hopes to be fit to face Finland on Sunday. Jack Grealish is also struggling to be fit as he is an injury doubt. And that could mean Bellingham plays in a false nine role with Carsley a big advocate of that system.
It would be at the expense of strikers Ollie Watkins and Dom Solanke who have been in good form but would allow Palmer and Foden to play centrally with Bukayo Saka and Anthony Gordon likely to be in the wide areas.
Carsley said: “I’ve definitely got a plan in place. The beauty of this job is you get a lot of time to think. In between driving from game to game you are constantly thinking about combinations, relationships.
“Also those three players are brilliant players but we have a squad of really, really exciting talented players that you have to have that feeling that you’ve earned your place rather than try and shoe-horn players into positions. Hopefully, touch wood, I think we’ll be ok.
“The squad’s in a really good condition which considering the amount of football that they’ve played, it’s fair to say we’re nursing a couple of bumps and bruises and aches and pains but nothing we’re not used to.
“It’s always that balance. The ideal world is you pick players that are on form but sometimes players who are out of form, maybe their role in that squad changes.”
Carsley said last week he would struggle to get all three stars into the same team - and yet now wants to do exactly that. It would certainly be a popular move with England fans as it would mean Foden, Palmer and Bellingham would be in central roles and ready to entertain Wembley.
England probable line-up (4-3-3): Pickford; Alexander-Arnold, Stones, Colwill, Lewis; Rice, Foden, Palmer; Saka, Gordon, Bellingham.
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