England debuts possible for several Premier League stars as Lee Carsley names final squad

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Lee Carsley will name his final England squad at 2pm on Thursday as he prepares to hand over to Thomas Tuchel in January.

The interim boss’ farewell fixtures come in the Nations League against Greece on November 14 and the Republic of Ireland on November 17.

Though Carsley’s time in charge of the Three Lions has been brief, he has a chance to secure at least a respected place in the ranks of their managers by securing promotion to League A of the competition. England currently sit second in Group B2, with 9 points to Greece’s 12 after the Greeks emerged victorious at Wembley in October. That faltering performance from Carsley’s team means England will need to win at least one of their remaining fixtures; wins in both would secure the top spot and automatic promotion.

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Lee Carsley Lee Carsley
Lee Carsley | Getty Images

If they stay in second, they will have to go through the playoffs to be promoted.

Carsley’s squad and team selection has had mixed results so far. He was praised initially for handing call-ups to promising young talents such as Angel Gomes, Morgan Gibbs-White, and Noni Madueke. That faith was repaid with 2-0 victories over the Republic of Ireland and Finland, and the interim manager appeared a serious contender to carry on in the job.

For his October camp, he made a few changes to the squad: Dominic Solanke was called up, Jude Bellingham returned from injury, and Jarrod Bowen, Eberechi Eze, and Tino Livramento were dropped.

However, Carsley’s progress faltered badly at Wembley against Greece. He opted for an all-guns-blazing attacking line-up that packed in Bellingham, Phil Foden, Anthony Gordon, Bukayo Saka, and Cole Palmer - and it backfired horribly. England looked confused, lost, and unbalanced.

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Underdogs Greece took advantage to claim a 2-1 win. It could well have been more, with three goals ruled out for offside. The game that followed, against Finland in Helsinki, was a more routine 3-1 win in a largely conventional setup. Carsley’s willingness to experiment had clearly wavered - and three days later, Thomas Tuchel’s appointment from January was confirmed.

So with two games left to secure his legacy, who could Carsley call on? His options have already been narrowed by a host of injuries. Manchester United’s injury list rules out Harry Maguire, Kobbie Mainoo, and Luke Shaw, while City’s John Stones has a foot injury and may not be available.

Declan Rice was forced to miss Arsenal’s trip to Inter Milan, and Crystal Palace pair Eberechi Eze and Adam Wharton are ruled out through injury too. Cole Palmer has been out of Chelsea training after a heavy tackle from United’s Lisandro Martínez on the weekend, though Enzo Maresca said he hopes the forward will be available again this weekend.

That litany of injured players opens the door for Carsley to hand out more debuts as a parting gift. Liverpool’s Curtis Jones has stepped into a more prominent role under Arne Slot and was named in last month’s squad before being forced to withdraw through injury. Now back to fitness, this could be his chance to finally make it onto the pitch for his country.

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Morgan Rogers of Aston VillaMorgan Rogers of Aston Villa
Morgan Rogers of Aston Villa | Getty Images

Aston Villa’s Morgan Rogers, meanwhile, enjoyed an international debut for the under-21s under Carsley’s management in March but has so far not made the cut for his senior squads. After a string of impressive performances that have helped the Villans make a strong start to their season - including remaining in the top eight of the Champions League in their first European campaign for decades - he must be in contention.

Tino Livramento - who was first called up by Carsley in September, but missed out last month and has not made his debut - may come back into the fold with a raft of his defensive competitors out injured, and his young Newcastle colleague Lewis Hall is also an outside candidate for selection.

How Carsley is remembered hinges almost entirely on his final fixtures. If he fails to secure automatic promotion in a group where England were overwhelming favourites, his team’s dismal performance against Greece will be the lasting image of his tenure and he will become the face of a missed opportunity to restore faith in the team.

If he wins his final two games, though, that will be nothing but an ugly blip. Plenty of England fans had been crying out for Gareth Southgate to pack more of England’s attacking firepower into the same line-up - by that token, they can hardly blame Carsley for giving it a go. Should he manage to steady the ship enough to continue the momentum of their win over Finland, all will be forgiven.

Carsley names his squad at 2pm on Thursday before England face Greece in Athens on November 14 and host the Republic of Ireland at Wembley on November 17.

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