Alan Shearer has expressed strong criticism of interim England manager Lee Carsley following the Three Lions’ unexpected defeat to Greece at Wembley on Thursday. The former England striker believes that Ollie Watkins should be particularly frustrated after Carsley opted for an experimental tactic that ultimately failed, leaving England without a traditional striker in the lineup.
In the absence of the injured Harry Kane, many had anticipated that Watkins, who has been in fine form for Aston Villa, would be given a chance to lead the attack. However, Carsley surprised fans by fielding a formation with no out-and-out striker, instead deploying five other attackers in an unfamiliar setup. This tactical gamble did not pay off, as England struggled to maintain possession and were frequently exposed to counter-attacks.
Greece took full advantage of England’s disjointed display, with Vangelis Pavlidis netting a stoppage-time goal, his second of the night, shortly after Jude Bellingham had equalized. Reflecting on the match, Shearer stated on the Rest is Football podcast, “You’d be absolutely raging if you were Ollie Watkins. Your main man, or your main centre forward, is injured, and you’ve been crying out for an opportunity. And when you’ve come on, you’ve actually done alright, in terms of Watkins, and he’s doing well at club level.”
He further elaborated, “Yet when Kane’s out, the manager comes to you and says: ‘I’m not going to play you tonight, at home against Greece. I’m going to try something different.’ He’s got every right to be angry. He should be knocking on his door tomorrow, saying: ‘I have to play the next game, if Kane’s not fit.’”
While Kane is expected to return to the starting lineup for the upcoming match against Finland, Carsley maintained that he would continue to adhere to his attacking philosophy, stating, “My position and my understanding of coaching, I want to attack. You’ve seen the teams play at Under-21s level. It’s something that’s really important to me and with that you do lose games. You do lose some games.”
Despite the disappointing result, Carsley emphasized his commitment to his approach: “It’s not ideal, of course it’s not, but with that mentality, I’ve found that you definitely win more games than not. It’s very disappointing tonight, but nothing changes in terms of the way that I see the game. It’s not affected how I see it.”
