Tribal Football

Carsley convinced by potential of current England squad

Carsley convinced by potential of current England squad
Carsley convinced by potential of current England squadAction Plus
England caretaker coach Lee Carsley is convinced by the potential of the current team.

The U21 boss has been criticised after their defeat at Wembley to Greece.

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Ahead of facing Finland, Carsley said: “The last thing that is important to me in this whole process is me. I don’t see this as an audition. I don’t see it as the biggest chance I have ever had. I see it as a privilege. I see it as an unbelievable responsibility.

“I have got three more games left, I want to try to make sure that the squad are in a really good position, that we have seen different players play in different positions and we are in a healthy position.

“I mean, we've been so close in the past and with a bit more luck or belief on our side it could have been different. But as we stand at the minute it's not, so I believe that we could be coming into a phase of that kind of success.

“I have to try something because we’ve got to put ourselves in a position where we can win. To think that we can just do the same again and expect something different is naive. I’m really wary of the fact that the last time we won something was 1966 so we have to have that ability to try something different.

“It’s not put me off. I don’t want to sit back in a month’s time with regrets that I was safe. This is a great opportunity, not only for myself, but for the rest of the staff and the players to try something different.

“We’re also looking at bigger picture in terms of the World Cup qualification and then hopefully the World Cup, that we’ve got a good understanding of the player capabilities.

“I think the past potentially is a good indicator of the future and we've got quite a few players now that are currently in the squad and around the squad that have won a lot with England through the age groups. They've felt that before.

“If you think back of that Germany team and the Spain team that were really successful at the younger age groups that came through, I think potentially we could be coming into a period of that ilk.”