Lee Carsley ready to return to Starbucks in peace after England stint comes to an end
England's interim manager Lee Carsley will take charge of the sixth and final match of his stint when the Republic of Ireland come to Wembley on Sunday in the Nations League
by Simon Mullock · The MirrorAt least Lee Carsley will be able to sip his coffee in peace once he steps down as England’s interim manager.
Carsley’s six-game stint in the job that every one of the nation’s 50 million men and women think they can do better will come to an end after the final Nations League clash against the Republic of Ireland at Wembley on Sunday
And it’s fair to say that the 50-year-old Birmingham-born Irish international will remember a few of the conversations he’s had on his travels up and down the country’s motorways to watch his players.
A victory will clinch promotion. But it will be in the coming years and months that new coach Thomas Tuchel could reap the benefit of Carsley’s mission to bring some of the young players who he guided to the European Under-21 championship two years ago into the senior squad.
His policy hasn’t always been appreciated by the supporters he’s met on the road. “I’m pretty low key in terms of where I go,” said Carsley. “We don’t eat out a lot and I don’t spend a lot of time in supermarkets.
“I still go to group football on a Friday with my lad and stand behind the goal to fetch the balls for the kids. But when I have been out and about, it feels like the fans are really connected with the team. They like the fact that it looks younger, it looks energetic, it looks fresh.
“They’ve been quite positive - but it makes me laugh that everyone’s got an opinion on the team and the players and the squad. I’m on the road a lot, so service stations are where I seem to get the most advice.
“Some of it is good, some of it is not so good. I seem to meet a lot of West Ham fans, very Jarrod Bowen-heavy. I was in a queue in a Starbucks one time, and a fella was talking about playing the false nine and the tactics after the Greece game. I just wanted a soy latte!”
What have you made of Lee Carsley's brief tenure? Have your say in the comments section
Carsley will slip back into the role of producing players that he has filled with such distinction since being appointed head coach of the Under-20s team in 2015. But while he will only offer Tuchel the benefit of his advice if the German seeks it, the former Republic midfielder is keen to point out that more progress has to be made if England are to take the final step to success after losing the last two Euro finals under Gareth Southgate.
Carsley said: “It would have been quite easy to pick the squad that was at the Euros because they are tried and tested. But I keep reminding myself that, as close as we got, we still haven’t won yet. To keep repeating the same thing and expect something different, I think we would have missed a trick.
“It was important that I was really respectful to what has gone on in the past, but realising that we do need to move it forward. Maybe not at a sprint, but we need to be moving the team forward.”
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