Lee Carsley’s interim reign as England manager lasted six games, but he certainly made his mark.
Experimental squads filled with young and untested players fired the Three Lions back to Nations League A, where Thomas Tuchel will pick up Carsley’s good work next year. Last Thursday’s 3-0 win in Greece and Sunday’s five-goal thrashing of the Republic of Ireland were particularly promising, and there were two stars in particular who started and starred in both fixtures.
Neither Curtis Jones nor Noni Madueke had a single senior England cap to their name by the time Carsley took temporary charge in August. In a matter of weeks they have made it virtually impossible for Tuchel to drop them in his first squad announcement.
Jones wasn’t even called up until this most-recent international break. But the Liverpool ace made a barnstorming impression in a deep-lying midfield role, scoring against Greece with an ingenious flick and controlling the tempo against Ireland at Wembley.
The 23-year-old looks a new man under Reds boss Arne Slot this campaign and Tuchel will have to show him serious consideration off the back of his first two England appearances, which have thrust him straight into contention for a regular starting spot in midfield.
As with virtually every position, competition is intense. Declan Rice is a shoo-in, Kobbie Mainoo will be a serious candidate when fit, and Conor Gallagher also acquitted himself well against Greece and Ireland.
However, on current form, Jones is right up there. And he has made it incredibly difficult for Tuchel to look past him ahead of the manager’s first England games in March.
Madueke is another young player who has thrown his name into the mixer. The Chelsea wide man was electric down the right flank against Greece, jinking to the byline and setting up Ollie Watkins for a crucial seventh-minute opener which set the Three Lions on their way.
He was lively against Ireland, too, posing a constant threat to Callum O’Dowda. Like Jones, it would be a major surprise if Madueke was left out by Tuchel.
The 22-year-old made a slow start at Chelsea but he has now nailed down their right-wing berth, scoring five goals in all competitions this season. The main obstacle to his route into the England line-up is Bukayo Saka.
Whether Tuchel will look to accommodate both players by shifting Madueke across remains to be seen, given that left-winger Anthony Gordon was a bright performer himself during England’s two most-recent matches.
Before handing over the reins to his German successor and returning to the Under-21s, Carsley addressed his tactic of throwing the nation’s young stars in at the deep end. “We spoke about not only gaining promotion from the Nations League but to potentially increase the pool of players Thomas has got to choose from,” he explained.
“The challenge now for the players that have been involved for the last three camps is to be in and around the March squad. A lot of them have done themselves a lot of good in terms of enhancing their reputation of their ability to play in the England senior team and gaining a cap is no mean feat. I’m really proud for a lot of them.”
