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Interim England boss Lee Carsley wants to avoid a “copy and paste” selection policy and says players will only be picked on merit.
Carsley named a 25-man squad for next week’s Nations League games against Greece and Finland on Wednesday as he continues to get his feet under the table following his temporary appointment in the wake of Gareth Southgate’s exit.
Eberechi Eze, Harry Maguire, Tino Livramento and Jared Bowen have been cut from Carsley’s first squad last month, while James Maddison and Marcus Rashford have also been overlooked.
Southgate was often accused by critics of picking his favourites, but Carsley says every player should feel their selection is deserved.
“The players I’ve left out I could make a case for them being in, but ultimately I have to make those decisions,” he said.
“I thought a lot about combinations, relationships we can have with players on the pitch.
“In the back of my mind I wanted to make sure it feels fresh, feels that when you get that email or WhatsApp that you’ve been called up that it’s an achievement because it shouldn’t be something that is taken for granted.
“I thought it was important that it is not just a copy and paste, I want them to feel like they have earned their place in the squad.
“There is definitely a balance with that, because you need to create a team spirit, a unity within the squad and, every time a window comes along, you could have the feeling of, ‘Will I, won’t I?’.
“But the reality is you want a player to be coming in in top from and fighting for a position in the team.
I thought it was important that it is not just a copy and paste, I want them to feel like they have earned their place in the squad
Lee Carsley
“Getting out of this Nations League is important for us in terms of setting up the World Cup qualification.
“Whether I’m here or not, it’s important we are in a favourable pattern and in a position to win the World Cup.”
Carsley attended the UEFA men’s national team coaches and technical directors conference in Berlin last month and revealed his counterparts were purring at England’s embarrassment of riches in the attacking department, but thought it could be a problem.
The 50-year-old is relishing the selection headache of trying to fit Cole Palmer, Jude Bellingham and Phil Foden into the same team but says it is unlikely to happen in the forthcoming games.
“When I attended the conference a couple of weeks ago, a lot of the head coaches spoke about how many good players we’ve got, but they almost referred to it as a problem,” he said.
“Whereas I am thinking it’s a nice problem to have.
“I think, with the period of the season we are in, I can probably justify why we wouldn’t start all three of them at the same time in terms of the amount of games they’re playing, what they are going back to and what they have come from.
“And some of the stages they are at in terms of potentially just coming back from injury or not had that many minutes. We just need to find the balance.
“I think what’s important is that we get them all on the pitch at some point and we try to find the balance.
“But, like I say, I think it’s a nice problem to have.”
Tottenham striker Dominic Solanke has been called up for the first time in seven years, having made his only previous appearance in a friendly against Brazil in 2017.
