Carsley: Full Throttle – a weird attempt to reinvent was a tactical backfire | Barney Ronay

Yesterday at 06:59 PM

Interim England manager went full-on roar ball for the people but Greece claimed a shock win at Wembley

Lee Carsley achieved something at Wembley that might have seemed impossible just a few short weeks ago. On a thrilling, almost entirely shapeless night of international football Carsley made Gareth Southgate look as though, actually, just maybe, he might have known what he was doing, laying on a performance and tactical plan that it was in its own way a wonderfully selfless tribute to his oddly maligned predecessor.

Ok, Carsley seemed to be saying here. The people want full-on, brakes-off, English roar-ball. Let's see what that actually looks like. And the answer, of course, in any version of the real world, is... well, what exactly? Like a collapsed wedding cake rolling down an ornate set of stairs, while a football match takes place nearby. Like confused talented people running strangely. Like watching someone trying to construct a dinghy out of only liquorice, diamonds and vibes. At some point you will need some twine and a bit of driftwood. But carry on. It's kind of mesmerising.