I want England to be expansive and attack, says Lee Carsley, drawing line under Gareth Southgate era

Interim manager praises predecessor Southgate but admits he wants national side to be more enterprising, not least against strongest sides

Lee Carsley said he wanted more control and confidence from England as he shook up the squad in his first selection as interim manager.
However, he refused to say he wanted the job permanently – and even added that he would happily return to his role as coach of the Under-21s after the six games he has been put in charge of for the Nations League campaign.
Carsley revealed that he had not applied to succeed Gareth Southgate, but he is clearly the Football Association’s favourite. “I want our players to be on the ball, I want our team to attack. I want us to be expansive,” Carsley said, adding it was “important we put our own mark on the squad”.
He certainly did that with his first squad of 26 to face the Republic of Ireland in Dublin next week and the Wembley fixture against Finland.
In comes Lille’s former Manchester United midfielder Angel Gomes, Chelsea pair Levi Colwill and Noni Madueke, Manchester City’s Rico Lewis, Newcastle United’s Tino Livramento and Morgan Gibbs-White of Nottingham Forest.
There are also recalls for Harry Maguire, Jack Grealish and goalkeeper Nick Pope while the high-profile omissions include Kyle Walker, James Maddison, Marcus Rashford and Ivan Toney. Jude Bellingham, Luke Shaw and Jarrad Branthwaite are injured while 33-year-old Kieran Trippier has announced his retirement from international football. Adam Wharton returns to the England Under-21s and Lewis Dunk has been dropped as has goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale.
Nine players have been omitted from the squad Southgate took to the Euros, while five of those included won the Under-21s Euros under Carsley last year.
“We’ve got two or three [underage] World Cup winners within this squad, lads that are used to winning in an England shirt. That goes a long way. The control thing is definitely something we need to be better at,” he said.
Carsley admitted that he could sense “frustration” at the way England played in Germany. “I don’t think it’s just a senior issue. It’s a bit of a confidence issue from us,” he said. 
“It’s about, in the biggest moments and the biggest games, having the players that are capable of taking the ball and playing – and playing in the right areas and understanding what the opposition are doing and how the game has changed. Making sure you’re in a position where you can dominate your opponent in and out of possession is a big thing.”
Carsley paid tribute to Southgate’s work and added that the remit for the next permanent England manager was clear: to win a tournament. “The expectation now is high and should be,” he said. “We have some of the best players in the world. The next full-time head coach knows what the expectations are.”
Carsley was coy on whether he wanted that job. “I’ve not really thought about it that much. Honestly, I’ve not,” he said. “My priority is just doing a good job. The best person whoever it is out there, whether that’s me or not, I wouldn’t worry too much about it. I was really, and I still am, really proud of being the Under-21s head coach.”