Lee Carsley suffered his first defeat as interim England manager and fans have noticed an intriguing moment during the clash against Greece.
Carsley raised eyebrows with his team selection for the Nations League fixture at Wembley, starting without a recognised striker in the absence of captain Harry Kane.
Real Madrid star Jude Bellingham started in the false nine role and thought he had spared England’s blushes by rescuing a point in the 87th minute but Vangelis Pavlidis netted his second goal of the game in the fourth minute of injury time to secure a historic victory for the visitors.
It was the first time in Greece’s history that they had beaten the Three Lions.
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Carsley’s attacking line up featured Phil Foden, Anthony Gordon, Bukayo Saka and Cole Palmer in the starting XI and the performance of Foden has been put under the microscope by England supporters.
The Man City man struggled during the European Championship following his best-ever season at club level and has been called out for his performances at international level.
One moment during the game against Greece has gone viral on social media and has sparked debate between supporters of multiple Premier League clubs.
The clip calls out Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice for his unwillingness to play a forward pass with Rico Lewis in space. Rice instead plays a safe ball backwards to Levi Colwill which prompts Foden to visibly show his frustration.
One fan said: “This guy is a box to box for a mid-table side that scores the odd goal, that’s his level. Not being the lone 6 for England.”
However, another rebuked: “Did you post the wrong clip? The only one who looks bad here is Foden who passes it backwards where the opponent is pressing him from instead of going forward.”
Speaking after the defeat, Carsley took the blame for implementing an experimental line up.
He said: “It was a challenging night for us and we were second best. It's disappointing. We experimented and it didn't come off.
“You have to have the courage to try things, but I'm happy to take the blame for this, because it was my idea.”
Topics: England, Phil Foden, Declan Rice, Jude Bellingham, Lee Carsley
Marcus Banks