Marcus Rashford and Kyle Walker left OUT of England squad as Lee Carsley leans on his U21 squad for upcoming Nations League fixtures
- Lee Carsley has named his 26-man squad for England’s Nations League matches
- There are some major omissions and surprising additions to his first selection
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Marcus Rashford and Kyle Walker are among the players left out of Lee Carsley’s first-team squad for England’s upcoming Nations League matches.
There have been a number of notable additions to the squad, including Chelsea’s Noni Madueke – who just scored a hat-trick against Wolves – Newcastle defender Tino Livramento and Lille midfielder Angel Gomes.
The latter’s squad was acquired two weeks ago after he suffered a serious head injury during a Ligue 1 match against Reims, which saw him carried off the field on a stretcher.
Nottingham Forest midfielder Morgan Gibbs-White has received his first call-up to the first-team, while Jack Grealish, Rico Lewis, Levi Colwill and Nick Pope return to the squad.
One player not available for selection was Kieran Trippier, who today announced his retirement from playing for England after making 54 international appearances in his career.
Ben White is still absent from the squad despite the fact that Gareth Southgate and Steve Holland are no longer part of the coaching staff.
Jude Bellingham was also a player who was unavailable for selection after suffering an injury at Real Madrid.
Other players who were included in the Euro 2024 squad but did not play include Aaron Ramsdale, Luke Shaw, Lewis Dunk, Joe Gomez, Adam Wharton and Ivan Toney.
At his first press conference announcing the squad, Carsley said he wanted to ‘put his own stamp on the squad’ and promised to ask the players to ‘play to their strengths’.
On Walker’s omission, Carsley said: “I wanted to make a mark on the squad. Kyle hasn’t played this season. City are phasing him in and we have to respect that.”
Carsley addressed the additions of Gibbs-White and Gomes, both of whom have featured in Carsley’s U21 teams in the past, adding: “Morgan is attacking, full of energy and a great attitude. Excellent work ethic. A lot of the players I’ve called up are used to winning.
‘Angel is different to what we have seen in midfield before. He controls the game with skill and technique rather than being robust.’
In his role as interim England manager, he will mainly try to get the best out of Liverpool star Trent Alexander-Arnold. Southgate has not succeeded in that.
At Euro 2024, Alexander-Arnold started the first two games in midfield before Southgate decided to replace him.
Asked which position would best suit the Liverpool vice-captain, Carsley said: ‘For me and for this camp, he will be a right-back. Modern full-backs have all-round qualities that almost make them midfielders. At some point we will see TAA move into that midfield, but I see him as a right-back.’
Carsley’s first match as interim coach is against Ireland on September 7. Three days later they play Finland.
He said: ‘I’m really confident in the job I can do. We have a real capacity to be successful in the future.
‘The aim for the next England manager is to win something. I have brought in coaches that I can trust. Good coaches, but more importantly good people.
‘Spain did well (by promoting the Dutch under-21 national team coach), but that doesn’t mean it’s a blueprint.’