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Lee Carsley is set to hand Angel Gomes his first England start in tomorrow’s Nations League clash against Finland at Wembley.
Gomes, 24, made his senior debut as a substitute in the win over the Republic of Ireland at the weekend and Carsley has been training with him alongside Declan Rice in midfield ahead of his second game as caretaker manager.
It will mark a rapid rise for the former Manchester United midfielder, who won the Under-21 Euros with Carsley and was on Gareth Southgate’s radar but did not receive his first senior call-up until last month.
Carsley is set to change his backline from Dublin, with Rico Lewis set to start at left-back and John Stones arriving at the heart of defence, while Ezri Konsa has been pushing for a departure.
The England manager spoke glowingly of Gomes ahead of the Finland clash, and described him as a rare talent when explaining his selections ahead of the team meeting.
“I spoke about it when we were selecting the team, I think we have to get used to having that kind of player,” Carsley said. “He’s not box-to-box, he’s not very physical but technically he can control a game from midfield with his positioning and his technique.
“If we want to win a major tournament, we need diversity. We need versatile players and I think he fits that category.”
Stones is set to start for the first time this season for club or country after appearing as a second-half substitute in Dublin.
The 30-year-old could partner Konsa in central defence, with Harry Maguire and Marc Guehi given a rest.
Guehi was England’s best player at the European Championship after Stones after Maguire was not selected for the away squad.
Konsa also played alongside Stones when Guehi was suspended in Germany and Carsley appears to view the trio, along with Maguire, as his best options in central defence.
Lewis is also looking to start at left-back in place of Levi Colwill, while Carsley attempts to find solutions to England’s positional problem.
With Luke Shaw injured, Colwill, who played in central defence for Chelsea, performed well as a makeshift left-back against the Republic of Ireland.
Lewis could now get his chance in a position where England have struggled to find options in recent years.
With Ben Chilwell out of favour at Chelsea and unlikely to play in the first team until January unless he joins a Turkish side, Carsley must find solutions at left-back.
Rotation is essential after a busy summer
Kieran Trippier was Gareth Southgate’s replacement on the left flank but has retired from international duty.
Carsley was aware of the need to be cautious with his players so early in the season, particularly those who played at the Euros.
“We have to be realistic and think that the players who haven’t had a lot of time off in the summer have come back without having played as many minutes as expected to be able to approach, in particular, a game in Dublin at the pace we thought and with the physicality,” Carsley said.
“It just gave us an opportunity to work with them a little bit more during the week. There’s maybe four or five of them that need that extra work and that extra day of training that I hope will help them.”
The fact that Declan Rice is suspended for Arsenal’s next Premier League game against Tottenham Hotspur means he could start for England again.
Rice scored in Dublin and Carsley believes he is not just a defensive midfielder, saying: “I think Declan can play a lot of roles. I’ve seen him play lower down for West Ham and Arsenal and recently in higher positions. You can see that in the way he scored his goal.”
“I think it’s really important that he continues to add goals and assists to his game. If you’re playing in those higher areas, it’s a really good asset to have, scoring a goal every week or contributing assists. It’s something that’s important.”
England (likely, 4-2-3-1): Pickford; Alexander-Arnold, Stones, Konsa, Lewis; Rice, Gomes; Saka, Grealish, Gordon; Kane.
Finland (likely, 4-2-3-1): Hradecky; Stahl, Hoskonen, Ivanov, Galvez; Peltola, Kamara; Lod, Nissila, Antman; Pohjanpalo
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