England 2 Finland 0: Lee Carsley's swap shop gives another routine win a different feel

In many ways it looked very different, but when it came down to it, the storyline was very familiar for England in Lee Carsley's first game as interim manager at Wembley.

The Three Lions got very good at grinding down lesser opposition under Gareth Southgate and their relegation into the second tier of Nations League football means they will be facing even more of it between now and the next World Cup.

Sometimes the opening goal came early but often England fans were made to wait, and once it did the result was never in doubt. And more often than not, Harry Kane scored.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

It took 58 minutes for England's record goalscorer to break the deadlock, marking his 100th appearance with a goal just like Bobby Charlton and Wayne Rooney, the two men closest to him as the country's top-scorer did.

He added a second for good measure, but Carlsey subbed him before he could score a hat-trick, the game decisively won, 2-0, job done.

There was even the familiar rendition of Sweet Caroline, although this time in Finnish accents from the pocket of away fans.

If what happened was pretty familiar, the method was quite different.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

On the night Wembley paid tribute to Sven-Goran Eriksson, the architect of a very stolid, traditional 4-4-2, England produced football more in keeping with the Dutch teams of the 1970s.

BALL ROLLING: Harry Kane scores England's first goal and his 67th at international levelBALL ROLLING: Harry Kane scores England's first goal and his 67th at international level
BALL ROLLING: Harry Kane scores England's first goal and his 67th at international level

When Carsley took over as interim manager, we were expecting tweaks, not revolution. But the adjustments he made had a huge impact – not least aesthetically.

John Stones, the sole Yorkshireman in the starting XI lined up as left-sided centre-back, unusually for him, and the diminutive Angel Gomes held the midfield, allowing Declan Rice to push forward more as he does for Arsenal, but rarely did for Southgate's England.

Those, though, were only the starting places.

Players swapped positions as if Carsley had been working from a Karma Sutra rather than a coaching manual this week.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad
FLEXIBLE: Trent Alexander-Arnold popped up in a variety of positionsFLEXIBLE: Trent Alexander-Arnold popped up in a variety of positions
FLEXIBLE: Trent Alexander-Arnold popped up in a variety of positions

Rico Lewis rarely played at left-back, for example. Sometimes the Manchester City player was the left-sided central midfielder, more often a left-winger, but sometimes he was at right-back, often because Trent Alexander-Arnold had popped up on the left, but sometimes alongside him.

When Stones or Lewis came out from the back, Gomes – on his full-debut – would often be the one to drop in but it did not stop him popping up in the penalty area, or Jack Grealish picking the ball up off the back four. Kane drifted out to the right on more than one occasion, as well as his usual forays deep in search of the ball.

Without a specialist centre-forward on his 12-man bench, Carsley brought former Hull City winger Jarrod Bowen on to replace Kane when the game was won as if to prove his point.

It was dizzying but fun to watch, looking more like a training exhibition than a match as at one point England possession went over the 85 per cent mark, almost all of it in Finland's half.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad
GOLDEN BOY: Harry Kane's customised bootsGOLDEN BOY: Harry Kane's customised boots
GOLDEN BOY: Harry Kane's customised boots

But there are no marks for artistic impression in international or any other football.

When Kane headed the ball in the net after 23 minutes, his goal was chalked off for offside. Anthony Gordon, coming in behind him, was on.

It had taken until the 21st for Kane to force the first save and from it, Topi Keskinen, a forward with a Rooney tattoo, broke and ended up curling wide – not that it would have counted after he nudged Marc Guehi out of his way.

Maybe Keskinen will get a Kane one now.

The Robert Ivanov deflection on Bukayo Saka's shot caused Lukas Hradecky as many problems as anything in the first half.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

For all that it felt like an England goal was coming, there was always a doubt about Finland's counter-attack. Kaskinen ballooned his shot after Rice was tackled in midfield before Saka, from pulled-back corners, and Alexander-Arnold both tried their luck twice more before the break without working the goalkeeper.

England came out with more intent for the second half, Rice forcing a tip-over and Kane a good low save from a free-kick inside its first 10 minutes. When Hradecky saved with his chest from Gordon, Kane fired an overhead bicycle at him before his team-mates could get the ball decisively away.

The counter-attacks went from sporadic to non-existent.

If an England goal felt inevitable, it was, and for the player you would expect, Alexander-Arnold playing Kane through when Finland tried to pass out the ball but only found the Liverpool man. Kane smashed it in.

Lewis and debutant Noni Madueke shot wide and Gordon at the goalkeeper before Kane's second, Alexander-Arnold finding Madueke to square to the skipper.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Kyle Walker plays for Pep Guardiola's Manchester City, so nothing about this football should be daunting for him, but having given Alexander-Arnold a two-game headstart whilst the Sheffielder gets up to post-Euro 2024 could pose him a challenge.

More likely, Carsley will probably stick both in. Positions are so last season.

England: England: Pickford; Alexander-Arnold, Konsa (Colwill 61), Stones (Guehi 79), Lewis; Gomes, Rice; Saka (Madueke 66), Grealish, Gordon (Eze 66); Kane (Bowen 79). Unused substitutes: Maguire, Gallagher, Livramento, Henderson, Mainoo, Gibbs-White, Pope.

Finland: Hradecky; Uronen (Niskanen HT), Ivanov, Hoskonen (Lod 62), Stahl; Jensen, Peltola, Schuller (Walta 84), Kamara, Keskinen (Antman 74); Pukki (Kallman HT).

Unused substitutes: Galvez, Joronen, Nissila, Pohjanpalo, Sinisalo, Tenho, Vaisanen.

Referee: M Krogh (Denmark).

Comment Guidelines

National World encourages reader discussion on our stories. User feedback, insights and back-and-forth exchanges add a rich layer of context to reporting. Please review our Community Guidelines before commenting.

News you can trust since 1754
Follow us
©National World Publishing Ltd. All rights reserved.Cookie SettingsTerms and ConditionsPrivacy notice