England out to avoid early World Cup setback in high-stakes Greece showdown

Whatever happens in Lee Carsley's final two matches in charge of England this week, his ultra-attacking line-up against Greece last month is likely to be the standout memory of his interim tenure.

Carsley shoehorned Bukayo Saka, Phil Foden, Cole Palmer, Jude Bellingham and Anthony Gordon into the XI at Wembley, and the result was a shambolic 2-1 defeat, which leaves England under pressure ahead of the crunch reverse fixture in Athens.

Carsley has promised a “more conventional” set-up on Thursday, which is just as well because Foden, Palmer, Saka and another creative forward, Jack Grealish, are among the nine players to have pulled out of his squad - leading to a slapdown of England absentees by captain Harry Kane.

The match will be Carsley's penultimate in charge of the team, with Thomas Tuchel starting work on January 1, following Sunday's visit of Ireland - in what everyone connected to England hopes will be their final game of this autumn's Nations League campaign.

As thoughts turn to Carsley's potential legacy, there is a case that his gung-ho approach against Greece was the best possible favour he could have done for Tuchel.

Gareth Southgate was ridiculed as too conservative for failing to find a place for all of England's brilliant No10s at Euro 2024, but Tuchel is unlikely to face a similar clamour after Carsley's failed experiment last month.

If, say, Foden or Palmer have to be sacrificed for the greater good, the German will surely have a more sympathetic ear from fans and the media.

In the here and now, however, the absence of so many of England's attacking threats, as well as Declan Rice and Trent Alexander-Arnold, has increased the scale of their challenge in Athens, and if they drop more points no-one will be talking about the Greece games being a positive for Tuchel.

If England top their Nations League group with two wins this month, Tuchel will either begin qualification for the 2026 World Cup in March or have the chance to arrange two friendlies against elite opposition, depending on the size of their qualifying group for the tournament.

Should Carsley's England fail to win in Athens, however, they will likely finish second, leaving Tuchel facing an unwanted two-legged play-off for Nations League promotion during his first camp, which will disrupt his World Cup preparations and undermine the decision for him to sit out this month's fixtures.

“It was important for me to narrow it down into a project and not lose the focus, to start in another competition, the Nations League, then go into [World Cup] qualification and the tournament,” Tuchel said at his unveiling last month.

“I wanted to have a clean start and a bit of time to recharge fully and start in January and start the first camp in March. We will have not a lot of time.”

The strange scenario means Thursday's game feels both high-stakes and oddly low-key, with England desperately needing a win to avoid an embarrassing start to their new era, and yet Kane suggesting that many of his teammates are deliberately shirking Carsley's final camp.

The FA’s decision to allow Tuchel to miss these games already feels questionable and will come under further scrutiny if Carsley's side cannot finish the job of Nations League promotion, which should not be taken for granted.

Greece took advantage of Carsley's dysfunctional XI at Wembley impressively and one-goal defeat actually flattered England, who were thoroughly outplayed and had a sensational goal-line clearance from John Stones and three disallowed efforts to thank for not losing by a greater margin.

England must play significantly better in the Athens Olympic Stadium to avoid a similar result, with Carsley's legacy and Tuchel's hopes of a smooth transition on the line.