Gary Lineker leaps to Lee Carsley's defence as Ollie Watkins left 'raging'

Gary Lineker came to Lee Carsley's defence (Image: YouTube/The Rest is Football podcast)

Gary Lineker defended Lee Carsley's decision to play without a striker, despite England's loss to Greece. With Harry Kane nursing an injury, it was assumed Aston Villa forward Ollie Watkins would fill the void left by the England captain.

Instead, Carsley, who is currently acting as interim manager of the Three Lions, snubbed the 28-year-old and deployed Jude Bellingham at centre-forward, as a means of also including Anthony Gordon, Phil Foden, Bukayo Saka and Cole Palmer. The plan did not work and Carsely eventually turned to Watkins and Tottenham Hotspur forward Dominic Solanke in the second half.

Greece would go on to win 2-1 at Wembley, courtesy of Vangelis Pavlidis' brace either side of a goal from Bellingham. While Alan Shearer was incensed with Carsley's experiment, Lineker said he was happy to see an England manager try something daring.

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While speaking on The Rest is Football podcast, Lineker said: “If he was in the role permanently, you would go ‘Well, that’s alright’. Because, let’s be realistic, it’s a friendly, it’s a glorified friendly, it’s not a World Cup qualifier.

“I actually admire him to have the balls, the cojones, to actually try something like that when you are trying to get the job. That was brave and bold and I admire that. I’d sooner see that than see us sitting deep like we did in the summer against teams of equal, actually not as good as Greece probably, some of them, and just sitting there and trying to get a counterattack.

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“I thought a lot of the players were slightly off their game. I thought Anthony Gordon struggled and Saka was well below par and injured, hopefully nothing too serious. I thought Cole Palmer was nothing like as good as he has been, Phil Foden was relatively quiet, I thought Bellingham was our best player, he put himself about, he got into some really good positions, he created that chance for Cole Palmer and he scored a really good goal.

“Overall, I thought the individual performances were not great. That might come from the fact they were in a formation which was so relaxed and open. First 15 minutes I didn’t know what the system was. I admired the bravery for that but sadly it hasn’t worked."

Shearer thinks Watkins would not have been happy with Carsley (Image: PA) SUBSCRIBE Invalid email

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While Lineker respected Carsley's attempt of including as many creative players as possible, Shearer thinks Watkins would have been furious with the snub. The former England captain said: “You would be absolutely raging if you were Ollie Watkins, wouldn’t you? Your main centre-forward is injured and you’ve been crying out for an opportunity.

“When you’ve come on, you’ve actually done alright, in terms of Watkins and he’s doing well at club level. Yet, when Kane is out, the manager comes to you and says, ‘Well, I’m not going to play you tonight at home against Greece, I’m going to try something different.

“He’s got every right to be (raging) he should be knocking on his door, tonight or tomorrow, saying: ‘I have to play the next game if Kane is next fit’.”

Carsley has an opportunity to bounce back when he takes his England side to face Finland on Sunday, October 13.

Gary Lineker leaps to Lee Carsley's defence as Ollie Watkins left 'raging'

Gary Lineker leaps to Lee Carsley's defence as Ollie Watkins left 'raging'

Gary Lineker leaps to Lee Carsley's defence as Ollie Watkins left 'raging'

Gary Lineker leaps to Lee Carsley's defence as Ollie Watkins left 'raging'

Gary Lineker leaps to Lee Carsley's defence as Ollie Watkins left 'raging'