Gary Lineker has celebrated Lee Carsley's first England starting XI, which he believes addressed fans' concerns with Gareth Southgate's Euro 2024 line-up.
Carsley began his tenure as interim boss with a dominant 2-0 Nations League win over the Republic of Ireland in Dublin on Saturday, thanks to goals from Declan Rice and Jack Grealish.
Much of the pre-match chatter was consumed by the former Ireland international's decision not to sing the national anthem but Lineker chose to focus on the 50-year-old's team selection in his assessment of the fixture.
Carsley, who led England's Young Lions to success in the 2023 Under-21 European Championship, opted for a much-changed line-up in his first game and brought the likes of Anthony Gordon, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Grealish into the side.
The trio were the subject of fervent discussion during this summer's tournament, with many fans unhappy with how Southgate deployed Alexander-Arnold and Gordon in Germany, while Grealish was omitted from the final squad altogether.
'It’s interesting as well, isn’t it, that perhaps some of the things fans were most disappointed about in the Euros, well, probably three things maybe more,' Lineker said on the Rest is Football podcast.
'But everyone wanted Anthony Gordon to play on the left because we all saw a weakness and an unbalance on that side. And also that he can run behind players because Kane likes to come short and you’ve got to have a threat behind so he did that.
'The other thing was he [Southgate] left Jack Grealish out of the squad which a lot of people were bemused by and he’s come in and performed really well.
'And obviously, he never really trusted Trent Alexander-Arnold. In the first game Carsley has come up with all these things and a lot of us are going 'you see? We told you".'
Carsley will be looking to extend his winning run at the helm when the Three Lions return to Wembley to face Finland on Tuesday.
The 50-year-old is in the driving seat to replace Southgate on a permanent basis, though he was forced to respond after his national anthem call drew criticism from some quarters.
As reported by Mail Sport, Carsley’s stance will not damage his chances of landing the England job on a full time basis.
‘I am really lucky with the people that are in charge and are my bosses,’ He explained. '[The FA] know what my strengths are and aren’t gonna ask me to be anything I am not.
‘My strength is coaching, being on the pitch. This (talking) isn’t my strength, what I am doing now.
‘It’s something that I understand that comes with the job, as I saw yesterday (with the anthem controversy). I have my own way of doing it.’