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4th October 2024
11:31am BST
Lee Carsley has suggested a radical position change for Cole Palmer ahead of the next Nations League matches.
Most predominantly an attacking midfielder for Chelsea, the now world-class star has been scoring for fun under Enzo Maresca.
After playing as a right winger versus Manchester City in the season's curtain-raiser, he has since moved to the AM role once more and had huge success.
However, England interim head coach Carsley has hinted he may adopt Palmer in a completely different position.
Asked on the lack of a recognised left-back, Carsley said that the Three Lions can be creative in their unique approach:
'[Alexander-Arnold] can play there. Bukayo can play there, Cole can play there, so there’s quite a few.'
Lee Carsley says he can’t possibly fit three of England’s star players into the same lineup
Lee Carsley that said that he can’t possibly fit three of England’s star players into the same lineup ahead of games versus Greece and Finland in the Nations League.
Last month, Carsley's interim reign got off to the perfect start - a 2-0 victory at Ireland followed by a 2-0 win at home to Finland.
Fans are delighted with the free-flowing, attacking football so far from the new gaffer.
In the most recent squad, Tottenham Hotspur's Dominic Solanke received his first England call-up in just under seven years.
The plethora of attacking talent on offer is huge - so huge that Carsley has admitted he can't possibly fit three of England's best assets into the same lineup.
Speaking ahead of the return to international football, Carsley conceded that Jude Bellingham, Phil Foden and Cole Palmer cannot all play in the same team.
‘With the period of the season we are in, I can justify why we wouldn’t start them all at the same time in terms of the amount of games they’re playing, what they are going back to and what they have come from,’ stated Carsley.
‘Some of the stages they are at in terms of just coming back from injury or not having that many minutes, we just need to find the balance.
‘What’s important is we get them all on the pitch at some point and find the balance.
‘I went to a UEFA conference a couple of weeks ago, and a lot of the head coaches spoke about how many good players we’ve got, but they almost referred to it as a problem whereas I am thinking it’s a nice problem to have.
'It might mean now and then one of them misses out.’
When questioned whether he’d consider playing all three in the future, Carsley added:
‘You’d try and find a way of getting them into the team, yes. We’ve got to be creative.’
