England interim manager Lee Carsley enjoyed a dream debut as goals from Declan Rice and Jack Grealish silenced their Ireland tormentors and inspired a 2-0 win in Saturday’s Nations League opener in Dublin.
Rice and Grealish, who both snubbed Ireland to represent England, scored in the first half of Carsley’s maiden game in charge following Gareth Southgate’s exit.
Southgate quit after England’s heartbreaking Euro 2024 final defeat against Spain in July.
Carsley, who guided England Under-21s to European Championship glory last year, has stepped up on a temporary basis while the Football Association seek a permanent successor to Southgate.
Newcastle boss Eddie Howe and former Chelsea manager Graham Potter are said to be among the leading contenders.
But Carsley’s hopes of landing the job himself were boosted by England’s confident display in the Nations League Group B2 victory at the Aviva Stadium.
It was a bold statement of intent from the 50-year-old, whose adventurous England were a far cry from the staid unit that twice finished as Euro runners-up under Southgate despite rarely playing to their potential.
Ireland’s new manager Heimir Hallgrimsson is a qualified dentist and he may find the job of rebuilding his struggling team proves more painful than root canal treatment.
Birmingham-born Carsley has Irish grandparents, which allowed him to win 40 Ireland caps during his playing career, but he said on Friday that he has never sung a national anthem because he prefers to focus on the match ahead.
If Carsley, whose next game comes against Finland at Wembley on Tuesday, continues to mastermind this kind of eye-catching performance, the debate over his anthem stance will quickly be forgotten.
This was only England’s second trip to Dublin in 29 years after a 1995 friendly between the teams was abandoned when visiting fans rioted at Lansdowne Road.
Promoting “a new era of friendship” between countries with a tortured political past, Irish Taoiseach Simon Harris and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer swapped football shirts ahead of the match.
There was still a hostile reception for Rice and Grealish, who were jeered by the 50,000 crowd for changing their allegiance to England despite representing Ireland at senior and Under-21 levels respectively earlier in their careers.
Neither was bothered by the taunts as Rice starred and Grealish, omitted from the Euro squad, seized the chance to shine as England’s number 10 in the absence of Jude Bellingham and Phil Foden.
Carsley’s nerves were exposed when he mistakenly sat on the Ireland bench before kick-off, but England eased their novice manager’s anxiety in the 11th minute.
Newcastle winger Anthony Gordon, who got just one minute of playing time at the Euros, accelerated onto Trent Alexander-Arnold’s raking pass for a shot that was saved by Caoimhin Kelleher.
Gordon worked the rebound back to Harry Kane and his strike deflected to Rice, who planted a fine finish into the top corner from 12 yards.
Playing with far more freedom and imagination than they could muster under Southgate, England struck again in the 26th minute.
After Alexander-Arnold and Kobbie Mainoo exchanged passes, Grealish capped a flowing move, meeting Rice’s cutback with a fine finish into the bottom corner from 10 yards.
There was no hiding Grealish’s delight as he celebrated in front of England’s supporters and put his fingers in his ears to suggest he wasn’t bothered by the Irish abuse.
England had to knuckle down more in the second half as Ireland found some momentum, but they were never in danger of blowing the lead as Carsley’s audition got off to the perfect start.
Carsley’s England: A Fresh Start
England began life after Gareth Southgate in convincing fashion on Saturday, outclassing Ireland 2-0 in the Nations League with goals from Declan Rice and Jack Grealish giving interim manager Lee Carsley a debut win.
Carsley, who will oversee two games this month with a view to staying on through the autumn, represented Ireland as a player and it was the two of his team with Irish links -- Rice and Grealish -- who gave England an early lead that was never remotely under threat.
Rice played three games for Ireland before switching to the country of his birth, while Grealish played at under-age level for England's near neighbour, who were also playing under new manager Heimir Hallgrimsson for the first time.
Nothing less than a convincing win over a nation ranked 54 places below them would do for Carsley to boost his credentials for the full-time role and the former England under-21 coach stuck with Southgate's stalwarts for his first outing.
The visitors, playing in the competition's second-tier for the first time, took the lead moments after Ireland's Sammie Szmodics forced Jordan Pickford into a smart save, with Anthony Gordon wasting a one-on-one before Rice stroked the ball soundly into the top corner.
The Arsenal midfielder, booed by the home fans throughout, opted not to celebrate his fourth England goal. Grealish showed no such restraint 15 minutes later when he tucked away a Rice cutback after some tidy English passing easily cut Ireland open.
England's 352 completed first-half passes to Ireland's 50-odd highlighted the gulf between the side and left Hallgrimsson in little doubt that there would be no repeat of his memorable Euro 2016 win over England while in charge of Iceland.
England took their foot off the accelerator in the second half and Ireland finally showed some signs of life on the hour with the lively Ipswich attacker Szmodics flashing a shot just wide.
That was as close as the hosts got and England, who gave late debuts to Angel Gomes and Morgan Gibbs-White, should have added at least a third goal while seeing the game out at a comfortable pace.
'Carsball' Takes Shape: A New Era for England?
England fans have been craving exciting and entertaining football, which was in limited supply under previous head coach Gareth Southgate, despite their run to this summer's European Championship final.
“The expression, the freedom to express yourself was missing from Euro 2024,” said winger Anthony Gordon, who was limited to just one late substitute appearance at the tournament.
“We controlled games but we weren’t dynamic. We weren’t relentless. We lacked dynamism and excitement.”
In Dublin, England played with a zip and a swagger - especially in the first half - to give their fans reason to be believe that ‘Carsball’ could be a good option for the future.
They created six big chances, more than in any of their matches at Euro 2024, and had a significantly higher expected goal count. They also had more shots than in any of their Euro matches, bar one.
England carved out 16 attempts - with nine on target - as they played with a freshness and a vigour that was sadly lacking in some of their games at Euro 2024.
Harry Kane came under heavy criticism in the summer and there were even calls for the England captain to be dropped.
In Dublin, he had four attempts as he showed flashes that he was back to his threatening best in his 99th England match, with Anthony Gordon and Bukayo Saka delivering the ammunition high up the pitch.
Both constantly pushed ahead of lone striker Kane to offer real support, unlike during the Euros when he appeared isolated too often, as shown in the graphic below comparing England's average positions in their group draw against Slovenia - a team just six places above Republic of Ireland in the Fifa rankings - to Saturday's display.
Gordon looked like a player with a point to prove - having played six minutes in the summer - with two key passes, while he tested goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher three times.
“Anthony Gordon has been willing to run in behind, which is something England haven't had for a while, and then they flood the box,” said former England striker Ian Wright on ITV.
Asked after the game if England's slick passing and movement - particularly for Jack Grealish's goal that put England 2-0 up - was ‘Carsball’, Carsley said: “It’s definitely not that.
“It’s the players that are capable of receiving the ball in tight areas and playing through. They should take the credit.”
Former Three Lions keeper Paul Robinson, speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live, said England had been transformed compared with the side that was on show two months ago.
“What we saw in the first half was a completely different England, and for want of a better phrase, the handbrake has come off, and you want to see more of the same.”
Declan Rice, who turned out three times for the Republic of Ireland as a teenager, was taunted by the home fans in the sell-out crowd for switching allegiance.
He silenced them with the goal that put the visitors ahead before supplying the assist for Grealish, himself a former Republic of Ireland youth player, to make it 2-0.
Rice got further forward than he ever did at the European Championship, while Kobbie Mainoo also looked to be positive.
There looked to be new freedom to England's play, having all too often stuck rigidly to two holding midfielders in the summer.
Meanwhile, Trent Alexander-Arnold - making his first start as England right-back for almost four years - provided two wonderful chances for Kane and Gordon.
“There was a fluidity in positions, Trent Alexander-Arnold drifting into midfield, Kobbie Mainoo getting forward, and also Declan Rice, which is where the first goal came from,” added Robinson.
“We saw a lot more forward thinking. The first thought was to go forward.
“England's performance is probably exactly what Lee Carsley would have been dreaming about last night. He would have wanted his team to be in control, play with a high tempo, press high, keep a clean sheet, score a couple of goals and be tidy in possession.
“It could not have gone any better.”
Grealish's return was also a positive after being surprisingly left out of Southgate's summer squad, with the midfielder describing it as “one of the worst summers of my life.”
There appeared a real control about England's play, demonstrated perfectly by Jordan Pickford's willingness to play out from the back.
At Euro 2024, the England goalkeeper all too often kicked long aimless balls, with 49% of his passes being long. On Saturday, only 18.5% were long passes, allowing the Three Lions to keep possession.
The Anthem Controversy
The pre-match talk was dominated by overnight headlines that Carsley would not sing the national anthem before kick-off, something he also chose not to do when he played for the Republic of Ireland.
“It doesn't make me any less committed,” he said afterwards.
Carsley, who has been appointed interim manager for at least two games, added: “Today was one of the proudest days of my career… to lead a team out in Dublin.”
There was much to admire about about his team's performance, although it was perhaps inevitable that they would tail off.
Their second-half performance showed that England remain a work in progress.
And the FA bosses are unlikely to read too much into a single match as they mull who England's full-time manager should be.
But it's so far, so good for England's understated caretaker boss, and confidence is high as attention turns to Tuesday's home match with Finland.
Now Carsley just has to remember which way to turn when he walks out of the tunnel at Wembley.
