England: Rico Lewis set for audition against Finland as Lee Carsley searches for left-back solution

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Evening Standard

·10 September 2024

England: Rico Lewis set for audition against Finland as Lee Carsley searches for left-back solution

Carsley must find solution to cope with absence of Luke Shaw

Lee Carsley said this week he is having to get used to being stopped at service stations as club fans demand he starts certain players for England. No doubt the names of plenty of left-backs have been hurled his way.

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The left side of defence remains a real problem for England, and is just one of the conundrums the interim head coach inherited from Gareth Southgate.

Levi Colwill delivered an assured display there in Saturday’s 2-0 win over the Republic of Ireland in Dublin, but Manchester City’s Rico Lewis is set to get the nod against Finland tonight. The swapping and changing continues.

For most of Southgate’s tenure, left-back was much weaker than the right flank, where Kyle Walker’s shirt was simultaneously chased by Trent Alexander-Arnold, Kieran Trippier, Reece James and some short-lived others. The left-sided candidates, though, often felt like square pegs in a round hole. And regular injuries to players such as Luke Shaw and Ben Chilwell forced Southgate into constant rotation.

At the 2018 World Cup, Southgate was so unconvinced by the best English left-back at the time, Danny Rose, that he instead played 33-year-old right-footed winger Ashley Young on the left.

Luke Shaw continues to be hampered by injury issues

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Shaw has been starting left-back in the three tournaments since, but injuries have deprived him of many more caps, and he has missed the start of this season with a calf injury.

Absent as he is from this squad, it remains to be seen whether Carsley, like Southgate, sees him as the best of the bunch.

Chilwell’s omission this month was inevitable, given he has been brutally shunned from the first team at Chelsea, yet Southgate never truly trusted him anyway, insisting wing-back “suits a lot of his best attributes [better]”.

Shaw, he felt, was more comfortable collecting from deep, turning, and picking a sensible pass.

Crystal Palace’s Tyrick Mitchell has never played again since two caps in 2022, while the clamour for Brentford’s Rico Henry has never resulted in a call-up.

The lack of further top-level natural left-backs explains why centre-backs such as Joe Gomez, Ezri Konsa and Colwill — who won the 2023 Under-21 Euros under Carsley — have often been repurposed there.

Slotting right-back Kieran Trippier on to the left was another favoured solution by Southgate, but the Newcastle player’s international retirement last month offers Colwill and Lewis the chance to further their England careers.

Lewis is just 19 but has been excellent for 18 months for City. Pep Guardiola loves him, and a dynamic display tonight would help in making the position his own. One way or another, Carsley must find a solution.

Lille midfielder Angel Gomes is, like Lewis, expected to earn his second cap tonight and could partner Declan Rice in midfield after his debut off the bench in Dublin.