Lee Carsley on changing perception of English players ahead of EUROs semi-final | OneFootball

England Under-21 head coach Lee Carsley says English players are beginning to be viewed differently by the world ahead of their European Championships semi-final.

The Young Lions play their second consecutive Euros semi-final after beating Spain 3-1 in the quarter-finals, with James McAtee, Harvey Elliott and Elliot Anderson scoring the goals to send Carsley’s side through.

They face the Netherlands after they beat Portugal 1-0, despite having ten men for over 70 minutes, after captain Ruben van Bommel, son of the former Barcelona and Bayern Munich player Mark, was sent off after being shown two yellow cards in two minutes.

Carsley believes the stigma around English players not being technical enough is slowly changing with this new breed of England stars. The 51-year-old was also adamant that to get the best out of his players, it is by allowing them to express themselves on the pitch.

“The skill of a coach is making sure you get the best out of the players that you’ve got in front of you, not trying to make them something that they’re not,” Carsley said. “I think we’ve done quite well in that.

“We’ve tried to put them in positions where they can be really ­effective, whether that be with or without the ball.

“Ideally, and I’ve spoken to the players about it, you want to coach a team where you’re watching the team play and you’re enjoying watching them. And that Spain game and the second half of the Germany game, you’re on the side, enjoying watching the players play and expressing themselves.

“You want foreign journalists to speak about our players the way that we sometimes speak about their players in terms of their technical ability or the way that they can take the ball. I think we’re definitely changing that perception of English players.”

Carsley also insisted the fear of missing penalties is a thing of the past due to former Three Lions manager Gareth Southgate.

“It’s definitely something Gareth really pushed,” Carsley said. “We speak a lot about routine, almost like a golf swing where you would address the ball, take your time, think about your shot, the breathing; there’s a lot more that goes into it. But taking a penalty in a shootout is a totally different mentality.”