Soccer

I’m not the hierarchy – Pickford has no clue about impact on Carsley job chances

Carsley’s chances of becoming Gareth Southgate’s permanent successor took a severe blow on Thursday.

Jordan Pickford knows the Greece defeat will have hurt Lee Carsley
Jordan Pickford knows the Greece defeat will have hurt Lee Carsley (Adam Davy/PA)
By Jonathan Veal, PA, Helsinki

England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford says Lee Carsley will be hurt by the humiliating Nations League loss to Greece, but does not know how the interim manager’s future will be affected.

Carsley’s chances of becoming Gareth Southgate’s permanent successor took a severe blow as England crashed to a humiliating 2-1 Nations League defeat by Greece at Wembley on Thursday.

The former Republic of Ireland international was cryptic about whether he wants the job full-time after the game, yet that might be out of his control after a bold attacking selection backfired.

The defence was left woefully exposed after Carsley selected Jude Bellingham, Phil Foden, Cole Palmer, Bukayo Saka and Anthony Gordon and the visitors, mourning the death of team-mate George Baldock, took advantage.

They were worthy winners, with Vangelis Pavlidis scoring a stoppage-time decider.

Asked how the defeat might affect Carsley’s future, Pickford said: “I’m not the hierarchy.

“It’s never nice for a player or staff to get beat at Wembley.

“We want to win every game we play when we put this shirt on and we didn’t.

Greece enjoyed an historic win over England as they outplayed their Wembley hosts
Greece enjoyed an historic win over England as they outplayed their Wembley hosts (Bradley Collyer/PA)

“So we’ve got to keep going, dust ourselves down. What can we do better, what can we learn from and move on and get the result on Sunday?

“You’ve always got to learn. You’re never going to be perfect, even when you’re winning games. You can learn a lot from this.

“It’s about recovering well and getting ready for Sunday.”

Defeat leaves England under pressure in Group B2 as Greece opened up a three-point lead at the top.

They must now win their remaining three games, starting with Finland on Sunday before the return trip to Athens and a Wembley fixture against the Republic in the November fixtures.

Pickford hopes skipper Harry Kane will be available after he missed the Greece game with a knock.

“He’s not the record goalscorer for England and has 100 caps for nothing, he leads by example,” he said.

“I think Harry will be fit to go on Sunday.

“Now we’ve just got to go and win away on Sunday against Finland and then the next camp in Greece away and Ireland at home.”