Lee Carsley extends contract as England Under-21 manager

Times

3 days ago

The England Under-21 head coach Lee Carsley has signed a two-year contract extension on the eve of his team's European Championship defence.
Carsley, 51, has led the under-21 side since 2021, when he replaced Aidy Boothroyd. He took charge of the senior team for six matches between Gareth Southgate's departure last summer and Thomas Tuchel's appointment.
The head coach, who has committed to the FA until 2027, will spearhead England's defence of their Euros title in Slovakia. Their success two years ago, at the tournament in Georgia and Romania, was England's first since 1984.
He will name his final squad for this summer's tournament on Friday morning. England play Czech Republic in their first match on June 12, followed by Slovenia three days later and Germany on June 18.
Carsley, who is supported by assistant manager Ashley Cole, has won 24 of his 31 games in charge of the team (a 77.42 per cent win rate). He won five out of the six games he took charge of as manager of the senior team, but lost 2-1 to Greece at Wembley in the Nations League.
In an interview with The Times in December, the former Everton and Ireland midfielder said he had no regrets over picking an ultra-attacking line-up against Greece that included Jude Bellingham, Bukayo Saka, Cole Palmer, Phil Foden and Anthony Gordon.
He added that he was pleased to have demonstrated that he and his staff were capable of managing at an international level during the six matches.
In his time leading the under-21 side Carsley has drawn plaudits for the attacking, expressive style his team has played with, and the innovative tactical tweaks he uses.
In 2023, he deployed Gordon as a striker, after Folarin Balogun decided to represent the USA national team a month before the Euros began. Gordon won the player of the tournament award for his performances, and Carsley may need to show innovative thinking again with Liam Delap set to miss the Euros and instead go to the Club World Cup with Chelsea.
Players such as Gordon, Palmer, Noni Madueke, Curtis Jones, Morgan Gibbs-White, Levi Colwill and James Trafford have successfully progressed from the under-21 side into the senior team since winning the Euros two years ago.
In addition to his role as under-21 head coach, Carsley and his team support the senior side in preparing for major tournaments and scouting their opponents.
He joined the England youth set-up in 2015, taking up roles as a specialist 'out-of-possession' coach and managing the under-20 team before being promoted to the under-21 side.