The Football Association has major reservations about whether current interim England manager Lee Carsley wants the job permanently.
The governing body wanted to review the situation after November’s Nations League matches against Greece and Ireland, of which Carsley is expected to be in charge.
But there has been major internal doubt in recent days over whether Carsley even wants the job after he said he “hopefully” can return to the Under-21s once his caretaker period ends.
If England lose on Sunday, the damage done could be irreversible.
However, there is skepticism from within the FA over Carsley’s appetite for the job, particularly following his comments in recent days.
FA has major reservations over whether Lee Carsley wants full-time England job
The Three Lions interim coach raised eyebrows when he said he would “hopefully” return to his role with the under-21s.
England continues to hunt for a replacement for Gareth Southgate after he leaves at the end of Euro 2024
Carsley has support within the FA but within the governing body, but his refusal to publicly declare that he wants the job full-time has led him to feel that he is not fully convinced about accepting the job on a permanent basis.
Carsley, meanwhile, has staunchly defended his gung-ho approach in the embarrassing defeat to Greece but is still considering major changes against Finland tonight.
Caretaker coach Carsley has been heavily criticized for his team selection since England went down and lost at Wembley on Thursday night, but came out fighting on Saturday to justify his controversial tactics.
However, the 50-year-old plans up to five changes from the ultra-attacking team that lost to Greece, with Phil Foden and Anthony Gordon among the players sweating.
There have also been hints in training that Trent Alexander-Arnold, a right back by trade, could play on the opposite flank tonight.
Harry Kane, Jack Grealish, Angel Gomes, Marc Guehi and Kyle Walker are among the players who could join Carsley’s squad as the head coach aims to add balance to his set-up.
However, Carsley insists he has no regrets about his previous team selection, insisting England must move out of their comfort zone if they are to end their 58-year trophy famine.
‘I understand the interest and criticism, which is fine. “I’m really wary of the fact that the last time we won something was in 1966, so we should have the ability to try something different,” Carsley said.
‘Would I change anything? Maybe. Obviously the result would change it. But that doesn’t discourage me. I don’t want to sit a month from now regretting that I was safe. This is a great opportunity, not just for me… for the rest of the staff and players to try something different.
“Just going with the same team and the same players and almost not doing the same thing, but not being so…not trying so many things.”
“Your human instinct is to be safe, to go for things that you feel comfortable with, but it was important that in this period I felt like I had to get out of my comfort zone, I have to try something because we have to put ourselves in a position where we can win.
“To think we can do the same thing again and expect something different is naive.”