Who did England U21s boss Lee Carsley play for? How did he get into the Three Lions set up?

Lee Carsley will take charge of his first international tournament this summer as England compete for glory at the European U21 Championships.

Carsley took over from Aidy Boothroyd in June 2021 after the Young Lions crashed out of the group stages at the last tournament.

3

He has been in the England set-up since 2015, holding various roles in the age group sides and had a brief stint with the Under-20s.

Who did England U21s boss Carsley play for?

The 49-year-old enjoyed a 17-year playing career having started out at Derby County in 1994.

The former defensive midfielder helped the Rams secure promotion to the Premier League in the 1995/96 season.

Carsley then endured a swift stint at Blackburn that saw him fall out of favour with then-manager Graeme Souness.

He joined Coventry but couldn’t prevent their relegation to the second division for the first time in 34 years in 2001.

Carsley soon returned to the Premier League after finding a home at Everton and scored 13 goals during just over six years with the club.

He spent the following two seasons at Birmingham before returning to Coventry in July 2010 for one final campaign before his retirement.

3

How did Carsley get into Three Lions set up?

Carsley’s final season at Coventry as a player came under former Sky Blues boss Boothroyd.

He then joined England’s development teams and Boothroyd when he was in charge of the U19s in 2015.

Carsley then took up a role at Manchester City’s academy and later as Birmingham City’s U23s coach before returning to England with their Under-21s as a part-time specialist coach in 2017.

3

Things couldn’t have started much better for Carsley as England won their opening match 2-0 against the Czech Republic.

The young Three Lions could now seal their place in the next round with a win over Israel and Carsley is prepared to use some bold tactics.

Speaking ahead of the game, he said: “We’ve tried to come up with two or three ways of exploiting the opposition.

“We’ll try and find gaps and spaces. It surprises me that there is surprise [back home]. The players nowadays are multifunctional.

“I see that we’ve got a lot of players within this squad that can do different roles. The big thing for me is the understanding of the out-of-possession stuff as well.”

Carsley only has one recognised striker to choose from in his squad, but is happy with his options.

He said: “The way we’ve picked the squad, when we make a change it shouldn’t affect the team too much.

“We knew coming into the tournament losing Flo [Balogun, to the United States] at a late stage and Rhian Brewster being injured, which is a big loss for us, that we would have to be creative in the forward areas.”