On the positive side, coach Lee Carsley now has an answer about arranging all of England's attacking stars in one squad. But ironically, when the answer is found, Carsley's time leading the "Three Lions" could soon end.
A team featuring Bukayo Saka, Jude Bellingham, Phil Foden, Cole Palmer and Anthony Gordon were beaten 2-1 by Greece in the UEFA Nations League.
Experimental Carsley's superb attacking squad went bankrupt when Vangelis Pavlidis scored the decisive goal in extra time. In fact, it was Greece who played better in this match, despite England's star players. They have even put the ball in the home team's net 5 times but 2 of them were not recognized for offside.
"I didn't think we started the game well and I thought we played poorly at many points. We tried something different with the formation and the areas of the pitch that we were trying to get into.
We never really gave ourselves a chance to see if that decision was right or wrong. Obviously, when you look at the result and the game, it was a challenging night for us. Greece played well," Carsley said after the match.
With Harry Kane sidelined with a thigh problem, Carsley ignored all warnings. Perhaps because of a headache with the controversy over whether Bellingham, Foden or Palmer should play in the "number 10" position of the England team, he decided to choose all of them. Saka and Gordon were arranged to cross to the wings and combine together to form a tactical mixture.
Without balance and without clear tactics, Greece could easily defend against a disjointed attack from the home team.
"With the players we have, sometimes we have to be brave with our system and be creative. I think it's important to try something different. And I am happy to take responsibility for that.
It was completely my idea. I have been thinking for a long time and carefully about what it will look like, how it will be built and how it will feel. That's something that didn't happen tonight," Carsley added.
With Trent Alexander-Arnold allowed to move into the middle of the pitch from right-back, Foden, Bellingham and Palmer were all caught up in the midfield conflict. There were too many players when England tried to attack and they were vulnerable when defending.
Pavlidis' 94th-minute goal helped Greece get their first win against England. Obviously, in the next match against Finland, Carsley must return to the old tactics. The English Football Association probably also realized that they needed to find an official "captain" soon.
Despite the previous prospects, losing to Greece was a big defeat for Carsley.
