Lee Carsley gives his first sit down interview after becoming England interim head coach

Lee Carsley gives his first sit down interview after becoming England interim head coach, replacing Gareth Southgate who stepped down.

Carsley gets set to manage the England senior men’s team as they prepare for the 2024-25 UEFA Nations League campaign with it beginning next month.

He is expected to continue in this role for England throughout the autumn while the FA searches for a new permanent head coach.

Interviewer: You’re a few days in to your role as interim head coach, how does it feel to be given the opportunity?

Lee: Yeah I feel privileged to be in the position obviously it’s a very prestigious job following Gareth and Steve and the great job that they’ve done I know that there’s a lot of responsibility the challenge ahead looking forward to September and and the games that are in front of us

Interviewer: You’ve worked with many of the players both internationally and at club level how important or helpful do you think that will be for you?

Lee: I think it definitely helps I think I’ve got you know a relationship with the players known them quite a few years obviously there’s a lot of players that I don’t know as well but I’m very much aware of them I think we’ve got some outstanding players in the senior team and in the pathway I think the level of player over the last few years has really improved and you can see that by the you know the way that we’ve done in major tournaments, obviously that the next step is is winning and and that’s got to be the objective.

Interviewer: Gareth and Steve’s time obviously came to an end in in July, do you have a few words about the the job that they did?

Lee: I think they they they did a great job you know it was brilliant for me personally to to work with them so encouraging very good people to work with which which is really important obviously the the success that they had as well it’s a shame obviously that they they didn’t cross that that that final hurdle but the environment that they created around England teams is a credit to both of them they played such a pivotal role in English football and I’m sure they’ll be remembered for a long time

Interviewer: You supported Gareth and Steve during Euro 2024 as you have previous tournaments as well as disappointing as it ended how do you reflect on the the Journey that that we had?

Lee: It always fascinates me how much the impact it has back in England you know the amount of support that the team get, the amount of expectancy that’s on the shoulders it really does unite a country and you know it’s it’s been good to see that, it’s testament to them and the staff that they’re you know getting to back-to-back finals which isn’t easy you know obviously the last bit is going that extra mile and and winning I think we’ve got the players to do that so hopefully you know this could be the start of of that

Interviewer: Looking ahead to September camp what are your aims and priorities

Lee: First and foremost it’s getting the squad together picking the right squad trying to get a balance between making sure that it’s fresh and competitive but understanding that you know it’s games that we need to you need to do well in we need to win everything’s in balance and and that’s what I’ll be looking to do I think it’s it’s important that we put our own stamp on the squad um and and make make sort of adjustments but you know I think it’s important to realise as well that’s a lot of the players have done really well in the past and we have to acknowledge that

Interviewer: Rep of Ireland and Finland what kind of challenges do you think they’ll both give us?

Lee: It’s been a few days since I started watching them so you know the analysis roles have started really the last couple of days in terms of looking in depth at the Republic of Ireland that have got a new manager and sales and Finland that have had the same manager for for a while so it’s they’ve both got a unique way of playing Ireland would be more unsure on what to expect in terms of the changing manager and what what he changes but I know that John O’Shea done a good job with him in a from a temporary point of view and getting him a bit more resilient and it’ll always be a difficult game in Dublin, so two teams that we’re looking forward to playing against and yeah really really encourage to see how how we fair against them

Interviewer: Yeah like you say an away game in Dublin and then that opportunity to to play in front of our fans again at Wembley Stadium will be special I’m sure

Lee: Yeah definitely I think it’s you know you always enjoy playing at home it be a great night for our staff especially of our first game at Wembley excited to meet up with the players and and and hopefully really do well out in the September window

Interviewer: For the group of players how important is this period now as we kind of work towards the the World Cup really the bigger picture the longterm picture?

Lee: You know obviously the World Cup is is two years away so it’s important that we you know we see that in stages first and foremost we need to set our stall out in the way that we’re going to attack the Nations League make sure that we we do well in that and then lead us into the into the World Cup qualifiers ideally I wanted to enjoy camps enjoy playing for England like like they have done in the past with Gareth and Steve and hopefully we can continue that

Interviewer: The new season is is virtually upon us now how closely will we will you be watching our players involvement both domestically and and abroad?

Lee: Yeah definitely all of the the monitor’s already started we’ve watched a lot of the friendlies we’ve got a really good insights department as well that will be monitoring all of the players so yeah we I’m looking forward to the the season starting

Interviewer: And finally do you have a message for England fans back home watching?

Lee: Yeah I really appreciate your support hopefully you’ll get behind the team you’ll enjoy watching the team but hopefully they’ll be excited by the future.

Fans reacted on social media as Lee Carsley gives his first sit down interview after becoming new England interim head coach…

@krubot3: What a man 👏 all the best for you Lee, set the standards and bring it on KRO

@ChrisCNCFC: Pretty simple job Lee drop Bellingham in next to Rice have Foden in the 10 Saka left Palmer right with Kane up top

@DanielFranks85: He’s 100 percent getting the job full time, you can tell from this

@TomTots: Good luck Lee. Bring even an inch of that absolute balling filth from the u21s at the Georgia Euros and we won’t be far off.

@6ftPaul: I appreciate it’s only temporary/he seems like a great guy, I just think we need to get a really experienced manager in ASAP, to start preparations for the World Cup/allow personalized team selection/friendly’s to be played, utilising the new system