Under-21 boss Lee Carsley urges England to maintain push

Posted Saturday, March 26, 2022 by PA

England Under-21 boss Lee Carlsey vowed to keep attacking and wants more from his Young Lions despite a 4-1 win over Andorra.

Folarin Balogun, Jacob Ramsey, Morgan Gibbs-White and Anthony Gordon eased the Young Lions to victory and ensured they made it 50 European qualification games unbeaten.

Albert Rosas pulled a goal back mid-way through the second half but the Young Lions kept Group G leaders the Czech Republic in their sights.

They are three points behind with two games in hand and Carsley has urged his side to find more killer instinct.

He said: “We have to find a way of winning on the front foot. I’m not going to change the way I coach because I want to attack. I always played in teams who were very defensive and counter attacking, when you had 19 years of doing that I want to attack and put teams on the back foot.

“It’s an encouragement point, they are going to keep getting chances because of the positions they are in. I have a lot of faith in them that they can be more ruthless.

“The amount of time we spend with them it’s difficult to change their game overnight but we have a lot of confidence in them.

“It was an OK performance. I thought we played really well at times, getting the four goals was good, we created a lot of chances and I’d like to see us be more clinical with that end product.

“I want them to be ruthless in front of goal and stingy defending the goal.

“It wasn’t so much what I didn’t see, you want more and, for all the attacking play, we could have scored more. That’s not being disrespectful to Andorra.

“I’d like us to be a little bit more ruthless and more demanding on each other with that final pass.”

England were in control from the start in Bournemouth and Balogun opened the scoring after six minutes, turning in Tino Livramento’s low cross.

Noni Madueke and Harvey Elliott went close before Ramsey made it 2-0 when he drilled in after Ion Rodriguez denied Gibbs-White.

Eight minutes into the second half Gibbs-White grabbed his goal when he fired in after Rodriguez failed to hold Balogun’s tame effort.

Rosas made it 3-1 after 62 minutes but Gordon wrapped up the win with 10 minutes left.

Livramento’s deep cross found the Everton star and he produced an excellent controlled volley to find the corner.

On being 50 European qualifiers unbeaten Carsley added: “It’s testament to the players and the staff who have coached them. It’s no mean feat and I’ve seen it first hand. It’s definitely something which is in the back of my mind and something we’re keen to keep going.”