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Lee Carsley will return to his role as the head coach of England’s U21s with Thomas Tuchel set to take charge of the senior team and he’s been praised by former U20s boss Paul Simpson
Paul Simpson feels that Lee Carsley has already proven he is a future England manager – and that he can be the biggest winner from Thomas Tuchel’s appointment.
Carsley stepped up as interim boss for six matches but will return to the Under-21s when Tuchel officially gets to work in January.
And Simpson, who won the World Cup with England’s Under-20s back in 2017, reckons Carsley has unfinished business in the senior hotseat and could thrive learning from Tuchel for the next 18 months.
“I thought Lee handled himself really well,” Simpson tells Mirror Football. “He’s shown with the work that he’s done [with England] and the Under-21s that he knows how to work at international level.
“It would be really good for English football and for the FA if they can find that natural progression for Lee to go in and work in the background with Thomas Tuchel in charge.”
While Tuchel has primarily been brought in to win the World Cup, Simpson thinks the FA have to ensure that the organisation as a whole and their coaches benefit from being around the former Chelsea boss.
He added: “If everybody says that Thomas is the be-all and end-all and he’s the right man, let’s benefit from it then.
“He’s here for the next 18 months, so, from an English FA and English coaches standpoint, let’s glean as much knowledge from him as we possibly can and see if we can make the whole of English football better.”
Simpson was speaking at an event to mark the rebranding of the EFL Trophy, which will now be known as the Vertu Trophy.
The competition has divided opinion among fans since Premier League academies were brought into the mix as part of a shake-up back in 2016. But with more than three quarters of the latest England squad having played in the competition, Simpson is an advocate of its worth.
He said: “It’s only Aston Villa that have actually made it through to the last 32 [this year]. None of the Category A academies have ever got to a final. I always framed it up that it was a real good opportunity for us to get to Wembley or get to a major final.
“I think it’s a really good platform for young boys and young lads to get tested against senior football players. When we were a part of the FA, we talked about giving players as many different experiences as we could. There’s a long list of players who have cut their teeth in the competition and then gone on to have fantastic careers.”
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