'We told you!' - Gary Lineker thrilled with key changes made by Lee Carsley for England after Euro 2024 heartbreak

The Three Lions made back-to-back European Championship finals under their previous head coach, but were unable to bring a long wait for tangible international success to a close. Plenty of questions were asked of Southgate and his methods during a dogged run through Euro 2024.

Carsley has now stepped in on an interim basis, and oversaw a 2-0 UEFA Nations League win over the Republic of Ireland in his first game at the helm. Said contest saw England deploy Newcastle star Anthony Gordon as out-and-out left winger, allowing captain Harry Kane to drop deep, while also finding a role for Manchester City playmaker Jack Grealish as a No.10 and giving Liverpool right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold freedom to drift into midfield.

Lineker is delighted to see England playing to their strengths, with the former frontman telling the Rest is Football podcast: “It’s interesting as well, isn’t it, that perhaps some of the things fans were most disappointed about in the Euros, well, probably three things maybe more. But everyone wanted Anthony Gordon to play on the left because we all saw a weakness and an unbalance on that side. And also that he can run behind players because Kane likes to come short and you’ve got to have a threat behind so he did that.

“The other thing was he [Southgate] left Jack Grealish out of the squad which a lot of people were bemused by and he’s come in and performed really well. And obviously, he never really trusted Trent Alexander-Arnold. In the first game Carsley has come up with all these things and a lot of us are going ‘you see? We told you’.”

England, with Kane poised to become their 10th centurion as he earns his 100th cap, are due to be back in action on Tuesday when playing host to Finland at Wembley Stadium. It remains to be seen how long U21 boss Carsley will remain at the helm.