England U21 3-2 Germany U21: Carsley’s crew prove he should be next in top job

English football isn’t supposed to be like this.

Parts of this teeming, vivid 3-2 win in a muggy Bratislava seemed almost disrespectful to the long and great national tradition of stodgy, stunted, cottage pie football, of freezing and collapsing in finals, of overwhelming underachievement.

Omari Hutchinson somersaulting in celebration after doubling England’s lead on 24 minutes was a show of ostentatious joy so foreign he might as well have started levitating. It was enough to make you believe it could be different.

For the second consecutive tournament, England are U21 European champions, their age-group pathway still the envy of football’s great houses.

Despite only winning one of their group matches, this cut-and-shut group missing seven likely starters developed into a sharp, sleek side who dismissed favourites Spain in the quarter-finals and outclassed a German team which had flattened all comers.

That’s not to say this was flawless – Germany scored twice to level the game and twice hit the crossbar in added time. And yet within two minutes of extra time England took a lead they did not surrender, Jonathan Rowe diving onto Tyler Morton’s soaring cross. This was an apt reward for a bold gameplan of clean directness well executed.

There is proven correlation between U21 and senior success at international level. Six of Germany’s victorious 2009 cohort won the 2014 World Cup. Italy won in 2000 and 2004 before winning the 2006 World Cup.

Winning breeding winning is a cliché for a reason. After the 2023 victory, just reaching the next final with an almost entirely new group – only Harvey Elliott and Charlie Cresswell remained – would have constituted success.

This is also vindication for Lee Carsley and further proof of his understated brilliance. Whether next summer or beyond, Carsley is Tuchel’s inevitable successor, representing opposing values, the obvious Southgate-esque culture builder to follow the supposed serial winner.

Newsflash: Pep Guardiola is never going to manage England. There’s every chance the prevailing phenomenon of elite club managers waltzing into international roles ends as badly as it has started. Where will that bring you? Back to Lee.

“I think the biggest thing about working with Lee is the belief and the trust that he puts in you,” James McAtee said before the final. “On the pitch he just fills you with confidence. You know that you can go and play with freedom.”

After the stunted weirdness of later-year Gareth Southgate and the even weirder early days of Thomas Tuchel, no buzzword is more enticing than freedom for an England manager to instill. Carsley has at least proven it possible at age-group level.

By the home Euro 2028, Carsley will likely have worked with the vast majority of the squad. Players clearly love him. His interim stint was fun, innovative and featured some genuinely excellent football, as did this final. He temporarily resurrected Jack Grealish. There’s no question he’s very good at this. He’s getting better. This is worth getting excited about.

And despite victory, there’s still the sense this cohort lacks unquestionable elite talents destined for the senior set-up, which only bathes Carsley in warmer light. This uncertainty is partially due to injuries and the Club World Cup, but the 2023 squad included Levi Colwill, James Trafford, Morgan Gibbs-White, Anthony Gordon, Curtis Jones, Jarrad Branthwaite and Cole Palmer.

England drew with Slovenia and lost to Germany in the groups. Carsley preached patience, time to develop and mould this group. For once, it wasn’t a platitude.

Where these players go from here could vastly vary, a glut of ability lacking direction or the right home. Harvey Elliott, Jarell Quansah, Tyler Morton and James McAtee have either left their clubs or are en route out this summer, defining moves for the wider arc of their careers.

Hutchinson is set to spend next season in the Championship, alongside Jay Stansfield, Hayden Hackney and Ronnie Edwards. All will either need promotion or a move to really progress. James Beadle’s path to the Brighton starting spot is blocked.

Perhaps the great legacy of this victory will be Carsley’s deserved confirmation as a future England manager. English football isn’t supposed to be like this, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be.

Photograph by AP Photo/Petr David Josek