It was precisely what Lee Carsley needed. After the mayhem of the Wembley defeat against Greece on Thursday night and all of the fallout, chiefly the uncertainty around his longerโterm role within theย England setup, this was a return to the tranquil progress of his first camp in September.
It was a stroll against a limited Finland team, the whipping boys of this Nations League group, England not exactly wowing but doing more than enough to positionย ย a little further back in the rearview mirror. It is now three wins out of four for Carsley, after those against Republic of Ireland in Dublin and Finland at Wembley.
The standout moment came when Trent Alexander-Arnold bent home a sumptuous free-kick from a position to the left of centre, wafting his right foot like a wand to make it 2-0. England had given up chances in the first half and a big one after the break,ย Finlandย wasting them, and there was always the sense that Carsleyโs team had higher gears to find if needed. They were not.
For Jack Grealish, this was his third start under Carsley and he opened the scoring with a cool finish after a lovely flick from Angel Gomes. Declan Rice got the third from a cross by Ollie Watkins, on as a substitute, and Finlandโs late consolation, Arttu Hoskonen running free to head home from a corner, was little more than a minor irritation for England.
The Carsley Question was a major theme โ in terms of where he will go at the end of his interim tenure in November. Answer: back to his old job with the under-21s. It is absolutely the most likely outcome. The other big subject had concerned the style of his team. The botched allโout attack against Greece had given the red tops the dream headline โ โKamiCarsleyโ โ and it was always going to be more conventional here, not only because Harry Kane was back from injury to play as the No 9.
England had dominated against Finland at Wembley in Carsleyโs second game, creating so many chances, and it was a night when control was the theme. The idea was for more of the same; hence the recall for Gomes alongside Rice in midfield.
It was Gomes who picked the lock for the breakthrough goal, who found a way through Finlandโs compact 5-4-1 system. It had all been a little too mannered at the outset, England measured in terms of tempo. They had all of the ball; it was patience over passion.
Grealish injected the urgency, surging off the left to find Alexander-Arnold and dart for the area. What a lovely assist it was from Gomes. He knew where Grealish was and when he accepted the ball from Alexander-Arnold in between the lines, he turned it neatly through for Grealish, who had only Lukas Hradecky to beat.
The Finland goalkeeper had been a titan at Wembley. Grealish simply opened up his body for the sidefoot finish and the sucking-thumb celebration for his recently born baby girl. He looked determined to embrace a more familiar role on the left wing, having previously been played by Carsley in more central areas.
There were imperfections from England in the first half, including when they attempted to build from the back; a few loose passes. Gomes was guilty of one in the early running at 0-0, giving the ball away and watching Finland work it to Benjamin Kรคllman, John Stones jumping into an important block when he shot. On the rebound, Topi Keskinen dragged wide.
