Stark differences between Carsley and Varas as interim coaches

Both England and the United States men’s national team are in a state of flux with interim coaches in the form of Lee Carsley and Mikey Varas. With Carsley, England won its Nations League opener against Ireland on the back of several changes, both tactically and among the squad.

It was a radically different approach from Varas, the interim head coach of the USMNT. Varas stuck to largely the same squad and many of the same tactics as former coach Gregg Berhalter. The results did not change either, as the USMNT fell at home in a friendly against Canada, 2-1. Meanwhile, England outmatched Ireland with a 2-0 win.

The results and performances may be insignificant in the grand scheme of the two national teams as both await a new permanent head coach. Yet, it speaks volumes about where the two sides go over the coming months. On a Monday morning press conference, Mikey Varas spoke about the lack of changes he made in the loss against Canada. He said, as an interim coach, it is not his job to introduce radical changes to the side. In his view, he may contradict the incoming head coach.

“First of all, as interim coach, your job is to not change everything so there needs to be continuity. At the same time, there were definitely nuances that were different from an ideas perspective (compared to how the team played at Copa America). [For example] we didn’t hit a single goal kick long in the entire game. Zero.”

“I think there were some differences, and ultimately, we were all disappointed by the first half especially, and the result. But it’s a work in progress. We’re trying to get better every day.”

Varas struggles, but Carsley shows the potential of interim coaches

Mikey Varas should not be the one to blame for where the USMNT currently stands. However, given that this game was a friendly, and the United States has limited time before the World Cup in 2026, it would be beneficial to see some experimentation in the squad. That is what happened with Lee Carsley and the England national team at the weekend. Carsley introduced several changes to the Three Lions for this game against Ireland. The most notable of which was reintroducing Jack Grealish in the starting XI. Gareth Southgate previously omitted the Manchester City winger from his squad at Euro 2024. That decision immediately paid off.

Grealish scored England’s second goal and was one of the side’s best players on the day. Carsley also changed the role of Anthony Gordon, making the Newcastle star an out-and-out left winger. Harry Kane thus dropped deeper into the midfield. Likewise, Carsley afforded Trent Alexander-Arnold more freedom, and the Liverpool star was active as a creative threat for England.

Former England striker Gary Lineker said each of these things answered questions that fans asked of Southgate.

“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,” Lineker said. “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 [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.’”

Setting up the future of the sides

The attack-minded performance of Carsley, in which he effectively pulled the handbrake on what everyone knows is a talented side, gives the incoming head coach something to work with. The replacement knows Southgate’s pragmatic coaching style can lead to success. Now, he sees the potential of otherwise overlooked players.

By comparison, Mauricio Pochettino, the incoming head coach of the USMNT, would have failed to learn anything from Mikey Varas. An uninspired performance against Jesse Marsch’s Canada did not test anything or move players to new positions. Malik Tillman and Jonny Cardoso were the only changes, and they were forced because of injuries to other players in the midfield. Regardless, the onus remains on Pochettino to figure out the successful formula within the USMNT ranks.

PHOTOS: IMAGO.