Lee Carsley heaped praise on England defender Marc Guehi and said the centre-back has reached a new level with his performances for the Three Lions.
A second-half blitz from England saw them end Carsley’s interim tenure in style with a commanding 5-0 win against the Republic of Ireland at Wembley.
While plaudits were given to England’s attacking threat, particularly in the second half, Carsley was keen to praise the Crystal Palace defender for another assured performance at the heart of England’s defence.
Initially starting alongside Kyle Walker at centre-back, Guehi ended the game marshalling the inexperienced trio of Tino Livramento, Lewis Hall and Taylor Harwood-Bellis who had just one England cap between them prior to Sunday.
‘I made Marc captain when I was in the Under-21s. He’s a player who has shown leadership qualities throughout his career so far,’ Carsley said of Guehi at full-time.
‘His maturity [is evident] not only on the pitch but off the pitch. The fact that Marc is so calm and composed next to them [the debutans] it’s brilliant.
‘I think he’s had a really good camp. He’s playing really well at Palace in the games that I have seen and he’s moving in the right direction in terms of his quality.’
Carsley continued: ‘When he plays for England he probably goes up another level as well. I still think there is a lot more to come from Marc. Physically, he’s fast and he’s aggressive.
‘On the ball, he is excellent as well so he just needs to keep improving. There’s good competition for places in that centre-back position but Marc is definitely worthy of his position.’
Reflecting on his interim spell in charge of the senior team, Carsley insisted he had left the team in a better position for incoming manager Thomas Tuchel.
‘There’s a bit of relief because we were expected to get promotion,’ he said. ‘I’ve found it challenging. But it was a strong performance. I wanted the England team to be exciting to watch and be attacking. And now we’ve seen it.
‘It has given the staff and myself the confidence that we can do the job. That is the big thing. You always doubt yourself, whether you can do it or not.
‘We often speak about there being a lot of England managers sat in the house picking the team and the squad.
‘To have the responsibility to do that and the trust from my bosses has been a massive boost of confidence. The main thing is what we’ve done and that is promotion.’
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