Republic of Ireland v England: Nations League – live | Nations League

Heimir Hallgrímsson names his first XI and opts for the experience of Seamus Coleman and Matt Doherty.

Afternoon everyone and welcome to the post-Southgate era. It was eight years ago this week that the England men’s team last went into a match without a sensitive Gareth pep-talk ringing softly in their ears. On that occasion – Slovakia 0-1 England (Lallana 90+5) – the manager was Sam Allardyce, running the show for the first and last time. This evening in Dublin it’s Lee Carsley, a far less familiar figure and a far more enlightened coach.

Like Southgate, Carsley has been installed as a caretaker while also being a candidate for the job proper. Like Southgate, he has come up through the ranks and has managed England Under-21s. Like Southgate, in fact even more so, he has brought success at the big tournaments. Unlike Southgate, whose strengths lay in changing the culture and persuading the players to enjoy representing England, Carsley is known for constructing teams that are innovative, creative and attacking. And he still managed to win the U21 Euros without conceding a goal.

It will be fascinating to see if he can get a different tune out of a highly talented squad. He has to do without Phil Foden, Jude Bellingham and Cole Palmer – three club superstars who sometimes tread on each other’s toes in internationals – but can still call upon Harry Kane, Bukayo Saka, Declan Rice, Kobbie Mainoo, Trent Alexander-Arnold, John Stones and Marc Guehi. He has added bright young things from his U21 days such as Angel Gomes, Morgan Gibbs-White, Noni Madueke, Tino Livramento and Levi Colwill. And there could well be a central role for Anthony Gordon, since Kane is the only recognised centre-forward in the squad.

Carsley’s first game with the senior team is against Ireland, the nation he played for 40 times as a defensive midfielder after qualifying through his grandmother. He never sang the Irish anthem then, or the British one when he was managing the U21s, and he is all over today’s papers saying that he is not about to change that policy. Like Allardyce, albeit for very different reasons, he is now in the crosshairs of The Daily Telegraph.

Ireland too have a new boss, Heimir Hallgrímsson. He is an Icelandic dentist, deliciously, but also an experienced manager who has run two national teams – Iceland and Jamaica. He was in joint charge of Iceland in 2016 when they pulled off their famous victory over England, which led to Roy Hodgson’s departure, which led to Allardyce’s arrival, which led to Southgate’s appointment. It’s almost as if there’s a play to be written about all this.