After whipping itself up into a right tizzy over Lee Carsley’s decision not the sing God Save the King, the English media called off the hounds following England’s 2-0 Nations League win over the Republic of Ireland at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday.
We knew a home victory would be a tall ask for Heimir Hallgrímsson in his first game as Ireland manager, but the English papers had remarkably little to say about the Icelander. Instead focusing on their own, keeping much of the praise and criticism for England.
And who were the scorers of the evening? Our once-upon-a-time, what-could-have-been duo: Declan Rice (11th minute) and Jack Grealish (26th). Whoever wrote the script for this one is indeed a fan of irony, so of course, the English papers honed in on the pair’s respective Irish pasts.
Sam Wallace of the Telegraph referenced a fan banner featuring Rice and Grealish which read: ‘The snakes are back’. “Both he and Rice were booed relentlessly at first by the home crowd, but even that lost its edge as the gap in quality between the two sides became clear.”
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Meanwhile in the Guardian, David Hytner took note of their contrasting reactions after scoring. “Rice’s celebrations upon his goal were controlled, muted. Not so those of Grealish, who lapped up the applause of the England fans behind the goal.”
On the overall energy, or lack thereof, at the Aviva, Hytner added: “It had been difficult to locate any pre-match optimism among the Ireland fanbase and it was as if the realisation had set in that they could be in for a long second period. Irish football is at an extremely low ebb; everybody feels beaten down by the years of disappointment.” No sugar to coat that one.
The other big talking point in the English papers, albeit with the volume now turned way down, was interim manager Carsley keeping his promise not to sing the national anthem.
The Birmingham-born, 40-time capped former Republic of Ireland player seems to have quietened the majority of his critics with his team’s performance on the turf.
Of the pre-match anthem hullabaloo, Jacob Steinberg in the Guardian surmised: “It had, of course, been another stunning effort from the unremittingly silly circus that likes to use English football as a way of keeping the culture war relevant.”
Thankfully turning their attention to Carsley’s managing instead of his singing, the 50-year-old garnered praise for allowing England to play freely, in contrast to the often rigid approach adopted by his predecessor Gareth Southgate.
Writing in the Telegraph, Matt Law said Grealish, brought back into the English-fold by Carsley after being left at home for the Euros by Southgate, “must have felt himself at the centre of England in a way he rarely has previously”.
In a similar vein, Sami Mokbel in the Daily Mail remarked that Trent Alexander-Arnold’s display in Dublin was a marked change to his performances under Southgate, when he often appeared “a timid, almost forlorn figure when in an England shirt”.
“Why Alexander-Arnold’s international career has stuttered thus far is open to interpretation ... in Lee Carsley, Alexander-Arnold may have found an international manager willing to give him the framework to finally make his England career a success.”
Praise on an Irish front was all but reserved for goalkeeper Caoimhín Kelleher, credited with minimising England’s winning margin.
“Otherwise, Ireland’s players felt the growing despair of their fans,” Wallace wrote.
So, Carsley appears to have weathered his first media storm. “We had the manager who did not sing and the scorer who did not celebrate and confirmation that it does not matter – all the guff and froth – as long as a team can play good football,” Jonathan Northcroft said in The Times.
And Steinberg goes a step further to say Carsley’s “only misstep” was when he mistakenly plonked himself down in the Irish dugout before kick-off. But sure didn’t we all get a kick out of that.
