England midfielder Declan Rice says the squad love playing under interim boss Lee Carsley and do not need clarity on his future.
Carsley was appointed as Gareth Southgate’s successor on a temporary basis in August, initially for the Nations League campaign over the three autumn international windows.
However, the 50-year-old, who stepped up from his role as under-21s manager, has since tied himself up in knots when speaking about whether he wants the job on a permanent basis.
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After Thursday’s shock defeat to Greece at Wembley he said he would “hopefully” be going back to his role with the under-21s before saying the job should be given to a “world-class manager” in a TV interview in the wake of Sunday’s 3-1 win in Finland.
But just minutes after that in his post-match press conference in Helsinki, he said he was “definitely” not ruling himself out of the running for the permanent position.
For all the circus surrounding his future, Rice says it is not affecting the players.
Asked whether the squad needed clarity, the Arsenal midfielder, who scored the final goal in England’s 3-1 win in Helsinki, said on BBC Radio 5 Live: “No, not at all. He has been clear with us when he came in back in September that he was looking after us for three camps.
Declan Rice was a goalscorer in England’s 3-1 win in Finland (Bradley Collyer/PA)
“With the way he has been and the way we have played, I think he has been unbelievable.
“It’s my first time working with him because I haven’t worked with the under-21s, but the 21s boys that have come in couldn’t speak highly enough of him.
“We as senior players are not surprised but we have said how good he was in meetings and games and how he takes training.
“He is one of those managers…look at Jack Grealish, he put an arm around him, gave him confidence, they are the type of things players love and Lee has done that.
“He has been amazing for us. Whatever happens, happens but we are all enjoying this journey at the minute.”
Lee Carsley has impressed Declan Rice (Bradley Collyer/PA)Thursday’s defeat to Greece at Wembley, where Carsley played a front five of Jude Bellingham, Phil Foden, Cole Palmer, Anthony Gordon and Bukayo Saka, seemed to be a hammer blow to his chances of getting the job permanently.
But Rice says the players should take responsibility for that defeat and the blame should not lie at Carsley’s door.
“I don’t think so, I think it counts against us, we were the problem on Thursday night,” he said.
“There were too many sub-par performances. It was a different game if we score goals. That is down to us not Lee.”