DECLAN RICE and Jack Grealish rammed the Irish fans’ taunts down their throats with the first-half goals that gave England a comfortable victory.
A banner in the Irish end of Lansdowne Road proclaimed “The snakes are back” alongside pictures of the pair.
But the players who switched allegiance to the Three Lions after wearing the famous green showed why they are £100m footballers, the most expensive Englishmen of all time.
Rice was superb, scoring the first with an emphatic finish then teeing up Grealish for the second at the end of a superb move.
Ireland and their fans had no answer.
England interim boss Lee Carsley had set himself up and his team for a day of mockery by mistakenly sitting in the home dugout before kick off.
READ MORE IN FOOTBALL
But a day that threatened to be all about that mistake, and the silly row about former Republic of Ireland international Carsley not singing the national anthem, soon turned into a take of how the snakes bit back.
Any fears that the level of excitement would be far lower than the pre-match controversy soon disappeared.
An early scuffle involving Grealish, Jayson Molumby and Seamus Coleman raised the temperature further.
The Robbie Brady corner that followed seemed to hit Molumby as much as he actually headed it and the ball went well off target, but it was a real chance.
Most read in Football
FOOTBALL FREE BETS AND SIGN UP DEALS
Soon afterwards Kane should have at least forced a save out of Caoimhin Kelleher but sent a header well over the bar from Trent Alexander-Arnold’s cross.
But a goal was not long in coming. Seconds after Jordan Pickford had saved a Sammie Szmodics effort following an Ireland break, Alexander-Arnold played Anthony Gordon through with a peach of a pass but the Newcastle winger could not beat Kelleher.
Gordon pulled the ball back for Kane, only for Nathan Collins to block the shot. But it just had to fall to Rice, who smashed it home.
The Arsenal midfielder toned down his celebrations to almost nothing as both sets of fans went crazy for different reasons.
Kobbie Mainoo was booked for a foul on Chiedozie Ogbene but Ireland fluffed the free kick and England broke. Rice surged forward and fed Gordon, whose cross was met by Kane only for Kelleher to make a smothering save.
There was a slight lull in proceedings for a while, but England continued to dominate possession and then scored a brilliant second.
Rice exchanged passes with Mainoo and then with Bukayo Saka as he surged into the penalty area.
He cut the ball back to Grealish, who angled his finish perfectly into the bottom corner of Kelleher’s net and was quite happy to show how much he enjoyed it.
That really shut the Irish crowd up. Their team looked demoralised, too, as England kept the pressure on, and Kelleher had to punch a Saka cross off Kane’s head.
The second half was more low key, with the game already won to all intents and purposes. Just before the hour Szmodics fired wide when he should have at least hit the target.
Molumby was even more wayward with an effort a few minutes later.
Alexander-Arnold was then guilty of one of those moments of casualness that can be so costly.
But Ireland were not sharp enough to capitalise on his misplaced pass and the chance disappeared.
Grealish was substituted towards the end, to a chorus of boos.
England Player Ratings vs Ireland
DECLAN RICE silenced his Irish critics with a dominant display in England’s Nations League opener.
Lee Carsley’s players handed him a debut win as interim manager of the Three Lions.
Rice starred in the first half as he netted the opener and then set up England’s second goal.
Jack Grealish doubled up for England after being set up by Rice 15 minutes later.
Anthony Gordon however faded in the match as he was not able to have as much success as Grealish.
SunSport’s Charlie Wyett has rated England’s players’ performance against Ireland…
JORDAN PICKFORD – 6
Pushed away a half decent shot from Sammie Szmodics at the start of the game but as England took control, he had a stress-free game.
After a difficult couple of weeks with Everton, he would have been grateful for this.
TRENT ALEXANDER-ARNOLD – 7
Looked more at home at right-back compared to the disastrous midfield experiment at the Euros.
Stunning pass in a move that eventually led to the first goal. He has to remain as England’s right-back.
MARC GUEHI – 7
Enjoyed a decent Euros and switched over to the right of central defence as John Stones was named on the bench.
Looks increasingly like a top-drawer defender.
HARRY MAGUIRE – 7
Was left devastated after failing to make the Euro 2024 squad but he has enjoyed a decent start with Manchester United and looked solid here.
When he is not in the team, England do miss his aerial presence. 7
LEVI COLWILL – 7
Second appearance for England and was deployed at left-back.
Unlike the Euros, England have much better balance in defence with a natural left footer in this position. 7
DECLAN RICE – 9
Enjoyed an absolute stormer in what could have been a difficult afternoon.
Booed every time he touched the ball, the former Irish international quietened the boisterous home fans with a brilliant finish although refused to celebrate.
He then set up the second for Grealish.
KOBBIE MAINOO – 7
Fits perfectly into Carsley’s style of play. Some of his passing was excellent, particularly in the final third of the pitch, and this included his part in the outstanding second goal.
BUKAYO SAKA – 7
Enjoying a terrific start to the season with Arsenal – he has been nominated as their player of the month – and played with plenty of confidence here.
Was involved in the second goal.
JACK GREALISH – 8
Left out of the Euros squad, but loved every minute of this.
A decent finish for 2-0 and unlike Rice, celebrated in front of the visiting fans by raising both arms in triumph.
ANTHONY GORDON – 6
Looked really lively early on but faded.
He should have put England ahead when clean through but was lucky that seconds later, Rice hammered his shot into the corner. 6
HARRY KANE – 6
Missed with a header and despite working hard, did not actually have that many chances despite England having so much possession.
Subs
Gibbs-White (for Grealish 77 mins) 6, Gomes (for Mainoo 77) 6, Eze (for Gordon 77 mins) 6, Bowen (for Kane 84 mins) 6, Stones (for Maguire 85) 6.
Subs not used: Henderson, Pope, Lewis, Gallagher, Livramento, Konsa, Madueke.
But it was the loudest the home crowd had been for a while and substitute Jarrod Bowen forced another save out of Kelleher.
There were a few more jeers when Rice appeared to be suffering from a knock or cramp.
And when the England fans sang the anthem that Carsley did not, it was another kick in the teeth.
READ MORE SUN STORIES
Bowen and Saka both had stoppage-time chances to make the scoreline reflect the superiority of the Three Lions.
But the two snakes had already decided the game.
Lee Carsley followed same path as De La Fuente and learned from Pep – why can’t he be England boss?
By Tom Barclay
BE honest. How many of you had heard of Luis de la Fuente before his glorious Euros?
Don’t feel bad. Even Declan Rice admitted ahead of Sunday’s heartbreaking final that he was unaware of the smooth-headed 63-year-old a month or so ago.
We all certainly know who De La Fuente is now after he masterminded La Roja’s perfect Euros campaign which ended with a deserved victory over England.
That showpiece triumph in Berlin made it seven wins out of seven in the competition for his scintillating side.
It rendered De La Fuente the first boss ever to win the Under-19 Euros, Under-21 Euros, the Nations League and the European Championship.
And in so doing, it strengthened the case for another bold, bald tactician to take over as England boss now Gareth Southgate has stepped down.
Lee Carsley has trodden a similar path as De La Fuente, successfully coaching his way up his national team’s youth ranks, culminating in last summer’s Under-21 Euro success.
No doubt there would be questions about his suitability given his experience of coaching senior players is limited to brief caretaker spells at Coventry, Brentford and Birmingham.
For sure, he would not bring the same star quality as a Frank Lampard. Most fans will just about remember Carsley as that ratter of a midfielder who played alongside Thomas Gravesen for Everton in the noughties.
While there is also the thorny issue, at least for some, of the Brummie’s 40 caps for the Republic of Ireland, who ironically would be his first opponents if appointed.
But park all that for a second, focus on his qualities and the argument to give him the big job can be a convincing one.
First off, his team does not play like he used to.
‘Carsball’ is far sexier and heavily influenced by its creator watching Pep Guardiola’s free-flowing Barcelona train a decade ago, alongside 60 members of the public.
That study trip to Catalonia changed his philosophy to be far more front-footed and it paved the way to some fabulous fare during last summer’s triumph in Georgia.
Four of the five tournament goals boasting the most passes in the build-up belonged to his Young Lions.
Fans bemoaning Southgate’s pragmatic style would be salivating if they watched back the build-up to Emile Smith Rowe’s strike against Israel in the group stage, or Cole Palmer’s in the semi against the same opposition.
Carsley is a tactical innovator too.
He was robbed of a centre-forward pretty much on the eve of the tournament last summer, thanks to Rhian Brewster’s injury and Flo Balogun switching to the USA.
His response was to play Gordon through the middle. The Newcastle starlet won player of the tournament.
Manchester United supporters likely remember Angel Gomes as a lightweight winger but Carsley played him as a shield in front of the back four to great effect.
Gordon used the Under-21 Euros experience as his launchpad to make the senior squad this summer.
But talking about Carsley 12 months ago, the Toon forward said: “He is the best man-manager I’ve had so far.
“I feel like I can speak to him about anything on and off the pitch.
“On the pitch, the way we’re playing football is a credit to him because we play the way he tells us to.
“This might be the best footballing team I’ve played in, in terms of how we play and the combination play we play around the box, it’s really at an elite level. That’s down to Lee.”
Those powers of motivation could be crucial to unleashing Jude Bellingham, who, like Solihull-born Carsley, is from the outskirts of Birmingham, specifically Stourbridge.
Like Southgate, Carsley believes in the merits of giving them a comfortable environment to work in, particularly during tournaments.
The 50-year-old is relatively quiet on the touchline, often seen on his haunches making notes in his dugout with his assistant Ashley Cole the more vocal.
England’s greatest left-back Cole has learned a lot from Carsley despite having the far superior playing career.
In the aftermath of the Under-21s success, which was won without conceding a goal, Cole reflected on the different attitudes players have to international duty now and in his day.
The ex-Arsenal and Chelsea defender, 43, said: “We didn’t always want to go and the club manager would pull you out.
“But I feel they truly, truly love coming here now. I think that is testament to what Lee has done here. He is kind, loving, someone that thinks about the players more than himself.”
Other names will be in the frame but the FA will have seen how De La Fuente has taken Spain to new heights, despite his relative obscurity to the wider footballing world.
The promotion of Carsley, who spent these Euros scouting England’s opponents, would take guts and faith in the much-feted ‘pathway’.
He would have to brace himself for unprecedented levels of scrutiny – but he is ambitious.
With his 50th birthday fast approaching, Carsley said in June last year: “Energy-wise, and I’m not saying the clock’s ticking, but if I don’t have a go at it then the boat is going to pass.”
Few Spaniards were bowled over when De La Fuente was appointed in 2022 but he put them on course to sensational success.
Who is to say putting Carsley at the helm could not have a similar effect?
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
