Watkins Deserves To Be Angry Not To Get A Starter Place In The England National Team From Lee Carsley

Watkins had to sue to start the England national team when Harry Kane was absent (Instagram/@olliewatkins).

Good job Watkins was not a starter when England hosted Greece in the third UEFA Nations League match at Wembley Stadium, October 11, 2024, early morning WIB.

The England international interim coach, Lee Carsley, even experimented with installing Jude Bellingham and Phil Foden as spearheads.

In fact, Watkins is actually a strong candidate to fill the losing striker Harry Kane absent from Noni Madueke or Dominic Solanke.

The situation also drew attention. One of them is from the former British striker, laan Shearer.

Shearer said that Watkins had full rights to be angry with Carsley for not starting.

The Aston Villa striker was only played in the 60th minute to replace Anthony Gordon.

No wonder, Shearer emphasized that Watkins must sue Carsley to start against Finland on October 13, 2024.

"You would definitely be very angry if you wereuan Watkins, wouldn't you? Your main centre-forward is injured and you've been screaming for the chance."

"When you come in, you've actually done well. He played well at club level."

"However, when Kane is absent, the manager comes to you and says he won't play you tonight at home against Greece and will try something different."

"He has the right to (angry). He should have knocked on his door and had to play in the next game if Kane wasn't fit," the podcast The Rest is Football said.

The Carsley experiment did not play a pure striker giving birth to disaster for the Three Lions. They lost 1-2 to Greece at home.

Playing Cole Palmer, Phil Foden, and Jude Bellingham who rotated to fill the outpost before Watkins came in did not work well.

Meanwhile, Carsley realized his experiment was failing and he put up. Next looking at the match against Finland in Helsinki, the 50-year-old coach had to consider Watkins' presence.

The forward has scored 27 goals in 53 games for Aston Villa last season.

Watkins also became the hero of the Three Lions at Euro 2024 when he scored in the 90th minute against the Netherlands in the semifinals.

So far, Watkins has made 15 appearances for England and scored four goals.

Only five of them made where Watkins started. The last time he started for England came in a 3-0 win over Bosnia-Herzegovina in a friendly match in June 2024.