England have appointed Lee Carsley as their new Under-21 head coach, with former Chelsea star Ashley Cole named as his assistant.
Carsley is promoted from his role with the England Under-20 team to replace Aidy Boothroyd, who has left after almost five years in the position.
Cole won 107 caps in an illustrious playing career and will be the chief support to Carsley, combining the position with his role as a coach in Chelsea's academy.
"I'm really happy to get this opportunity to support Lee and work with the best youngsters in the country," said Cole, who began his coaching career with Derby County.
"I loved playing for the national team and to now get the chance to work as an England coach is a special feeling.
"St. George's Park is an amazing place and I can't wait to get started. I want to do my best to help young players to develop, and also learn from some brilliant people at the same time."
Boothroyd left the Under-21 job on a disappointing note after failing to progress through the group stage of this year's European Championship.
He had taken the role, initially on a caretaker basis, in 2016 after Gareth Southgate was promoted to the senior team.
The new regime will start with matches against Romania and Kosovo in September.
FA technical director John McDermott added: "I'm very happy to be able to confirm Lee's appointment, and to be able to bring in someone of Ashley's stature as his number two, with thanks to Chelsea for their support."
Former Arsenal and Chelsea defender Cole, 40, has also worked as a television pundit since retiring as a player with Derby in 2019.
England aiming to be one of 'world's best' teams, says Earl
England have aspirations of greatness, asserted Ben Earl as he prepares to face New Zealand in a friendly at Twickenham.
The 26-year-old was optimistic about the progress England had made under Steve Borthwick despite registering two losses at the hands of the All Blacks in July.
England will be seeking revenge after losing the second match of the test in a devastatingly close 16-15 defeat. Immanuel Feyi-Waboso had scored a try to put England ahead after scores had been tied 10-10 at half-time, but two penalty kicks from Damian McKenzie ended their hopes.
Earl, however, believes the heartbreak has given his country an opportunity to develop.
“I think it’s an experience all the big teams go through, you have to go through some heartache to get over the line,” he told TNT Sports.
“It just feels like it’s the evolution of all the top teams, and we are a team that wants to be known as a great team, some of the world’s best.
“So we know the heartache is good for a while, but it’s time to go and do it at the right time. We got a glimpse of it against Ireland last year, and we feel we are due one, and we have learnt some really hard lessons over the summer, so we feel we are in a better place for it.
“We have always said you don’t win easily against us and that’s something we have developed over the last 18 months with Steve’s mindset and the boys getting hold of it, and now I feel it’s time to get over the line in one of these big games.”
New Zealand have won their last three matches, having defeated Japan and secured a double over Australia. They struggled against reigning world champions South Africa, however, as they failed to exact revenge on the Springboks in late summer tests falling to defeat twice.
Undoubtedly, the All Blacks still represent some of the best talent in the world, with Earl expected to line up opposite New Zealand’s superstar Wallace Sititi.
“There’s stardust littered all over the pitch isn’t there? There’s some pretty cool match-ups; it just feels like a game that isn’t going to disappoint,” he said.
England won’t be overawed, though. Instead, they aim to make their west London home a fortress for visiting sides to travel to.
“[Twickenham is] a place where we want to be really, really hard to beat. And we’ve always said in the camp, if you want to beat us at Twickenham you are going to have to be over and above the norm,” Earl said.
Charlotte FC want justice in "most important game in their history," says Smith
Charlotte FC head into the “most important game in their history” with a chip on their shoulder, according to Dean Smith.
The Crown were defeated 2-0 away at Orlando City in game one of the playoffs and need a win in their first-ever home playoff match to keep their hopes of progress alive.
Smith was aggrieved after designated player (DP) Pep Biel was given his marching orders after 91 minutes for violent conduct and Charlotte’s appeal was rejected, leaving their forward suspended for the home encounter.
It is a situation that Smith hopes will galvanise his team and the home crowd alike, to get them over the line and set up a final decider back in Orlando.
“We’re excited for it, we’re looking forward to it. We feel aggrieved and I think the injustice that we as a team feel will make the club grow stronger,” he said.
“[Biel’s suspension] is a problem for our club because this is the biggest game in our history. We’re at home in front of our fans for a playoff game for the first time and we’ll be missing a DP.
“But we’ve done enough for me to know that we can hurt them, especially at home with our fans behind us.”
It is seemingly a consensus across the team that home advantage can provide the key to success against Orlando.
“It’s frustrating but, it could be over three games. They used their home advantage. It’s time for us to use ours on Friday. It’s a completely different game at the Bank,” said midfielder Ashley Westwood.
If Charlotte do manage to secure a win they’ll tie the series and set up a decider in Orlando, something Smith is not as keen about.
“The only problem in this result for us is that if we get the win as we want to do on Friday, we’ll have to be back at Orlando a week later,” he said.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Charlotte FC – Kristijan Kahlina
Nominated for MLS goalkeeper of the season, he will be crucial in maintaining Charlotte’s impressive home defensive record. They kept an MLS-high nine home clean sheets during the 2024 regular season.
Going back to the end of last season, Charlotte have kept clean sheets in 12 of its last 20 home matches in all competitions.
Kahlina has played all 35 of Charlotte’s MLS matches so far this season and boasts a save percentage of 75.6%, having kept 12 clean sheets.
Orlando City – Facundo Torres
The striker was on form in game one of the play-offs, bagging a goal in Orlando’s 2-0 win. He is Orlando’s top scorer this season with 15 goals.
He has the second-best shot conversion rate at Orlando (28.8%), and his distribution is just as vital to the visitors, having made 46 key passes this season – the second most on the team.
MATCH PREDICTION: CHARLOTTE FC WIN
The only ever away win in the eight all-time meetings between Charlotte FC and Orlando City was a 2-1 win by the Lions on their first visit to Charlotte in August 2022.
Since then, Charlotte are unbeaten in three home matches against Orlando City (W1 D2).
The Crown have lost just three of their last 28 home matches in all competitions dating back to June 2023 (W13 D12), the fewest home defeats by any MLS team in all competitions in that time.
However, if anyone can get a result away at Charlotte, it’s Orlando. They have won five of their last seven away matches (L2), including winning the last three in a row.
The Lions have scored three goals in each of their last three away games, something no team has ever done in four straight MLS matches (incl. playoffs).
Orlando have got the better of Charlotte of late, unbeaten in their last four MLS matches (Wins: 2 Draws: 2 Losses: 0).
Charlotte are looking for their first league win in encounters between the two sides since March 2023. Orlando have outscored Charlotte 7-3 during their unbeaten streak.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Charlotte FC – 36.8%
Draw – 26.3%
Orlando City – 36.9%
Leverkusen boss Alonso calls for defensive improvement
Xabi Alonso wants to see defensive improvements from Bayer Leverkusen, as he prepares for an "intense" game against Stuttgart.
Leverkusen, the Bundesliga champions, have already shipped 15 goals in the league this term.
They sit third, five points behind joint-leaders Bayern Munich and RB Leipzig and three ahead of eighth-placed Stuttgart ahead of Friday's clash.
Leverkusen have dropped nine points from winning positions in the Bundesliga this season, with only Wolfsburg worse off (11). They are the only team to have led in all eight of their league games this term (W4, D3, L1).
That is after Leverkusen did not squander a single point after taking the lead last season, and Alonso says there is plenty of room for improvement.
He said: "The last few games against Stuttgart have been really exciting.
"We are already feeling a good energy ahead of the game and we have prepared for the intensity that we expect. It’s a huge game.
"It's a big task for us to improve our defensive performance. We can score a lot of goals but we must not concede them.
"We hope to keep a clean sheet and we need to play well with and without the ball."
Stuttgart have not made a flying start to their Bundesliga campaign, though they have reeled off three straight wins in all competitions, including beating Juventus in the Champions League.
"There are a lot of emotions in these matches and Stuttgart are a strong team," said Alonso.
"They deserve their place in the Champions League."
Stuttgart have led in each of their five competitive games against Leverkusen under Sebastian Hoeness, but have not won any of them.
The last three meetings have seen Leverkusen score after the 88-minute mark.
Despite their iffy form this season, the defending champions have lost just one of their last 42 Bundesliga games (W32, D9).
They have picked up the most points in the league by far since the start of last term (105), followed by Bayern (92), Leipzig and Stuttgart (both 85).
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
