FORMER Greece manager Gus Poyet claims England’s shock defeat at Wembley was down to interim boss Lee Carsley’s baffling line-up and all the managerial drama.

The Greeks upset the Three Lions with a 2-1 victory last month in the Nations League after a brace from Benfica star Vangelis Pavlidis, despite a temporary equalizer from Jude Bellingham, and dedicated the victory to teammate George Baldock just 24 hours after his sudden death.

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The two teams will meet again on Thursday in the second leg at the Athens Olympic Stadium – also known as OAKA – in the first match after Thomas Tuchel’s elimination. named new full-time England manager.

Poyet, 56, says it’s a good thing the national team finally knows who Gareth SouthgateThe player’s successor is, according to him, that the uncertainty has had detrimental consequences on the player’s mentality.

The Chelsea and Tottenham legend is also waiting for Carsley, who will miss the matches against Greece and Finland before Tuchel takes over, to name a much more balanced line-up at OAKA.

The former Brighton boss suggested Carsley had simply tried to accommodate all his best players, which is impossible for any manager to do.

The 50-year-old tried out a controversial, ultra-attacking formation which saw Cole Palmer and Anthony Gordon having to start in deeper roles, while Bellingham was placed ahead of in-form forwards Ollie Watkins and Dominic Solanke.

Poyet told SunSport on behalf of Free bets.com: “The mental aspect is very, very important. I think there was too much going around publicly about England and the coaches and who (will be in charge) and how it’s going to go.

“Everyone saw after that match that the FA had decided to appoint Tuchel, which means (the information) was inside the camp, that feeling. And no one knew the future of the national team .

“And it’s true that on the pitch, normally it doesn’t affect the players when you’re playing because you’re not thinking about anything else. But the days before, the hours before and the hours after, it’s the case. Greece resisted a magnificent plan from the coach and the players.

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“They understood exactly what they had to do, and then in key moments of the match, they took advantage. And that’s always important. You know, there are little things that have to be done for you at certain moments , and they served really well.

“I think for one reason or another the coach in charge tried something that most people in football said, which was that you couldn’t play everyone. Coming back to My time, when we said Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard and (Paul) Scholes, they can play together.

“No matter what was happening here, it was the same. Everyone wanted to see everyone else in one way or another. Apparently, this was the right game to do it, and in the end, it was clear that this was not the case.

“So maybe, you know, sometimes we make decisions as coaches. We think playing all your best players makes a team. And sometimes it doesn’t, almost all the time.

“That was one of the biggest mistakes I made at one of my clubs, trying to accommodate all the really good players one way or another on the pitch and putting them as a puzzle and it doesn’t work like that.

“You know, a team has to have a certain shape, certain characteristics, people who will be good with the ball, and people who will be good without the ball. And I think that in one way or another, that did not work for England“.

Poyet believes the defeat at Wembley absolutely proves that England can lose again in Athens, which would see them lose top spot in Group 2 and deal a major blow to their 2026 World Cup plans.

The former Sunderland boss knows Greece very well having managed them for two years and transformed them, promoting them to League B and narrowly missing out on qualification for Euro 2024 in the play-off final in Georgia , which led to its elimination.

“England knows it can lose”

And he is adamant his successor at the helm, Ivan Jovanovic, has implemented a smooth transition which sees his team being much more clinical on the pitch.

Poyet added: “Now they know they can lose and that’s enough. It will be a totally different match. I think the first match is always a surprise. This one is going to be different.

“For Greece, it’s going to be incredible. I think the progress we’ve made in two years and the intelligence of Jovanovic who is now taking them forward with his own style, but without changing players too much, has come to the fore. accurate facts.

“Two and a half years ago, when I arrived, there were seven or eight thousand people in OAKA. Now it will be full.

“It means that this group of players are moving, and it shows that it was something good and that people were excited. So it will be a great opportunity to see if it is possible to repeat that magical moment at Wembley. “

Poyet warned England, who saw Trent Alexander-Arnold, Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka, Phil Foden, Jack Grealish, Palmer, Levi Colwill and Aaron Ramsdale withdrawthe main ingredient that could cause another surprise is the unity of the Greek players.

Greek unity could cause new upheaval

Cardiff’s Manolis Siopis, Newcastle’s Odysseas Vlachodimos, Liverpool’s Kostas Tsimikas, West Ham’s Dinos Mavropanos, captain Tasos Bakasetas and Premier League target Fotis Ioannidis have played together for years.

And the match will take place in front of a sold-out OAKA, full of passionate Greeks who have fallen in love with their national team again after 10 years of injury.

Poyet said: “The unity of the group, for sure, 100 percent, (can lead to upheaval) because it is there and continues to be there.

“I think when you play against a team like England, who are one of the best teams in the world, you have to be practically perfect, without making any mistakes.

“And you have to be there to reduce the difference between the two teams. So you have to be clinical. Greece were clinical at Wembley,

“You have to make sure everyone is at a high level. Just say, what a big decision for the coach you know, to play against Pavlidis or against Ioannidis (up front) – probably both will play part of the match.

“So there are still a lot of things to decide, and it will depend on what both managers choose and decide how to play this game.”

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