Lee Carsley chose to put his uncapped new midfielder, Angel Gomes, in the spotlight rather than protect him. One reason is that the FA has been developing him for a long time.
The FA has been developing Angel Gomes for a long time, which is why Lee Carsley decided not to protect him in his first England squad.
A midfielder who fits Gomes' profile has been presented by Gareth Southgate's assistant, Steve Holland, to other FA coaches over the last few years.
"A Frenkie de Jong who can receive the ball off the back four, move away, use disguises, and so on," Paul McGuinness, Gomes' former Manchester United youth coach, says.
"We've seen Rodri do it for Spain and Manchester City. That's a profile we would be trying to promote within our country in order to improve our game."
That's the type of player Angel is. We searched within the FA to improve those types of midfielders.
Carsley's description of the player matches Carsley's own - and it suggests that Gomes will become an England regular, not just an experiment, during Carsley's time as interim manager.
