Young Lions 'creative' in team selection, says Carsley

England men’s under-21s head coach Lee Carsley spoke of his desire to retain the European crown after naming his squad for this summer’s UEFA U21 EURO Finals.

The Young Lions will head out to Slovakia as defending champions, having lifted the trophy in 2023 when the tournament was jointly hosted by Georgia and Romania.

Carsley’s side went on to beat Spain 1-0 in the Final to get their hands on the silverware for the first time in almost 40 years.

“The fact that we won it in 1982 and 1984 and 2023, it’s a brilliant target to go for to try and do it again and to try and replicate Dave Sexton’s achievements if we can,” explained Carsley.

“We’re definitely going out to try and do that. It’s important that this next generation of England players believe that they can win major tournaments. These players are used to playing with that expectation day in, day out so it should be no different with England.”

Over at St. George's Park, it's time to hear from Lee Carsley following this morning's #U21EURO squad announcement! 🎙️ https://t.co/Xc0qaqnDbQ

— England (@England) June 6, 2025

Carsley confirmed Manchester City’s James McAtee will wear the armband for the Young Lions at the tournament, with the forward having been a part of the MU21s since 2022 when he received his first call-up, going on to make his debut in June that same year against Kosovo.

“James is a very important player to the team and to the squad,” said Carsley. “He’s a player that’s done really well in the past and a player that I’ve coached for a while. I enjoy working with him.

“There’s a lot of players in the team and squad that are also capable of captaining the team and that leadership role and responsibility is something that I think will help his game.”

And the Young Lions head coach highlighted that although there were a number of players unavailable for selection, his 23-man squad have an abundance of talent.

“We’ve got quite a few players missing,” continued Carsley. “One of the negatives of watching that last game of the season in the Premier League is that you’re losing two or three players. Obviously with the Club World Cup as well, we weren’t able to select some players.

“I think we have to be creative with our team selection in the way that we try and get the players into the team and trying to play to the players’ strengths and I think we can do that.”

England’s tournament will get underway on Thursday 12 June when they face Czech Republic, having been drawn into Group B, with Germany and Slovenia making up the remaining sides in the group.

And the Young Lions’ campaign will be aired live and exclusive on Channel 4 following an agreement announced in April.

“It's so important that you get off to a good start,” emphasised Carsley. “We showed in our previous campaign that Czech Republic are a very difficult team to play against. We played against them in the qualifying campaign as well, so we expect a very difficult, tough game.

“The fact it’s now live on Channel 4 is a brilliant thing for us. Hopefully the people back home really enjoy watching the team play.”