‘Got my smile back’ – England duo thank interim boss Lee Carsley | OneFootball

England duo Jack Grealish and Jude Bellingham have heaped praise on outgoing England boss Lee Carsley.

Carsley took temporary charge of the Three Lions for six games, winning five and losing one and guiding the nation back to the Nations League A, following the departure of former boss Gareth Southgate after the European Championship in the summer.

And both Bellingham and Grealish have voiced their appreciation for Carsley, who will now return to his previous job as England U21 boss with Thomas Tuchel set to take over the senior side.

Grealish said: “What a guy & manager! Absolute legend and thank you for bringing back the enjoyment in an England shirt.”

Bellingham commented: “Huge thanks to Lee and his staff for their work in these last few camps. Got my smile back in an England shirt, very grateful!”

Both players have had their troubles with England recently, with Bellingham often looking frustrated during the Euros and Grealish missing out on the competition entirely.

The Manchester City forward had voiced his frustration with Southgate’s decision not to take him. “I’ll be honest with you, I didn’t really agree with it. You look at some players in my position — the likes of Phil Foden, Anthony Gordon or Jarrod Bowen — they’ve scored a lot of goals. But I know that my game is not just about goals. I give so much more to the team than just goals. I still think that, yeah, I should have (gone to the Euros) but obviously it wasn’t meant to be.”