England's player ratings against Greece as Saka and Foden fail to shine in Nations League defeat

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Lee Carsley suffered his first defeat during his time as interim England coach with a 2-1 defeat at Wembley against Greece in the Nations League.

Despite exploring a range of attacking options, the Three Lions were largely dismal and lacked cohesion in possession as well as body and structure, which resulted in Greece having a number of chances on the counter-attack.

Vangelis Pavlidis eventually found his way to goal after dribbling his way through the defense, but Jude Bellingham scored a late equalizer and looked set to prevent a first defeat for Carsley – but another defensive mix-up ensured Pavlidis scored scored the winning goal.

Here are the player ratings from Wembley.

Jordan Pickford3. Disastrous start as he gave up two possible goals: he romped outside the penalty area and lost the ball, then missed a shot attempt. The ball went in, but the flag was up – he was very lucky. Immediately after the restart he was beaten more clearly, then twice more, with the offside flags again saving him. There's still time for another goal to fly past him and secure the win.

Trent Alexander Arnold5. Offensively not nearly as imaginative and committed as in the last international break and defensively too lax, even with Pavlidis' goal. A good defensive tracking back run late on and a couple of decent balls into the box.

John Stones6. Made a great block to keep a shot off target. However, he was beaten far too easily for the opening goal – one of several that apply. Captain on the night, a reasonable performance without being anywhere near great.

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Levi Colwill7. Great recovery to save Pickford's blushes, sprints and stretches to get goal line clearance. Good performance and a good recovery pace were required more than once. Probably England's best starter on the night.

Rico Lewis6. Overall very calm and generally solid – always looks like he's playing. Possibly the current and future answer at left-back, but ended up being involved in the mix-up that led to another goal.

Declan Rice5. After struggling to find a partner for him at the European Championships, Carlsey seemed to come to the conclusion that the best option was… not to have one. Spent a lot of time alone in the middle, crowded and cluttered. Booked for a wild tackle. Bad play, but not really his fault since he was isolated for so long.

Cole Palmer6. Pounced over the ball from ten yards when you would expect him to score. A few times there was a good connection or some good defensive work, but certainly not the kind of impressive performance one was hoping for after a week of hype.

Phil Foden5. As with so many of his England performances, there were some nice touches in their own right, but fundamentally it was a game in which he failed to set the rhythm or tempo, be creative or be the leading man. Should the ultimate decision be to drop a creative player, his performances with the Three Lions could make him the right fit.

Bukayo Saka5. Ran back and forth a bit but had very little involvement and was pushed to the sidelines as England tried to create additional creative opportunities. At the start of the second half he was sent off with a slight limp.

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Jew Bellingham6. Had a very early shot that was well saved, but was always in the game after that, essentially England's centre-forward, but often dropped deep and ran well over the goal when he could. Missed a chance with a lob and then scored the late equalizer.

Anthony Gordon5. Essentially played the role of the only player with a fixed position in the final third, keeping the width and working hard. I didn't achieve much because I kept trying to get involved and defend when Carsley brought in a striker.

Subs: N Madueke 7, O Watkins 7, D Solanke 6

Greece: Vlachodimos 7, Rota 8, Mavropanos 7, Koulierakis 7, Giannoulis 7, Kourbelis 8, Siopis 7, Masouras 7, Bakasetas 6, Tzolis 8, Pavlidis 9.