Van de Looij is equally bad for Holland, there is no reason why a team can't create one decent chance in two matches. That just means there is no intent there, negative, pragmatic football, scared to lose. It's horrible and the young players don't learn anything from it, nor can they showcase their qualities at a high level.Serves England right for having Boothroyd as the gaffer. It'll be the same again in the summer with Southgate.
Davies has been good for us this season but it's mainly as a player with absolutely no responsibility but running around and breaking things up while he has a more experience partner or two beside him to do the expansive stuff. He's added a bit more for us aside from that but he was never going to do it for a poor U-21 unit.Think Davies is the issue in midfield and a lack of presence up top. Davies is the guy to link midfield to attack whilst Skipp holds but his quality has been awful. Boothroyd is selecting Davies simply because of his experience in the PL. Skipp is the better 6 though and you don’t need both of them. I’m convinced Jones would be much better in place of Davies. Sess and Madueke have been disappointing too. Hard to imagine that McNeil and Eze wouldn’t have been better.
Boothroyd was a hoof ball manager who failed in every job he had. His last team were relegated from the entire football league after he was sacked. I don’t think the issue is that he’s trying to be defensive. I think he’s actually trying to be progressive because his hoof ball style is not permitted. He just doesn’t have a clue how to implement modern coaching tactics. He makes bizarre subs and tactical switches. His continued presence in the England setup after the FA declared that they wanted to implement more progressive methods is a bit of a scandal.Van de Looij is equally bad for Holland, there is no reason why a team can't create one decent chance in two matches. That just means there is no intent there, negative, pragmatic football, scared to lose. It's horrible and the young players don't learn anything from it, nor can they showcase their qualities at a high level.
Well, England could get a good caoch. That would help. They have some decent players who should be doing better. I'm still not too optimistic about the future, though.Our squad is fantastic tbf, there's not much England could have done. Vitinha is the new Moutinho, him and Bragança in midfield was beautiful to watch.
I remember that under 21 team under Southgate, while it’s true they were on the same group stage as Portugal in 2015 and they lost 1:0 I don’t think they were so bad collectively.This is one of those 'groomed for the big job' kind of appointments. I remember England U-21 performing and playing awful under Southgate, and just like Boothroyd, everyone was thinking, "Oh, they'll fire him now at last", but alas, Southgate somehow walked into the full national team position after 3 poor years at U21.
If Southgate somehow goes, what ya wanna bet that Boothroyd gets that yes-man internal promotion too?
Similar level if not better than the 1 we had in 2015 who lost the final to Sweden.Our squad is fantastic tbf, there's not much England could have done. Vitinha is the new Moutinho, him and Bragança in midfield was beautiful to watch.
Quite funny considering he scored the goal that put United out of the Champions League.If Justin Kluivert had a different surname I doubt he'd be a professional footballer. A player who truly embodies the term overrated.
Also, our youth team coach makes Frank de Boer look like a master tactician. What a complete knob.
Ironically at the 2015 tournament England beat Sweden in the group but still ended up bottom of it! In 2015 it was still only 8 sides that qualified for the finals so the groups were really competitive. Our group was much better than the other with the two finalists with Italy and England. Portugal beat Germany 5-0 in the semi-final and Sweden beat Denmark 4-1. Sweden had Lindelof in their side in that competition.Similar level if not better than the 1 we had in 2015 who lost the final to Sweden.
Didn’t remember that. We played Sweden 2 times and 2 draws, don’t remember the other team from the group.Ironically at the 2015 tournament England beat Sweden in the group but still ended up bottom of it!
Updated my post above with the details.Didn’t remember that. We played Sweden 2 times and 2 draws, don’t remember the other team from the group.
Not fully conviced about our full backs tbh. I don't think they will provide width with enough quality in locked games.Similar level if not better than the 1 we had in 2015 who lost the final to Sweden.
Should be Dalot on the right and Nuno Mendes on the left but with Nuno getting to the main team there's definitely a weakness as Thierry isn't great and Dalot on the left isn't very good either.Not fully conviced about our full backs tbh. I don't think they will provide width with enough quality in locked games.
Ah remember that game vs Italy, I might be wrong but from the five games played we won 1:0 vs England and 5:0 vs Germany, we actually were outplayed vs Italy on a 0:0 draw.Updated my post above with the details.
In 2015 we had Esgaio and Guerreiro as starters, don’t forget beside Dalot and Thierry we have Nuno Mendes and Vinagre for the left (let’s see if he improves under Ivo Vieira)Not fully conviced about our full backs tbh. I don't think they will provide width with enough quality in locked games.
Have to agree about the Porto generation: they had golden talent over there. Such a waste!Should be Dalot on the right and Nuno Mendes on the left but with Nuno getting to the main team there's definitely a weakness as Thierry isn't great and Dalot on the left isn't very good either.
Also, the generation coming out of Porto in the last few years is ridiculous. Diogo Costa, Dalot, Leite, Queirós, Vitinha, Fabio Vieira, Conceição, Fabio Silva... they've wasted a golden oportunity by having Sérgio as their manager as he will never put enough trust on young players.
Guerreiro is great on attacking, but his dfensive positioning is very suspicious. Esgaio was decent overall. I think this generation is very strong in terms of midfield and attack where we have plenty of solutions, and our CBs are very solid.In 2015 we had Esgaio and Guerreiro as starters, don’t forget beside Dalot and Thierry we have Nuno Mendes and Vinagre for the left (let’s see if he improves under Ivo Vieira)
Grill played four games this season and at last in his last one, against Hertha, he showed his inexperience. That's hardly enough to be outraged about him not starting.Grill has played in several Bundesliga games now and despite the horrible performances of our team, he played very well and had some nice saves.
Baku is much better than anyone else, but to make that observation based off last night´s game is a bit weird, he was very sloppy and not dangerous at all going forward. Nmecha, Dorsch had much better performances yesterday.
Boothroyd is certainly wrong fit but guys who could make a difference in terms of coaching like Dean Smith or Graham Potter aren't going to leave reasonable stable prem clubs to do it even on part time basis unless they were basically guarenteed the England job in two years time.Well, England could get a good caoch. That would help. They have some decent players who should be doing better. I'm still not too optimistic about the future, though.
I commentated on the game last night and agree with your assessment here. Vitinha ran the game. He was the best player on the pitch.Our squad is fantastic tbf, there's not much England could have done. Vitinha is the new Moutinho, him and Bragança in midfield was beautiful to watch.
Is he injured?Thank god Greenwood pulled out of this shitshow
I said the same when it was announced he pulled out. Boothroyd is a dinosaur manager and hasn't won anything or achieved any accolades that suggest he should be managing some of the best English talents for a long while.Thank god Greenwood pulled out of this shitshow
Is that the Wolves guy?I commentated on the game last night and agree with your assessment here. Vitinha ran the game. He was the best player on the pitch.
He's "injured" but I think it's more of a we need him to be fit and healthy for the remaining games + preferred him to get a rest at home situation. I hope anyway.Is he injured?
Absolutely shocking manager, no idea how he's lasted so long there. His record is pathetic and isn't even playing good football to compensate for it.I said the same when it was announced he pulled out. Boothroyd is a dinosaur manager and hasn't won anything or achieved any accolades that suggest he should be managing some of the best English talents for a long while.
Yes mate, on loan from Porto.Is that the Wolves guy?
He’s so direct. Shooting technique is amazing.Cody Gakpo has been brilliant tonight. He's so mature for his age.
MentalNice tournament from the Azzurrini. 3 games, 5 points, 5 goals, 5 red cards
How can he moan about selection headaches, when he selects Brewster. No offence to the lad but how does 27 games pre tournament for club and Country, 0 goals get you selected for a tournament?Aidy Boothroyd: "The U21s is the utterly impossible job"
Every other U21 coach experiences the same thing, Aidy! England's young talent is (for once, genuinely) the envy of most other nations. If there wasn't such an abundance of talent, he wasn't making such poor selection decisions, the style of play wasn't so tumescent and he hadn't been persisted with despite major failure, I might have some sympathy for him but... hell no. We need someone new in, pronto.
Probably, would help instil a winning mentality. I don't see why you wouldn’t pick the best possible XI you can.Shouldn't any player who is selectable for the U21 be playing for the U21 side? Even though they have played for the full side? Other countries do that.