England have had one shot on target in 2 games.
Under 21 European Championship 2021 (March & May - June)
- Thread starter Classical Mechanic
- Start date
Serves England right for having Boothroyd as the gaffer. It'll be the same again in the summer with Southgate.
Very poor exibition from England: Portugal used an extra midfielder this match to make sure the midfield could get covered in full widht, since England main solution was to play it wide. As Portugal overload the midfield to cover on full width, England just couldn't adapt and didn't had no one in the middle to hold and run to open space.
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.
Portugal, France, Spain and Germany are the best teams. Hope they all play in the semi finals against each other and then the outcome is open.
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.
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?
If Southgate somehow goes, what ya wanna bet that Boothroyd gets that yes-man internal promotion too?
That was painful viewing.
Really this should lead to the FA questioning their whole approach regarding coaching and why this manager was given a job by one of his close friends.
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.
Really this should lead to the FA questioning their whole approach regarding coaching and why this manager was given a job by one of his close friends.
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.
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 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?
I remember England had Kane and Dier. I am not a big fan of Rui Jorge our under 21 coach, but he is working there since 2011 or 2012 if I am not wrong, and he also failed at least the qualification for 2 euros.
At this level more important than winning tournaments (of course is good to win), is to have continuity and prepare players for the main NT. At least Southgate did that.
While continuity is important, it’s clear the team hasn’t showed collective behaviour and understanding between the players, regarding winning tournaments or being favourites at this level is always subjective, so far on the last tournament’s only Spain and Germany showed enough consistency to do that, more than France, Portugal, Italy or the Dutch.
Similar level if not better than the 1 we had in 2015 who lost the final to Sweden.
Quite funny considering he scored the goal that put United out of the Champions League.
Cant say I’m too surprised by England, even with the shite manager, you can’t expect to win tournaments with loads of players missing. There’s literally no reason not to have the likes of Bellingham or even Foden there.
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.
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Didn’t remember that. We played Sweden 2 times and 2 draws, don’t remember the other team from the group.
Updated my post above with the details.
Not fully conviced about our full backs tbh. I don't think they will provide width with enough quality in locked games.
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.
Imagine not playing Curtis Jones
who's the absolute clown that manages the English U21?
who's the absolute clown that manages the English U21?
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.
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)
Thank god Greenwood pulled out of this shitshow
Have to agree about the Porto generation: they had golden talent over there. Such a waste!
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.
@André Dominguez And don't forget from 2001 we still have Gonçalo Inácio as an option for CB.
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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.
In a team that seemed to have no hope of getting the ball into the attacking third Baku was the only one who seemed capable of doing so, the only player who did something the opposition didn't see coming from a mile away with his chipped passes. It wasn't his best performance by far, but unlike his team mates you could see his quality.
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.
Eddie Howe available and he's probably the best fit out there with how he plays but again he isn't taking that over a prem job.
Think FA missed a trick not bumping Steve Cooper up to under 21s after he was managing likes of Foden at world cup so would've been logical continuity choice. Now he's at Swansea and could well be premier league manager in a few months so little chance of tempting him back.
That Nketieh isn't that good is he? Seems to score loads for England in qualification but Arsenal have pretty much given up on him now as he's looked out of his depth whenever he's started for them in last 18 months and Bielsa didn't rate him much as starter when he went there two years ago.
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.
Is he injured?
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.
Is that the Wolves guy?
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.
Often they use a small injury excuse with players that clubs aren't happy with releasing.
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.
Yes mate, on loan from Porto.
Cody Gakpo has been brilliant tonight. He's so mature for his age.
He’s so direct. Shooting technique is amazing.
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.
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.
Nice tournament from the Azzurrini. 3 games, 5 points, 5 goals, 5 red cards
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?
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.
Probably, would help instil a winning mentality. I don't see why you wouldn’t pick the best possible XI you can.