England National football team thread

[Auwais]

What have you lot made of the U21's so far?

 

[shravi]

What have you lot made of the U21's so far?

Sturridge was the only player who actually did anything of substance yesterday, or at least showed some intent. Welbeck wasn't all that sharp and missed a few chances, one of those was pretty easy. Henderson was virtually anonymous throughout the game. Mancienne was okay but the odd pass did go astray. Jones was fairly solid at the heart of the defense. They just haven't hit their stride yet.

BTW, Germany didn't make the tournament? France? Italy? Where are these teams?

 

[JBlues08]

I didn't watch the first half of the England U21's game against Ukraine but from what I read, they were constantly playing long balls to the front man.

 

[War]

Ye the ENG kids are playing too much long ball football which is very surprising. I really am not sure why Pearce is playing Mancienne in mid-field, much less making him captain.

 

[Auwais]

If they need a ball-winner in midfield or a holding player in a midfield three, what's wrong with using Muamba.

Not taking McEachran after Wilshere withdrew was also silly.

Henderson's been poor so far. I thought even Mancienne was better than him in the Ukraine game, despite being deployed out of position.

 

[War]

Ye i thought Muamba was a fixture in this team, very surprised he hasn't started. Plus yea McEachran not going was dumb, he was the perfect like-for-like replacement for Wilshire.

Another player i think should have gone for Liverpool's Spearing given his form at the back end of the season. But i sort of get the feeling Pearce is giving players who played a large part in qualification preference selection.

 

[MasterBlaster76]

So here we go again - another make or break game for England - albeit at U21 level...

 

[MasterBlaster76]

Goal for England! Lovely header by Welbeck - as it stands, England will qualify.

Edit: And England couldn't hold on - he should never have scored from there, but it was a beautiful bit of footwork and now it's 2-1 as England were caught out badly at the back.

Out at the group stages.

Edit: It's a tricky one: a lot of 'experts' think we have to take U21 tournaments seriously if we're to improve at senior level, but players like Wilshere and Carrol have had a long, tough season of Premiership football. No doubt that Wilshere and Carrol would've made a huge difference though.

What about Connor Wickham? Surely he should've been involved?

 

[War]

Ye MB...cruel way to go out regardless. Just couldn't defend for 15 mins..smh

But although i reckoned this team could have gone all the way, a first round exit here doesn't mean that future of the ENG team is poor. Since potentially Wilshire, Caroll, Richards, Gibbs, McEachran, Speaing & Kelly could have been in this team and made it stronger.

While i expect blokes like Jones, Walker, Smalling for sure will have long careers. Sturridge & Welbeck also could as well.

Though Henderson had a poor tournament really, his passing generally was pretty poor & sometimes i think he is being over-rated a bit every since he made his international debut a few months back.

 

[MasterBlaster76]

Ye MB...cruel way to go out regardless. Just couldn't defend for 15 mins..smh

But although i reckoned this team could have gone all the way, a first round exit here doesn't mean that future of the ENG team is poor. Since potentially Wilshire, Caroll, Richards, Gibbs, McEachran, Speaing & Kelly could have been in this team and made it stronger.

While i expect blokes like Jones, Walker, Smalling for sure will have long careers. Sturridge & Welbeck also could has well.

Though Henderson had a poor tournament really, his passing generally was pretty poor & sometimes i think he is being over-rated a bit every since he made his international debut a few months back.

Yep.

We've also got to stop saying 'we're going there to win this' - it puts too much pressure on the players.

I'm liking what I'm seeing from Smalling and Jones though - there's the future Man Utd and England CB pairing right there.

As Psycho's saying right now, we didn't play as well in the earlier games. That's part of the problem - we've got to find a way to start these things better! We never hit the ground running - hell even in 1966 we started with a draw!

What about Rodwell and Wickham - are they not eligible for U21 any more? And the Southampton lad, Chamberlain?

And what a killer it was in the last minute that if the offside flag hadn't gone up, that was probably a stonewall penalty. Oh well - the life of being an England fan, eh?

Edit: We have to start at the schools, we have to start at the academies, we have to teach them how to pass, how to enjoy the ball - same thing we hear every single time we bomb out and that's what we have done here - failing to get out of the group just isn't good enough. We're very good at talking, but where's the action? Have we got it inside our heads that the game isn't about 6ft giants? I remember Hoddle speaking of an academy he opened in Spain that took on English players rejected here because they were 'too short'.

Ummm... Maradona? Pele? Romario? Scholes? Messi?

We have to start now and build the way Spain did, the way France did - it will take a long time! It will take fifteen, twenty years! It has been done by the cricket team, but it took ages! But now look at the cricket team we have now. It's not that we don't produce the players in this country - it's the way they're coached - it has to change. But will it? Or isn't it more likely we'll get another ten, twenty, thirty years of such discussions and we'll never see England win a thing in our lifetimes?

 

[Auwais]

Here's a striking fact I read earlier today:

Current (English) Academy regulations state that young players can receive no more than 3,760 ?contact time? hours on the training pitch up to the age of 21.

Young players at the Ajax academy in Holland and Barcelona?s La Masia facility can expect to receive 7,000-8,000 hours of coaching between the ages of 10-18.

It's almost like those in charge of the academy system in this country have their heads stuck up their arses.

 

[MasterBlaster76]

Here's a striking fact I read earlier today:

Current (English) Academy regulations state that young players can receive no more than 3,760 ‘contact time’ hours on the training pitch up to the age of 21.

Young players at the Ajax academy in Holland and Barcelona’s La Masia facility can expect to receive 7,000-8,000 hours of coaching between the ages of 10-18.

It's almost like those in charge of the academy system in this country have their heads stuck up their arses.

Really? Great find - there's the problem right there in full.

Someone at the FA, please explain to us how in the name of God are we meant to catch these countries up if our kids get less than half the time on the pitch their (Spanish/Dutch/insert nation here) counterparts do????

 

[JBlues08]

The England U21s seriously lacked the cutting edge upfront and most importantly, creativity!

 

[War]

The England U21s seriously lacked the cutting edge upfront and most importantly, creativity!

Yep, which is why as others have mentioned when Wilshire stepped out, the best like-for-like replacement was McEachran.

But as i mentioned before, Henderson was supposed be the deep-lying maker in this side as well, but his passing game was piss poor in all 3 games.

 

[JBlues08]

Yep, which is why as others have mentioned when Wilshire stepped out, the best like-for-like replacement was McEachran.

But as i mentioned before, Henderson was supposed be the deep-lying maker in this side as well, but his passing game was piss poor in all 3 games.

As you said, Henderson is overrated at the moment. And at least you spelled Josh's name correctly.