UEFA European Under-21 Championship 5-18 June *** Spoilers ***

Cosimo

Cosimo

Cosimo

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Matches played in Israel

Group A

Israel, England, Norway, Italy​

Group B

Spain, Netherlands, Russia, Germany​


Wednesday 5 - Sky Sports 2

Israel v Norway, 17:00
England v Italy, 19:30​

Thursday 6 - Sky Sports 2

Spain v Russia, 17:00,
Netherlands v Germany, 19:30​

Saturday 8 – Sky Sports 2

England v Norway, 17:00
Italy v Israel, 19:30​

Sunday 9 – Sky Sports 2

Netherlands v Russia, 17:00
Germany v Spain, 19:30​

Tuesday 11

Israel v England, 17:00, Sky Sports 2
Norway v Italy, 17:00​

Wednesday 12

Spain v Netherlands, 17:00, Sky Sports 2
Russia Germany, 17:00​

Friday 14 – Sky Sports 2

Semi-final One, Winner B v Runner-up A, 16:30
Semi-final Two, Winner A v Runner-up B, 19:30​

Tuesday 18 – Sky Sports 1

Final, 17:00​
 
Teams for tonight:

England U21: Butland, Clyne, Dawson, Caulker, Robinson, Henderson, Lowe, Redmond, Shelvey, Sordell, Wickham.

Subs: Steele, Smith, Wisdom, Lees, Chalobah, McEachran, Zaha, Lansbury, Delfouneso, Rudd.


Italy U21: Bardi, Donati, Bianchetti, Caldirola, Biraghi, Florenzi, Marrone, Verratti, Insigne, Borini, Immobile.

Subs: Colombi, Capuano, Gabbiadini, Destro, Sansone, Bertolacci, Paloschi, Saponara, Regini, Rossi, Crimi, Leali.
 
This is just like watching the first team. Lack of...well anything.

I don't know what England expected when they employed Pearce, I am sure he does a lot of shouting and talking about being English and what it means but the man is a terrible coach and isn't the man you want leading the next generation of players.
 
Biz.Kid09 said:
This is just like watching the first team. Lack of...well anything.

I don't know what England expected when they employed Pearce, I am sure he does a lot of shouting and talking about being English and what it means but the man is a terrible coach and isn't the man you want leading the next generation of players.
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Can't really blame the management, the players are out there, they're just playing crap.
 
lucarocks92 said:
This is the price u pay for having so many foreigners in the league. The FA should look to increase the number of English players in the league.
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nemtizz said:
That wouldn't solve anything. Yay for overpriced, terrible English players. Emphasis should be on youth academies, not just forcing teams to play English players.
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If the players are from a Country that's part of the EU then they can't legally do that. Any EU citizen is free to work anywhere within the EU without restriction. (Of course there are legal and criminal restrictions that are taken into account)
 
Most of the best players were taken with the senior squad, there were a good 5 or so that were eligible for the tournament but with the seniors instead.
 
England out then. I'm surprised to be honest, who's the problem? Pierce? With the pool of players we have, we should be doing better.
 
Andybtsn said:
Can't really blame the management, the players are out there, they're just playing crap.
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It comes down to the management also to be able to motivate and set them up properly. It is not all down to the manager but I just think under a different manager we would see a different team.

Also I don't buy into this theory that we aren't that good because Hodgson took all the best players. That England team on paper is better than nearly every other team, multiple players in the Premier League and playing for the top teams.
 
Would a 'second' or A team from the bigger clubs being able to play in the lower leagues, a la Real Madrid Castilla, with the previso that even if they win the championship they can't win promotion help? It would allow the clubs to really test younger players and you could incentivise English players in some way, although I'm not sure how you could legally do that.
 
I think the hype machine goes into overdrive a bit when people start talking about the young players we have, I mean I look at that U21 squad and think OK so who has actually proven themselves, established themselves in a top side, won trophies etc?

Keepers
None of them first choice for a top flight club.

Defenders
Of the 8, the only one who is first choice for a Premiership club is Clyne. Rose did get in the Sunderland team on loan to be fair. Caulker, maybe next season who knows.

Midfielders
8 players, only one who is first choice (kinda, based on end of season) for a top flight club is Henderson

Strikers
None of them first choice for a top flight club.

So out of a squad of 23 players, there is a grand total of 3-4 players who are starting regularly in the Prem. I'm not saying the rest are bad players or that we should expect all our young players to establish themselves in millionaire teams but the fact is this so-called array of talent are not proven world beaters, they are just young players getting paid a fortune and have hangers on telling them how fantastic they are, who either have potential or have done well in the lower leagues. Limited opportunities perhaps, but the real genuine superstars nearly always establish themselves by their early 20s

If it were me I'd be sending my best team to tournaments, friendly internationals be damned (for comparison Norway even included players playing international qualifiers during the tournament!). Ox would have been in the squad 100%.
 
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We could have had Jones, Ox, Wilshere and Welbeck in the side. I'm sure I've missed a few too. At that level could have made a world of difference. None of the other international sides seem to show such disregard to the U21's. If we had a core of players getting to semi's / finals together they would be much more effective as a unit for the senior squad. Did I hear right that the FA said the Brazil friendly was more important? That's why we're so bad, not because of the foreigners in the league.
 
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