Yay, at last. Some excuses.
**** U21s England v Czech Republic **** Official Thread
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Yay, at last. Some excuses.
brightonmark1234
Well-known member
i thought jones and smalling played well in the 3 game even thou there out.
armchairclubber
Well-known member
only real positive for me was Chris Smalling, consistent, thought he looked a different class and level of maturity to the other players, great passer and can get himself out of a tight situation. Surely he'll be englands CB for years to come. (just 10 more to find)
Steveapps71
New member
wish I had a pound for every square pass from Muamba I would have had £112 from the parts of the match i saw! perhaps he will learn how to play forward soon
Gritt23
New member
Not Pearce's fault that people above him decided this tournament wasn't important enough for the likes of Jack Wilshire. Do people really wonder why the U21s midfield suddenly lacked creativity in this tournament?
Gritt23
New member
You're not being serious, shirley?
Steveapps71
New member
Wiltshire is a great player who wouldn't look out of place in the Barcelona midfield, but the way most England teams play it probably wouldnt have made any difference...
he would have spent most of the game watching the ball getting lumped up from back to front
Gritt23
New member
I don't think so, as not having a player like that in the side is what changed our play. Watching qualifiers when he has played, we get the ball and play in into him, or he wins it himself, and starts the attack. Losing him, and the others as listed by Southwick Seagull shows how little the FA cared about doing well at this tournament. They gave in to moaning club managers and left a host of our best U21s at home. If that's how little we care about tournaments like this, then we have to accept the inevitable consequences.
You must know there's no space for sensible balanced comment in an England thread! We're world beaters or the worst team in the world. We're currently the worst team of all time, worse than the Burton Albion side of the 1950s.
Don't let the fact the u21s reached the semis and the final of the last two tournaments fool you into being balanced.
Southwick_Seagull
Well-known member
- Oct 8, 2008
- 2,035
It wasn't an excuse as to why we've been knocked out the competition, it was a comment aimed at the suggestion that this is the future of the team. The reality is the 4 people with most chance of having an impact on the 1st team were not playing. All 4 of them players have already played for the seniors, and either through injury or "resting" were not selected for this tournament. If anyone is really special they will bypass the U21's all together anyway.
Whoops sorry I forgot.
Agreed. England have lost so therefore the players are shit and the manager's shit. (Actually I think Pearce IS shit and shouldn't be in charge of any England side at any level - but I've thought that for years so it doesn't count). England actually showed some nice touches last night, Smalling looks an excellent prospect, and that was probably our best performance. Ultimately we weren't good enough to reach the semis, which is a bit disappointing but then no one thought we'd win the thing so it's not really that much of a surprise. And of course we DID qualify, which is more than the Italians and Dutch (to name but two) did.
I sense there is still this expectation that England should always do well because we're England, we invented the game and we won the war.
There I was, with concern that this England team might not match up to their senior members in the excuse and blame game when Pearce steps in and suggests that all the best teams might have been drawn together and England were in the wrong group.
crodonilson
He/Him
Far better performance than the last game, I thought we bossed the game and deserved to win. Positives for England are the back four who all played well in the tournament, and particularly the back two who could be the england central defensive pairing for many years to come, also I thought Scott Sinclair was excellent and will only improve with Premier League football.
Midfield was most dissapointing, Henderson was desperately poor throughout the tournament, as was Mancienne for the two games he played, not sure why Rodwell only played once when I'd say his one of our best players. Certainly that lack of guile and just composure and movement was lacking through the midfield.
Lets keep some perspective on things, we were undoubtedly in the tougher group and we qualified, whereas the Dutch, Germans, French and Italians failed to do that.
Midfield was most dissapointing, Henderson was desperately poor throughout the tournament, as was Mancienne for the two games he played, not sure why Rodwell only played once when I'd say his one of our best players. Certainly that lack of guile and just composure and movement was lacking through the midfield.
Lets keep some perspective on things, we were undoubtedly in the tougher group and we qualified, whereas the Dutch, Germans, French and Italians failed to do that.
Pavilionaire
Well-known member
- Jul 7, 2003
- 31,263
Arsene Wenger is a clever guy. He sussed that if Wilshere had gone he would have had to carry this pretty ordinary side, and there was a fair chance we'd not qualify anyway.