England U21s crashed out of the UEFA European Under-21 Championships last night at the group stage after suffering two defeats from three games. Defeat also meant that England finished bottom of their group. England were in a tough group but were still expected to put up a fight and have a good chance of qualifying. They went into the tournament as the bookmakers’ second favourites. So, what went wrong?
England began the campaign against Portugal. A win here would have given them a good platform. England were missing John Stones and Saido Berahino. Apart from a couple of long range efforts England didn’t really look too threatening. A 57th minute goal was enough to give Portugal the points. This was the first time England had failed to score in eighteen matches. Was this tournament nerves?
Final Score: England 0-1 Portugal
Next up they faced Sweden. No disrespect to Sweden, but this was a game England were expected to win. Another frustrating day seemed on the cards as various chances were missed by England. However, in the 85th minute Manchester United forward Jesse Lingard volleyed in the winner and England’s first goal of the tournament.
Final Score: England 1-0 Sweden
England went into their final group game against Italy knowing a victory would see them through to the next stage of the tournament. Unfortunately, England never really looked like winning despite having chances and starting with both Harry Kane and Danny Ings. Italy scored two goals in two first half minutes. After this it was always going to be difficult. England’s misery was complete on 72 minutes when Italy increased their lead. England did get a consolation goal through Redmond but it was too little too late. Maybe this was the game that in hindsight England should have played more cautiously and played with two strikers in their first two games.
Final Score: Italy 3-1 England
Captain and goalkeeper Jack Butland said after the Italy defeat: “It doesn’t matter how well you prepare, you have to be able to bring it when needed. “There are fine margins in these tournaments and we conceded two sloppy goals in two minutes that have cost us our tournament.”
Underperforming players played a part, but could negative tactics have come in to it? Some could also mention that England had players missing such as Raheem Sterling, therefore having to adjust tactics slightly. Players who went to the tournament and would have expected to play, like John Stones and Saido Berahino, were ruled out with injuries before the first game. Was there too much expected of the likes of Harry Kane to produce the goods? Did the ease of the qualification albeit from an easy group give the team and fans false hope? Or will the ongoing debate of English youngsters not getting enough first-team football with their clubs rise to the surface yet again.
Coach Gareth Southgate has said he wants to stay on but admits it’s out of his hands. Many will believe a change is needed, however many will believe there is a lot to be said for stability. Southgate had this to say “I’m contracted to stay on, I’d like to stay on,” said Southgate, whose contract runs until 2017. “I think we’ve had some massive success stories in terms of individuals that have come through the programme.”
In the end, an England team have once again failed at an international tournament. Remember tournaments like these are used to get younger players ready for the step up to the full national team. Germany, for example, had many players in their World Cup winning squad that won the U21 tournament in 2009. At the minute there are only two or three players in the under-21s that look likely to have a decent international career going forward. Ex-Spurs and QPR manager Harry Redknapp may have hit the nail on the head when he said of England’s youngsters: “they think they have made it, but need more club game time and must work harder”.
A sad state of affairs, and one that needs addressing sooner rather than later.
