U17 Euro championship

[Neville Kneville]

Very strange game, although prety typical of youth football. Portugal had the ball for the most of the game, looked technically excellent and moved the ball around nicely, but England beat them thanks to a long ball down the middle and a deflected shot after a nice slalloming run. England having only 2 shots on target and they both went in, with barely even any shots off target. Whereas Portugal hit the post 3 times and the England keeper made some good saves, but the Portuguese striker, Silva, looked pretty useless.

Lots of big, strong, quick english players who seemed to rely on powering through on their own, not much in the way of teamwork or interplay. Probably not that surprising that Portugal looked the more coordinated and like they knew what they were doing though, as I think 9 of the starting 11 play together for Benfica.

Englands standout player was probably the second goalscorer Roberts, who was one of the few england players to cope with Portugals pressing and showed some excellent close control for his goal. I'd imagine our U17's are a lot better than most on display for England here, or at least a lot more comfortable on the ball, but it's pretty clear that physicality played a large part in the coaches choice of players

That's the depressing thing about it.

We had Trevor Brooking, a skilled ex player, in charge for a decent period, all talking about playing football & creating players to rival Spain etc, what do we actually see ? A team of giants designed purely to be difficult to play against, hopefully win & be a feather in the cap of the coaches/administrators who can say "we got to the final" but not even the slightest intention of developing anything.

What happens when they reach adulthood, & they are physically the same as everyone else, but the likes of Spain, Holland, or City's graduates are taking the piss out of them when it comes to playing real football ?

Pathetic.

 

[George Hannah]

Very strange game, although prety typical of youth football. Portugal had the ball for the most of the game, looked technically excellent and moved the ball around nicely, but England beat them thanks to a long ball down the middle and a deflected shot after a nice slalloming run. England having only 2 shots on target and they both went in, with barely even any shots off target. Whereas Portugal hit the post 3 times and the England keeper made some good saves, but the Portuguese striker, Silva, looked pretty useless.

Lots of big, strong, quick english players who seemed to rely on powering through on their own, not much in the way of teamwork or interplay. Probably not that surprising that Portugal looked the more coordinated and like they knew what they were doing though, as I think 9 of the starting 11 play together for Benfica.

Englands standout player was probably the second goalscorer Roberts, who was one of the few england players to cope with Portugals pressing and showed some excellent close control for his goal. I'd imagine our U17's are a lot better than most on display for England here, or at least a lot more comfortable on the ball, but it's pretty clear that physicality played a large part in the coaches choice of players

That's the depressing thing about it.

We had Trevor Brooking, a skilled ex player, in charge for a decent period, all talking about playing football & creating players to rival Spain etc, what do we actually see ? A team of giants designed purely to be difficult to play against, hopefully win & be a feather in the cap of the coaches/administrators who can say "we got to the final" but not even the slightest intention of developing anything.

What happens when they reach adulthood, & they are physically the same as everyone else, but the likes of Spain, Holland, or City's graduates are taking the piss out of them when it comes to playing real football ?

Pathetic.

I thought Joe Gomez and Izzy Brown looked outstanding prospects - loads of skill

 

[Ray78]

Very strange game, although prety typical of youth football. Portugal had the ball for the most of the game, looked technically excellent and moved the ball around nicely, but England beat them thanks to a long ball down the middle and a deflected shot after a nice slalloming run. England having only 2 shots on target and they both went in, with barely even any shots off target. Whereas Portugal hit the post 3 times and the England keeper made some good saves, but the Portuguese striker, Silva, looked pretty useless.

Lots of big, strong, quick english players who seemed to rely on powering through on their own, not much in the way of teamwork or interplay. Probably not that surprising that Portugal looked the more coordinated and like they knew what they were doing though, as I think 9 of the starting 11 play together for Benfica.

Englands standout player was probably the second goalscorer Roberts, who was one of the few england players to cope with Portugals pressing and showed some excellent close control for his goal. I'd imagine our U17's are a lot better than most on display for England here, or at least a lot more comfortable on the ball, but it's pretty clear that physicality played a large part in the coaches choice of players

That's the depressing thing about it.

We had Trevor Brooking, a skilled ex player, in charge for a decent period, all talking about playing football & creating players to rival Spain etc, what do we actually see ? A team of giants designed purely to be difficult to play against, hopefully win & be a feather in the cap of the coaches/administrators who can say "we got to the final" but not even the slightest intention of developing anything.

What happens when they reach adulthood, & they are physically the same as everyone else, but the likes of Spain, Holland, or City's graduates are taking the piss out of them when it comes to playing real football ?

Pathetic.

In the England set-up they still have the likes of Aidy Boothroyd and Howard Wilkinson involved so expect the same Athletic but Technically and Tactically deficient players.

 

[BigOscar]

Very strange game, although prety typical of youth football. Portugal had the ball for the most of the game, looked technically excellent and moved the ball around nicely, but England beat them thanks to a long ball down the middle and a deflected shot after a nice slalloming run. England having only 2 shots on target and they both went in, with barely even any shots off target. Whereas Portugal hit the post 3 times and the England keeper made some good saves, but the Portuguese striker, Silva, looked pretty useless.

Lots of big, strong, quick english players who seemed to rely on powering through on their own, not much in the way of teamwork or interplay. Probably not that surprising that Portugal looked the more coordinated and like they knew what they were doing though, as I think 9 of the starting 11 play together for Benfica.

Englands standout player was probably the second goalscorer Roberts, who was one of the few england players to cope with Portugals pressing and showed some excellent close control for his goal. I'd imagine our U17's are a lot better than most on display for England here, or at least a lot more comfortable on the ball, but it's pretty clear that physicality played a large part in the coaches choice of players

That's the depressing thing about it.

We had Trevor Brooking, a skilled ex player, in charge for a decent period, all talking about playing football & creating players to rival Spain etc, what do we actually see ? A team of giants designed purely to be difficult to play against, hopefully win & be a feather in the cap of the coaches/administrators who can say "we got to the final" but not even the slightest intention of developing anything.

What happens when they reach adulthood, & they are physically the same as everyone else, but the likes of Spain, Holland, or City's graduates are taking the piss out of them when it comes to playing real football ?

Pathetic.

I thought Joe Gomez and Izzy Brown looked outstanding prospects - loads of skill

Isn't Joe Gomez the gigantic centerback who headed everything out of the box and barged people off the ball a lot? Izzy Brown was the lad with the giant hair? Neither showed much of the way in technical ability that I saw, Brown in particular just seemed to try and run straight at defenders and tried to use his pace and strenght, to not much effect. Maybe it was a bad game for them to show their technique as the Portuguese pressed very well, but I can't recall the English players ever stringing more than a handful of passes together and the centerbacks really struggled to pass it out from the back

 

[Neville Kneville]

That's the depressing thing about it.

We had Trevor Brooking, a skilled ex player, in charge for a decent period, all talking about playing football & creating players to rival Spain etc, what do we actually see ? A team of giants designed purely to be difficult to play against, hopefully win & be a feather in the cap of the coaches/administrators who can say "we got to the final" but not even the slightest intention of developing anything.

What happens when they reach adulthood, & they are physically the same as everyone else, but the likes of Spain, Holland, or City's graduates are taking the piss out of them when it comes to playing real football ?

Pathetic.

I thought Joe Gomez and Izzy Brown looked outstanding prospects - loads of skill

Isn't Joe Gomez the gigantic centerback who headed everything out of the box and barged people off the ball a lot? Izzy Brown was the lad with the giant hair? Neither showed much of the way in technical ability that I saw, Brown in particular just seemed to try and run straight at defenders and tried to use his pace and strenght, to not much effect. Maybe it was a bad game for them to show their technique as the Portuguese pressed very well, but I can't recall the English players ever stringing more than a handful of passes together and the centerbacks really struggled to pass it out from the back

I'm sure some of these lads are talented, & that Izzy character looked to have skill, but as you say, the general idea seems to be to run headfirst into the opposition.

These lads could probably be a lot better than they are.

 

[Neville Kneville]

Very strange game, although prety typical of youth football. Portugal had the ball for the most of the game, looked technically excellent and moved the ball around nicely, but England beat them thanks to a long ball down the middle and a deflected shot after a nice slalloming run. England having only 2 shots on target and they both went in, with barely even any shots off target. Whereas Portugal hit the post 3 times and the England keeper made some good saves, but the Portuguese striker, Silva, looked pretty useless.

Lots of big, strong, quick english players who seemed to rely on powering through on their own, not much in the way of teamwork or interplay. Probably not that surprising that Portugal looked the more coordinated and like they knew what they were doing though, as I think 9 of the starting 11 play together for Benfica.

Englands standout player was probably the second goalscorer Roberts, who was one of the few england players to cope with Portugals pressing and showed some excellent close control for his goal. I'd imagine our U17's are a lot better than most on display for England here, or at least a lot more comfortable on the ball, but it's pretty clear that physicality played a large part in the coaches choice of players

That's the depressing thing about it.

We had Trevor Brooking, a skilled ex player, in charge for a decent period, all talking about playing football & creating players to rival Spain etc, what do we actually see ? A team of giants designed purely to be difficult to play against, hopefully win & be a feather in the cap of the coaches/administrators who can say "we got to the final" but not even the slightest intention of developing anything.

What happens when they reach adulthood, & they are physically the same as everyone else, but the likes of Spain, Holland, or City's graduates are taking the piss out of them when it comes to playing real football ?

Pathetic.

In the England set-up they still have the likes of Aidy Boothroyd and Howard Wilkinson involved so expect the same Athletic but Technically and Tactically deficient players.

Aidy Boothroyd works for England ? Please tell me you are joking..

 

[Centurions]

That's the depressing thing about it.

We had Trevor Brooking, a skilled ex player, in charge for a decent period, all talking about playing football & creating players to rival Spain etc, what do we actually see ? A team of giants designed purely to be difficult to play against, hopefully win & be a feather in the cap of the coaches/administrators who can say "we got to the final" but not even the slightest intention of developing anything.

What happens when they reach adulthood, & they are physically the same as everyone else, but the likes of Spain, Holland, or City's graduates are taking the piss out of them when it comes to playing real football ?

Pathetic.

In the England set-up they still have the likes of Aidy Boothroyd and Howard Wilkinson involved so expect the same Athletic but Technically and Tactically deficient players.

Aidy Boothroyd works for England ? Please tell me you are joking..

How do you think England got to be the world dominating force they are? By pure luck?

 

[George Hannah]

final about to start England v Netherlands on Eurosport - M. Platini is guest of honour

 

[Cheadle_hulmeBlue]

england are p,laying in the final now, in my honest opinion i think that england will be successful in the future we have so many good young players coming through now, watch out for ryan ledson, who will start more for everton next season and patrick roberts.

 

[George Hannah]

have a look at Roberts, Izzy Brown and Joe Gomez playing for us