• Dear Guest, Please note that adult content is not permitted on this forum. We have had our Google ads disabled at times due to some posts that were found from some time ago. Please do not post adult content and if you see any already on the forum, please report the post so that we can deal with it. Adult content is allowed in the glory hole - you will have to request permission to access it. Thanks, scara

O/T U21 European Championship

Phil Neville feels England's struggles on the international stage are down to youngsters not being 'battle-hardened'.

I'm assuming he means that they lack experience at a top level. If you compare England to Spain I think that's a fair point as quite a few of the Spanish players had La Liga experience for some of the top clubs. Compared to Italy it's not a good point though as most of the Italian players played for Serie B clubs the last season (according to commentators). Compared to a side like Norway the point is laughable, most of the Norwegian players played at home in a league that is pretty awful, most of those players would be delighted to play in the Championship. We have one player who primarily sits on the bench for Celtic, then a couple in Austria, Holland etc.

Perhaps the under 21's should watch the final of the rugby world cup under 20's,involving england and wales on sunday,both sides won against new zealand and south africa in their respective semi final games,their commitment was second to none,no tiredness there after a long season.

As a rule if you give players an excuse they will use it.

I don't think attitude or effort was the real problem, more a lack of ability. The central midfield England sent out against Norway, in a match where they should expect to dominate possession was laughable. Not a playmaker in sight. England have some exciting wingers and attacking midfielders, but without a player to pass them the ball in good situations they will always struggle against well organized teams - we know this all too well as Spurs fans.
 
I think in many teams the technically superior foreigners help mask the deficiencies of their British team mates. 'Kick and run' needs to change to 'pass and move' for the youth teams. You don't develop footballers by having them punt the ball upfield, then fight for scraps.
 
http://www.uefa.com/under21/news/newsid=1966169.html

Thiago Alcántara won MVP.

2013 Under-21 finals top scorers
Golden Boot: Álvaro Morata, Spain – 4 goals, 1 assist
Silver Boot: Thiago Alcántara – 3 goals, 1 assist
Bronze Boot: Isco, Spain – 3 goals
Leroy Fer, Netherlands – 2 goals, 1 assist
Manolo Gabbiadini, Italy – 2 goals
Sebastian Rudy, Germany – 2 goals
Georginio Wijnaldum, Netherlands – 2 goals
Fabio Borini, Italy – 2 goals

Previous top scorers
2011: Adrián López, Spain – 5
2009: Marcus Berg, Sweden – 7
2007: Maceo Rigters, Netherlands – 4
2006: Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, Netherlands – 4
2004: Alberto Gilardino, Italy – 4
2002: Massimo Maccarone, Italy – 3
2000: Andrea Pirlo, Italy – 3

All-stars squad:
Francesco Bardi (Italy)
David de Gea (Spain)
Orjan Nyland (Norway)

Marc Bartra (Spain)
Luca Caldirola (Italy)
Inigo Martinez (Spain)
Bruno Martins Indi (Netherlands)
Martin Montoya (Spain)
Alberto Moreno (Spain)
Stefan Strandberg (Norway)

Alan Dzagoev (Russia)
Lewis Holtby (Germany)
Asier Illarramendi (Spain)
Isco (Spain)
Koke (Spain)
Adam Maher (Netherlands)
Thiago Alcantara (Spain)
Marco Verratti (Italy)

Fabio Borini (Italy)
Luuk de Jong (Netherlands)
Alvaro Morata (Spain)
Rodrigo (Spain)
Georginio Wijnaldum (Netherlands)
 
Back