As much as I like him I thought Maddison had a very average game. Dowell and Foden different class. For Germany I think I'd drop Lookman for Choudhury, to play Dowell Choudhury deeper with Maddison 10 and Foden more on the right.
Kind of reminiscent of a senior performance and not in a good way. Better players than the opposition but finding it difficult to create chances. The full backs came inside a lot. I'd much rather have seen them stretching the play.
nothing worrying IMO. Should have been 2 or 3/0 up at half time. Then we became a bit predictable against a parked bus but some very interesting spells.
What would people have as their 23 for the Euros? Not allowed to pick Winks, TAA, RLC, Sancho etc cause they're not in contention. One thing i'm worried about is England bringing KWP, AWB, Kenny + a left back. Maybe even Sessegnon too. Rather than being aggressive and just bringing one right back, Maitland-Niles, KWP + Dasilva. So KWP for two positions and Maitland-Niles as a midfielder. Same with the attackers, not sure who will drop out, but we can't bring them all.
That was overall OK I thought. I’m still not keen on the balance in midfield. Need a AMN or Choudury in one of the CM roles. The next friendly will highlight whether we have haven’t made an element of progress.
I thought it was a typical performance we would get in a tournament, so in that way a good test. Lots of hype for certain players, unable to break the opposition down, and getting caught on the sucker. When will we learn ...Nelson and foden were excellent though
Not sure if this has been mentioned but apparently both AWB and Abraham have withdrawn from the Squad due to injury.
It’s a shame Mason Mount has been injured for the last two squads as he could potentially bring a lot to the table. He’s back in full training with Derby now, so hopefully he can get his good form and squad place back.
very early but what can you do.... UEFA scheduling. Turkey who is in your group for the 2021 U21 Euro Qualifiers won their 1st game 2-1 vs Albania and thus pick up 3 pts. Both goals were by German-Turks too.
Ok, will give this a go but it’s quite tough: Edit: whilst doing this, I hadn’t realised how hard this is as im leaving out some top players: Gk Gunn Henderson Woodman Def AWB James Kelly ( covers cb and lb ) Fry ( covers cb and rb ) Konsa Tomori DaSilva Mid: AMN Mount Foden Maddison Dowell Choudury Forwards: Gray Hudson-Odoi ( if not available then Lookman ) Nelson Barnes Abraham Solanke Calvert-Lewin Can’t believe I’m leaving out players like Sessegnon, Lookman, KWP, Clarke-Salter, Kenny, Adams, Choudury etc but I can’t fit them in which is painful. One issue was that I couldn’t really decide between Nelson, Lookman & Sessegnon ( had him in originally but with Kelly covering left back also, I thought we need a extra right sided player in Gray ) but wouldn’t be unhappy with any of them selected tbh. Obviously defensive midfield is the main worry with Cook and Longstaff out injured but thought we need AMN just for his defensive role and he’s better on the ball than Choudury imo but we are really short in that area in general. I’ve also included Reece James just because he’s a quality right back and in emergency situations he can cover a midfield spot which might be really important given our deficiencies in that area. Honestly, even without the obvious senior players like Sancho, RLC, Winks, Chilwell, TAA, Alli, Rashford and Gomez that could be available in theory, this has been one of the toughest squad selections for a U21 Squad that I can remember. I honestly don’t want to go through this again, lol and I kind of feel for Boothroyd. What a tough call! Edit: sorry just realised I was one short so have added Choudury for extra midfield cover.
Well yeah but I wouldn’t worry about it, they are only injured plus Abraham has already turned down Nigeria and can’t honestly see either of them going anywhere whilst there is a U21 Championship to compete in this Summer.
Abraham’s could be a great target man who can finish judging by how easily he’s handled the champ Wan bissaka could be a consideration if he keeps improving I don’t rate trippier or Walker myself so him and taa should be battling itnout
🚨 TEAM NEWS 🚨Here's how the #YoungLions line up against Germany tonight... pic.twitter.com/oycVaaOSZY— England (@England) March 26, 2019
Presumably that's something like this: Barnes Solanke Gray Foden Dowell Davies Sessegnon Clarke-Salter Fry Walker-Peters Henderson
I think it's the only way to make sense of it. The only other likely option is KWP, and then I can't see who would be at right-back. Doesn't look like a back three either.
I think you're right and to be honest, I'd be happy to see Sessegnon playing as a left back again. There's too much competition further forward for him to stand out.
the number of changes is a bit risky especially at the back but I can understand than Bootroyd wants to assess all his options