Always thought Cole Palmer has the attributes to be a good striker. He's a very good finisher, good touch, got a good frame to be a focal point for the team. Curtis Jones is a interesting choice for the role though. Surprised Ellis Simms didn't get a call up after Balogun dropped out.
Our #YoungLions' team news is in! 👀Kick-off against Croatia is 7.45pm, live on @BBCiPlayer. pic.twitter.com/HTbwqy9QKW— England (@England) March 28, 2023
Our #YoungLions' team news is in! 👀Kick-off against Croatia is 7.45pm, live on @BBCiPlayer. pic.twitter.com/HTbwqy9QKW— England (@England) March 28, 2023 Looks like it’s a full rotation from the France victory. Not bad options. It will be competitive for a place in the XI for the tournament.
is this a friendly or a qualifier if both were friendlies it seems particularly churlish to not start Luke Thomas on his home ground?
Poor first half from England. Croatia are playing low block and counter and have scored from a free kick. We look disjointed which is probably understandable given the changes. Garner and Lewis have been quite poor. Wood looks shaky on his debut. Palmer the bright spot.
That first half was a hard watch. They are trying to pass the ball into the net. Take a shot every now and again.
1-2 in the end. Messy stuff overall. The centre back pairing looked out of its depth. Not much to read into the result given the changes and reserve back line. I think Skipp is a key player for the summer as he’s the only specialist DM we have. Palmer certainly should be starting, he’s consistently better than Elliot for on the right for the 21s. Balancing the midfield will be key as we’re top heavy. Probably Skipp, Ramsey and Gibbs-White.
Which XI would you go with in the Euros? ----------------------------Setford---------------------------- Aarons-----------THB-----------Colwill--------Sessegnon ---------------------------Skipp---------------------------------- -----------Ramsey------------------Doyle--------------------- ------Palmer------------------------------------Gordon-------- ------------------------Balogun/Archer------------------------- I'd like to see something like that. Palmer and Gordon simply because they've looked really good at this level compared to some of the others. Sessegnon as he's left-footed and Doyle as he offers dead ball threat and long range passing. Setford because non of the keepers at this level look great so far but there's little chance of him being called up. It's quite a balanced team. I can see Carsley going for a 3-5-2 though ----------------------------Trafford----------------------------- -------------THB---------Creswell----------Colwill---------- Spence-------------------------------------------------Aarons ----------------------------Skipp--------------------------------- -----------Ramsey---------------------------Jones----------- ------------------------------MGW------------------------------- ------------------------Balogun/Archer------------------------- You get three very strong centre backs at this level in. He seems to love Spence's athleticism. Aarons because he's the most experienced, although looks poor on the left. Jones because he has a lot more high level experience and MGW as he seems to be seen as a leader.
100% won’t be the line up but this is what I’d like to see personally Trafford; Aarons, Harwood-Bellis, Colwill, Giles; Doyle, Skipp; Palmer, Ramsey, Gordon; Archer
I thought yesterday's set up was very odd. Ramsey played so high that it was essentially a front 4 at times with the wingers pushed very wide. All our attacking went through Palmer and Madueke in those wide areas but both were shy to put in a cross when they had an opportunity, probably because the set up meant no proper striker in the middle they trusted to win headers. I thought we looked our best in that very brief period in the second half where Jones and Elliot were the 8s and the width was coming from the full backs. You can debate the personnel but I think 4-3-3 with a proper DM, 2 8s and the width coming from the full backs not the wide attackers has to be the plan for the summer. The CB pairing weren't bad. Both goals came from horrific individual errors from the two starting full backs.
England shoehorning the team into a 3-4-3 its not prepared for and flopping hard would be very on point for our under 21 side but I hope it doesn't happen. To some extent our coaches trying to be clever with formations seems to be our biggest issue a lot of the time, see the under 19's coach wasting some of his best players trying to be innovative and leading to us finishing below Iceland.
When we beat Italy 2-0 last year we did play with a back 3 made up of the 3 players in my post. We played with a back 4 when we beat Germany though. I wouldn't be surprised at all if he went with that back 3.
Nathan Wood’s Stepdad - 8 Years ago I took Nath to his first England match. The u21s vs Germany at the Riverside. He said “one day that will be me on there”. Today was the day. So so proud 👏👏. pic.twitter.com/u2k904OkoD— Paul Clements (@paulclementsgk) March 28, 2023
Taylor Harwood - Bellis is back from his injury starting tonight for Burnley. Rihan Brewster is out for the season and won’t be available to be recalled for the euros.
Charlie Cresswell suffered a fractured eye socket yesterday but players often recover quite quickly from that so he will hopefully be back for the euros.
Congratulations to James Trafford, Luke Mbete and Shola Shoretire (Through the later two both missed the final entirely) for winning the Papa John Trophy. (I know he is a few months too old for this group but I didn’t know till just now that Michael Cooper did his ACL for Plymouth and will be out for the rest of the 2023.j
Once the summer is over and the 2000 and 2001 born players ago out who are line for promotions the squad. Obviously the standouts of the 2003/2004 under 20 squad will but any 2002 names on the fringes?
Ignoring those already involved with the current U21s Kesler-Hayden Wilson-Esbrand Cirkin Morton Bate Anderson Rak-Sakyi Philogene-Bidace Gelhardt Coburn
I think it'll be similar to the '97 group who largely stayed together and made up the bulk of the under 21 squad post their world cup win, with little in the way of promotion for '96's not already part of the under 21's. Would imagine it'll be similar with the 03's, supplemented by those already in the squad. I don't think any of the names on the list above really seem like they would beat out main names out of the '03 group who will be in line for promotion, at least initially.