It was a different Technical Director that gave Boothroyd the job and extended his contract, not sure we can make that assessment.
I like how the N.Ireland comms were quite balanced at the start but as the game went on they got more and more biased.
I think there's a deep culture of cronyism and inertia within the FA though. Hope I'm wrong and that things have changed but we shall see.
Yeah, good chance I reckon. Already on 16 points in the 2nd place table but the 6th place points don't count so likely only the Ukraine game left to get more than that. Lose to Ukraine again and it might be quite close for the top 3 spots.
I don’t think any of the appointments made since McDermott has been Technical Director have been of that nature.
It was a bad display but I’m just as confused by a few individuals in that second half. McAtee had a few very bizarre moments. We should have stuck with Morton in midfield as the pace of our passing was pretty slow. There is a lot more movement in Carsley’s U21’s. Playing more static roles this time and it’s easier to defend.
This ‘style’ likely has more to do with the quality of the coaches rather than sticking to an overall approach. It feels to me like Futcher has tried to stick to the same plan as Carsley but struggled and not got it right.
Anderson starting was a little surprising given I think Morton or Scott would have provided more continuity. I think if your starting Gray ( and seemingly not telling him to invert) then you really need width from your other fullback.
I’m even wondering if Anderson was guaranteed game time to play for the U21’s? Maybe not but the way he was used and for how long just felt a bit odd. Felt like Hackney was far less involved because of Anderson’s role too. Hackney had been excellent under Carsley. I’m not sure what he’s doing with the full backs. Like I said before it felt like he was trying to copy Carsley but it was ill thought out.
Its very hard to judge who will make it at senior level though....lately fewer and fewer make the breakthrough. There is literally only one English centre forward - Liam Delap - under the age of 27 to have played in the premier league this season, which is unheard of. Even at championship level there are few. Losing players like Koumas, Brereton, Joseph and Conway to other nations just exacerbates it. You'd need to have your head buried pretty deep in the sand not to recognise that this is soon going to become a problem. Playing others players out of their natural position doesn't really work at the top level. The one young attacking talent we have who has played much at centre forward is also shunned so things are going to looking bleak after the next world cup! Even in the short term Toney leaving for Petrodollars leaves the cupboard pretty bare.
You don’t have to have a truly elite centre forward to win trophies anymore if the rest of the side is pretty good. The only one of them the FA could maybe have done better keeping in the system is Joseph. The others have all got seniors caps annd are still not at English senior level.
Be interesting to see if he is back next month. Not even turning up to St George’s park for an assessment is unusual under the current system of the FA checking all injuries,
It's always hard to tell who'll make it at senior level but it doesn't mean we ignore the talents in the youth system and just assume that none of them will come through or be any good. There'll be a gap between Harry Kane's decline and the next truly elite centre-forward but between Solanke, Abraham, Nketiah and then Delap coming through there's plenty enough to keep us going there. Delap especially has a pretty damn high ceiling imo. Then you've got Tezgel, Ballard and Max Dean all showing very good signs in senior football, and beyond that you've got Mhueka, Dipepa, Wheatley, Gomes Rodriguez, Harry Gray, Igor Tyjon at more nascent stages of their development. Nothing is guaranteed in player development and we don't know where any of these players are going to land, but I think it's hard to say our chances of producing another world-class CF in the next 5-6 years are bad compared to other nations. I'd say we have as good of a chance as most.
Daily Mail round up. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/f...England-0-0-Northern-Ireland-lee-carsley.html
The result didn't reall surprise me. With the promotions to the senior squad and the drop outs in attacking positions I thought the forward line looked more ordinary. Of course there should've been enough to beat NI but you have to wonder how many of those attackers will play for the seniors, probably none. Rogers didn't work as a 9 as his technique isn't there against packed defences. McAtee is quite the flatter to deceive player, all shirt and no trousers as my nan used to say. It's no great surprise that he only gets starts for this u21 side when numerous peers have either been promoted or are injured. With a squad like that I wouldn't fancy our chances in the tournament proper.
Definitely a poor balance to the squad with players being platformed poorly (particularly Rogers as you say) but we also have to remember a lot were missing. Elliott and Philogene are talismen for this team, while Hutchinson has the potential to be a huge difference maker in Madueke's absence. Chukwuemeka also has the potential to be an enormous ceiling-raiser for this team. Could potentially (hopefully) throw Dembele into that too, I like McAtee quite a lot. His final shot wasn't there yesterday but he showed a tonne of personality where many others weren't. He really needs to be playing senior games though to develop properly. Whoever it's going to be, we need to get the managerial appointment right because I really think we've got the talent and the depth to go back-to-back next summer.
I agree that if we can take a near full strength squad minus those with senior minutes then we'd have a decent chance. We really could do with Chukwuemeka turning a corner with his injuries and minutes, it's a shame he chose Chelsea. I'd really like to see Dembele get involved soon as well.
Definitely, I still think he'll get a move in January so fingers crossed there. I think ourselves, France and Spain are the three best on paper by a bit of a margin and like us, France are frequently handicapped by poor coaching. Don't know what they'll look like post-Henry but we'll see. Spain will be a problem but I still feel like they're a tad weaker than us on paper right now (outside of their ridiculous CB pairing).
McAtee and Gittens won’t be at the U21 Euros due to the Club World Cup, Neither Will Chukwuemeka if he stays at Chelsea.
I think that tournament is far from certain to go ahead. Looks as though FIFAPRO are mobilising players for some sort of strike, or at least a threatened one. Not a coincidence that we're seeing all these major statements from players and FIFAPRO at the same time. It's simply not realistically workable in how it's currently proposed, the schedule is at breaking point.
I suspect clubs are more likely to make players skip internationals including even the 2026 World Cup than lose out on money.