I think Scarlett would have gone had he not pulled out injured. Doubt Lankshear was ever in consideration
I don't think Lankshear or Mumaba were in consideration btw, it's just 2 players I'd have like to have seen picked, said it when Scarlett withdrew and Delap place was in jeopardy a few weeks back
Yeah, we have been very unfortunate with circumstances. Maybe we could not have got Lankshear or Mubama in with the timing because it was too late but there has been a gaping hole in the squad since.
Yeah I certainly don't think he's anti-number 9 or anything because he's used Balogun and Delap plenty, but more often than not he seems to want to play without one when his preferred option isn't available and I don't think that's down to a lack of depth. I think Carsley probably sticks with Rowe but it'd be harsh. Stansfield has probably done enough on effort alone to justify a start.
I’ve got this nagging thought that Rowe is the best option and more suited to play Spain though. Not that it would be deserved. There are quite a few difficult decisions because there are a few underperforming options. I guess they’ve got a bit of a break now to figure things out.
Correct. With Cresswell unused. Spain have no one back for second go. (Only two were eligible compared to our 8).
Impressive again on the #U21EURO stage: Harvey Elliott 💫 pic.twitter.com/mPikeHDzGg— England (@England) June 16, 2025
I mean we can pretend that these awards are given on a basis of incontestable merit but we know they're not. He was mediocre imo - albeit in a field of mediocre performances. Took his goal well against the Czechs but he didn't play well as a whole there either. There's a reason he got hooked at half-time along with Rowe and Iling-Jr last night. If he'd have been that good in the first two games in Carsley's eyes he'd probably have been afforded more patience to change the game, but he's been extremely underwhelming compared to what he's done previously for this side. There was just no goal to paper over the cracks. There issue is that there isn't really anybody else to come in so dropping him is probably of little value, but the physical level of the team as a whole is probably too low for Elliott to thrive. Spain aren't the most powerful side mind so we'll see how that works.
“I'm disappointed to lose the game because we knew how important it was,” reiterated Carsley. “The first half wasn't good enough, and we let ourselves down in terms of the way we played and the goals we conceded. But we responded well in the second half, and that's more the kind of team I want to see.”
One of the biggest issues from the youth tournaments is the goalkeeper performances. You usually have an option that you would at least be hopeful about becoming a competent option. These keepers don’t even defend the six yard box. The amount of goals conceded by headers won in our six yard box.
I doubt Iling-Junior plays again in this campaign unless it is in an attacking role. Carsley obviously wasn’t happy with Rowe or Elliott but with the options they are likely still in contention. I keep watching the goals we conceded and they are both really bad. About three individual errors in both. Other quarter final qualified teams just don’t concede goals like this. Feels like we have been fortunate to get through the group tbh.
This is puzzling me, why are our keeper Shay Given line keeper clones? Surely the game has moved on from that.
I was wondering if it is a statistical thing that has created this type of ideology because it seems to have creeped into senior football recently. The German keeper last night was attempting to command the area. I really don’t understand it but it feels like our U17, U19 and U21 keepers have played with the exact same approach.
I would have thought that's likely. There'll be something that says you get a higher percentage positive outcome by staying on your line as opposed to trying to claim crosses. If so, there's a chance that comes from VAR. Pre-VAR, a keeper could pretty much guarantee a free kick if they got touched. Now, if it leads to a goal it's going to get reviewed and potentially overturned, as most of those instances are typically instigated by the keeper.
I just don’t think long term that works. It creates a constant anxiety within the team because the players basically have to win every battle and the keeper offers zero help. The keeper has an advantage in his area and needs to use it surely? I’m obviously not saying come for everything but our approach is extremely conservative. It also screws up a keeper’s anticipation and positioning. To me the goal against the Czech’s in the first game looks weird because Beadle stays deep but just runs across his back line. It just looks completely unnatural. Maybe that is just poor positioning full stop but staying rooted to the line makes you question where you need to be more. You are basically a sitting duck in many instances. Also how is a keeper supposed to work on anticipation and dealing with crosses if they won’t even attempt it in youth tournaments? It just feels bizarre to me.
Ready for our #U21EURO quarter-final 💪Hear from #YoungLions boss Lee Carsley on tomorrow's game against Spain... pic.twitter.com/zWi523RPZV— England (@England) June 20, 2025
Hard to be too confident tomorrow. I only watched Spain for about half an hour in their first game but they didn't look like their physical level was too high (outside of Guerra in midfield) so that should help if it is the case. Sounds like loser talk but I think as long as we actually play well and run them close we have to be fairly satisfied based on the squad issues and what we've seen so far.