Author: The Editor

England’s U21 European Championship campaign bites the dust against ice cold Norway.

Stuart Pearce rang the changes in an attempt to invigorate the play and find the cutting edge that they severely lacked against Italy in their last game; Adam Smith replaced Nathaniel Clyne, Nathaniel Chalobah partnered Jason Lowe in front of the back four and Jordan Henderson  moved to  the centre of a midfield three with Nathan Redmond on the left and the returning Tom Ince on the right. Wilfried Zaha played up front, replacing Connor Wickham.

England (4-2-3-1):  Butland, Smith, Caulkner, Dawson, Rose, Chalobah, Lowe, Ince, Henderson (C), Redmond, Zaha.

Subs Used: Wickham, Shelvey, Wisdom

Norway (4-3-3): Nyland, Elabdellaoui, Rogne, Semb Berge, Strandberg (C), Singh, Johansen, Eikrem, Berget, Pedersen, Nielsen.

Subs Used: Ibrahim, Nordtveit, Linnes

The opening gave the impression that it was all going to go England’s way, they had time, space and pace through Danny Rose, the left back looked lively and along with Tom Ince he tried to put England ahead with early shots. Tom Ince then won a free kick, Henderson took it and Rose saw his header go over the bar.

England knew they had to push forward and it looked only a matter of time before they scored, so when it was Norway that made the breakthrough it is fair to say it was against the run of play. Jack Butland came for a corner and flapped, Norway kept the pressure on and England could not clear their lines, it was headed back into the area for Fredrik Semb Berge to swivel and score on fifteen minutes.

As the half went on the inventive, purposeful forward play from players like Rose looked like it would work against England as it gave Norway more space to exploit and they soon showed they were ruthless when given the chance.

Just after the half hour Norway were two up, Håvard Nielsen flicked it the ball over for Jo Inge Berget to chest the ball down and finish well despite the attentions of Steven Caulker. England did have the ball in the back of the net but it was disallowed again, Steven Caulker’s header the latest to be chalked off by the officials.

In the second half, as in the previous game, England made a good start; Connor Wickham was brought on for Lowe, Wilfried Zaha would spend  more time on the wing as everything went a bit 4-4-2. Jordan Henderson brought a save from Nyland, soon after Danny Rose  crossed but Connor Wickham could not get a shot away. Within two minutes Norway would show them the meaning of the word clinical; Norway attacked down the right through Marcus Pedersen, leaving Dawson for dead and cutting back for  Magnus Eikrem to smash it past Jack Butland – the cross bar is probably still shaking.

England finally scored a goal but not from open play, Semb Berge had two arms on Craig Dawson as he went for the ball, a penalty was given and Dawson stepped up score but the comeback never looked possible. Jordan Henderson ‘anticipated contact’ on the edge of the area, was subsequently given a yellow card and the England effort disintegrated into a mess of long balls rash tackles and desperation.

The final whistle ended England’s campaign, but the debates about team selections and the problem with English football is only just beginning you fear.

The cold analysis is not difficult, England came with high hopes and some high profile players who failed to make any real impact when it mattered. In both matches England have been put to the sword by teams with more organisation and purpose who knew how to collectively get the job done.

Man Of The Match:

Eikrem – The midfielder was the engine of everything good for Norway, was effective at stopping England when they managed any spark and was not a letdown in attack either.

England U21 v Italy U21

England kicked off their European Under 21 Championship campaign against Italy last night in Tel Aviv– and this morning they will know they need a big improvement if they are to progress into the knock-out stages. Stuart Pearce’s squad may be a step away from the senior level but perhaps there are patterns that go through the national team at every level because at times last night it all seemed a bit too familiar and that’s without mentioning the ‘we can win the competition’ rhetoric coming from the camp.

England were without Tom Ince and Danny Rose through suspension, Wilfried Zaha and Henri Lansbury were both injured and Nathan Redmond was making his Under 21 debut.

Italy (4-4-2): Bardi, Donati, Bianchetti, Caldirola (C), Biraghi, Florenzi, Marrone, Verratti,  Insigne, Borini, Immobile

Subs Used:  Gabbiadini, Destro, Rossi

England (4-2-3-1): Butland, Clyne, Dawson, Caulker, Robinson, Henderson, Lowe, Redmond, Shelvey, Sordell, Wickham .

Subs Used: Chalobah, McEachran, Delfouneso

The opening exchanges were nervy with both sides guilty of giving away possession too easily, Italy’s captain Luca Caldirola chose to clear the ball rather than pass back to the ‘keeper, as England’s Jonjo Shelvey hovered with intent. The first real attempt on goal came from Italy, as they looked to build from the back Matteo Bianchetti played a lovely ball for Ciro Immobile, Craig Dawson could not catch him but the shot went wide.

Ciro Immobile and Lorenzo Insigne caused England problems as the half went on, Insigne could have put the ball in the net on more than one occasion, including a give and go where Immobile returned the ball with a diving header. Jack Butland raced out to deny the Napoli man but he remained a constantly threatening thorn in England’s side all night. Nathaniel Clyne will play better halves of football than he did in the first here, the defender got into a muddle with his ‘keeper and was tormented by, you guessed it, Insigne. Clyne tried to get England going in attack, making a forward run and leaving space which Insgine gladly exploited; he found Alessandro Florenzi who hit the deck in the area as Jack Robinson made contact. Replays show that Florenzi had nutmegged the defender and was then caught. It should have been a penalty, England were lucky.

An improved England team took to the pitch in the second half and had the ball in the net, twice incredibly. Connor Wickham finished beautifully over Bardi but was given off side and then shortly afterwards, a corner from Jonjo Shelvey went across the area to Steven Caulker who hooked it back for Dawson to nod home. Every man and his dog thought it was a goal including UEFA officials as the goal celebration music was played and the scoreboard briefly read England 1 Italy 0, but the referee saw something he didn’t like and disallowed it.

Jack Butland did well to deny Fabio Borini’s header but the Italian threat grew and when Clyne and sub Manolo Gabbiaidini came together it was England who were lucky again. The referee could have given a penalty but instead he awarded a free kick on the edge of the area; up stepped Lorenzo Insigne to curl the ball over the wall and into the top corner beyond Butland. It was placed to perfection and it’s fitting that such a goal ends England’s run of nine victories with no goals (a total of 889 minutes of play) conceded.

Nathan Redmond can be pleased with his debut and but ultimately England were deservedly second best in Bloomfield Stadium. They play Norway on Saturday and although it is unfair to put everything on the return of one player, they might just have everything crossed that Wilfried Zaha is fit to play.

Man of the Match :

Insigne – you can see why he has played so many games for Napoli this season; the good news for the England defence is he won’t be playing against them in the next game. Good hair, great goal.