1. Overpaid and Underplayed? Selfish U-21s Out Of
European Championship
England’sUnder-21’sbowedoutof thisyear’sEuropeanChampionshipsinthe CzechRepublic witha
meek3-1 lossto Italy,sparkingoutrage amongmanyoverthe nature of the country’s,one of the
favouritesforthe tournament,poorshowing.
Allegationshave beenthrownaroundof lackof effortwithinthe squad,youngplayersbeingdriven
onlyby moneyand some playersthinkingtheyare above under-21level,andit’snothardto see
why.
England’ssquaddidnotlack talentinany areaof the pitch,withexcitingattackingplayers,suchas
Harry Kane,DannyIngs,Will Hughesand NathanRedmondall beinggiventheirchance topresstheir
case fora full internationalcall-up,alongsidepromisingyoungdefendersJohnStonesandBen
Gibson,andthat is doinganinjustice toall those notmentioned.These are playerswho,fortheir
natural talentalone,deservedtheirstatusasone of the favouritestowinthe tournament.Sowhy,
whenitcomesdownto the sharp endof tournaments,doEngland’splayersneverdoenoughtogo
far and prove theirundoubtedcredentials?
Much of the stickhas beendirectedawaymanagerGarethSouthgate,determinedtouse this
tournamentasa springboardforhisambitionsonreplacingRoyHodgsonafterthe WorldCupnext
year,and rightlyso.Southgate inspiredhissquadtothese finalswithsome fantasticperformances
and has alsobeenunluckywithinjuries,losingdefensive cornerstone JohnStonesforthe firsttwo
groupgames of the finalsandhavingSaidoBerahino,England’stopscorerinqualifying,ruledoutfor
the entire tournament.
However,Southgate mustshouldersome of the blame forhisside’sabysmalattemptsatthis
championships.He hasfailedtorecreate the spiritthatgot the side thisfar,insteadleadingan
uninspiredteamwhoonlyeverlookedlike qualifyingforthe final 15 minutesof theirwinover
Sweden. Histeamselectionmustalsocome underscrutiny,leavingoutSouthampton’sJamesWard-
Prowse forthe last twomatches,despite hisimpressiveformforhisclubthisseason,andconstantly
reshufflinghisattackingtriobehindHarryKane,using6differentstartingplayersacrossthatline,
withNathanRedmondthe onlymainstay,onlysucceedingincreatinganattack whichlacked
understandingandsuppliedonlyhalf-chancesforadisappointinglyquietKane.
The majorityof the blame,however,hasfallenon the players. Boththose whoplayedandthose
whocould’ve playedbutchose nottohave beenslatedforEngland’sfailure toconverttheirbest
chance of gloryinyears intoa trophy.The most pertinentaccusationhasbeenof beingdrivenbythe
promise of moneyand“thinkingthey’ve made it”once they’ve landedbig-moneycontracts.Harry
RedknappandMark Lawrensonhave beenmostcritical of thisculture inBritishfootballof
overpayingyoungstars,causingthemnotto realise theirfull potential.
Prime examplesof thiscanbe foundinthe casesof RaheemSterlingand RubenLoftus-Cheek.
Sterlinghastakenupa large proportionof the focusof the mediarecentlyinthe furore overhis
proposed transfertoManchesterCity,andhas receivedalotof criticismforhis handlingof the
affair.Sterlingseemstohave hisheartseton a move awayfrom Anfieldandhasrejectedthe club’s
contract offers,supposedlyof £100,000 a week,infavourof a transfertothe Etihad,causingMark
Lawrensontodescribe Sterling’smove awayas“the perfectexampleof gettingitwrong”.Having
rejectedoffersof around£25 millionand£35 millioninpastweeks,Liverpool looksettoacceptthe
nextoffer,estimatedtobe closertothe club’s£50 millionvaluation,andhave signedBurnley’s

2. DannyIngs and RobertoFirminofromHoffenheim, asthe clublooktomove on fromthe trouble the
winger,20, has causedthem.Manypunditshave beencritical of Sterling’sdecisiontomove away,
claimingthathe will be unlikelytobreakinto the Cityteamandthat stayingat Liverpool wouldbe
the bestway forthe youngstertomature intowhatmany thinkwill be England’sbrightesttalentfor
a numberof years.Sterlingalsorejectedthe chance tojoinupwithEngland’sUnder-21’sthisJune,
havingalreadyestablishedhimselfinthe full international squad,andhe hasbeenfurthercriticised
for this,althoughnottosuch a great extentasotherssuchas Luke Shaw and RossBarkley,ashe
would’ve providedasparkfor the team that noothercountry couldmatch.There appearsto be a
trendformingamongEngland’sfinestyoungplayersof thinkingthattheyare too goodto appearin
the age-restrictedformsof the internationalgame andthe country’schancesof successhave been
hinderedconsiderablybythis.
Loftus-Cheek,onthe otherhand,wasincludedinthe squadinthe CzechRepublic,making2
substitute appearances.However,Loftus-Cheek’s£1.7millionsalarycame underscrutinylastyear,
as he made his firstseniorappearance forChelsea.At the time,he wasconsideredworthsucha
contract, beingone of the club’sbiggestup-and-comingstars,but,a yearon, Loftus-Cheekhasmade
veryfewappearancesand,giventhathe wasnot able to breakintothe Under-21’sfirstXI this
summer,despite the absence of some of the country’sfinestyoungplayers,hasdone little to
suggestthathis contract ismerited.ThisaddsfurtherweighttoLawrenson’sclaimthatEngland’s
youngstars are paidtoomuch and are nolongerhungryto playfootball atthe highestlevel,having
reachedthe pay chequestheywere lookingfor.
Whateverthe reasonsbehindthe underperformance of England’syoungstarsoverthe lastfew
weeks,the factof the matter remainsthatyetanotherEnglandteamhave buckledunder
tournamentpressure andthe publicandthe media’shopesof atrophyhave disappearedyetagain.
Englandmustfindthe rightformula,withaninspiringmanageranda teamthat will workto
improve,before theygetanywherenearsilverware.