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Pearce candid after England exit
England out of U-21 European Championships
Marc Fox
The irony that England's best performance in the European under-21s championships delivered their worst result can't overshadow the dearth of talent knocking on the door of Fabio Capello's squad a year out from Euro 2012.
Whatever is made of the omission of Jack Wilshire, the Arsenal midfield player who's pushed himself to the head of the queue for club and country over the past 12 months, and to a lesser extent Andy Carroll of Liverpool, England looked a little short of creativity and nous in central midfield as they so often do at senior level.
Wilshire's absence could be considered so great that Stuart Pearce, the England manager, was forced to alter his approach without him prompting and scheming in central midfield.
Pearce's side retained possession so much more adeptly against the Czech Republic last night that it was a travesty that they should be sent home on the back of a 2-1 defeat courtesy of two goals Czech goals in the final few moments of a match England were coasting towards victory.
But on reflection Peace will still feel that too many balls from midfield went square rather than penetratingly forward and his front three received such a lack of service that the fact Danny Welbeck finished with two goals from three matches was a credit to the Manchester United striker's efficiency in the box.
"It was probably the best performance of the tournament. But perhaps us going home now was symptomatic of us not passing the ball well enough in the first two games," Pearce admitted afterwards.
Welbeck's keen positioning and toil softened Carroll's absence, but England fans didn't see quite enough from Daniel Sturridge given his fine flourish to the recent English Premier League season, although it didn't help that the England coach couldn't quite decide on the best position for the Chelsea forward.
If Phil Jones and Chris Smalling, England's rock solid centre-half pairing, were the tournament's shining light for Pearce (and whoever replaces Capello after Euro 2012, and Sir Alex Ferguson at Old Trafford for that matter), then Jordan Henderson failed to live up to his recent estimations in the inflated English transfer market.
The talented midfielder who joined Liverpool on the eve of the under-21s tournament was, again, caught in the crossfire for England, suffering from a lack of numbers in a crowded midfield.
Henderson will improve from this showing, and Capello won't yet be crossing his name out for Euro 2012, but too many of his passes went sideways and he too often relied on the excellent Jones and Smalling to lay the platforms for England's attacks.
Only when Peace introduced Henri Lansbury, the Arsenal youngster who Premier League fans will surely see more of in the forthcoming season, did one his side's midfielders finally show some purpose going forward.
England's tactics of playing without traditional wingers meant Aston Villa's Marc Albrighton was used sparingly despite a wonderful maiden season in the EPL, and Jack Rodwell was also overlooked, which was a surprise to many.
It would be easy to forget that England were a whisker away from a semi-final against Switzerland this Wednesday, and who knows if they might have kicked on from there.
But few of this current crop, on this showing, look ready for regular senior action in the coming 12 months - and the onlooking Fabio Capello would have recognised that only too well.
© Marc Fox & Soccerphile.com
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