VIDEO: Chris Smalling & Phil Jones vs Ukraine U21
Smalling & Jones impress for England
England might have crashed out of the European U21 Championships and much has been said about the players’ quality as well as Stuart Pearce’s tactical naivity, but the performances of Chris Smalling and Phil Jones should not be played down or forgotten. Both defenders were a level above any other player in an England shirt over the course of their three group matches with Jones impressing in particular against the Ukraine.
His reading of the game and desire to win every challenge were impressive, as was his ability on the ball – be sure to check out his mazy run on 2:22 in the first clip. I’ll try not go get carried away, but it does seem a promising partnership and it is seldom that you see young players play with such maturity., so the defensive future of Manchester United certianly does seem bright.
Chris Smalling & Phil Jones vs Ukraine U21
Phil Jones vs Ukraine U21
June 24th, 2011 at 2:07 pm
england will find it difficult to get a result in the youth torunaments, because in those competitions the technical aspect comes into play more than physical presence ( although the U-21 is just on the verge of that theory and physical apsect is more obvious than at U-19, U 16 etc ) . And England does not have technically gifted players like for example some sout american countries, spain, portugal etc. It is at the later stages that the tactical awareness and physical presence start playing an important role but until then most english youth teams look like headless chickens(not trying to offend anyone) by trying to run for their technically more gifted opponents. england football relies on pace and physical presence and that part of the game is not that developed at youth tournaments…well at least not that big to be the thing that makes the difference