England Under 17’s kicked off their UEFA Under 17 European Championship Finals campaign with a 3-1 win over the Czech Republic. Benik Afobe started and scored but Chuks Aneke missed out, he wasn’t included in the team for tonight’s game with a suspected injury.
Afobe began in attack with Connor Wickham, while Will Keane was on hand to make a third forward from the right. England, the pre-tournament favourites, got off to an awkward start and conceded when Jakub Plšek was left with a free header inside the box to put the Czech Republic in front.
The Young Lions hit back with Afobe having a tame header cleared before Keane worked an angle to shoot, but he lashed wide. However, they were behind for just 13 minutes when Keane’s cross for Afobe was blocked, and the arriving Ross Barkley slammed into the net. Both sides exchanged scrappy free-kicks and yellow cards until Peacock’s boys stepped it up towards the end of the half. Benik won two free kicks and he looked certain to put his side in front after a brilliant turn in the box, yet the offside flag came to the Czech’s rescue.
The first half ended with Česlák’s free-kick being headed away by Afobe in the heavy rain, with England clearly on top but struggling to get their noses in front.
After a sluggish start to the second half, England finally got going. Afobe was involved early on, bullying his way down the left before crossing for Wickham, but he flicked wide from close range. It was a brilliant chance. Wickham would have another similar chance 5 minutes later, again made by the Gunners striker from the left. This time he found McEachran who rolled in the leggy Ipswich striker, he volleyed at the ‘keeper.
With 15 minutes left, England finally got their goal. Afobe burst from left to right and found substitute Hall, he played in Wickham who setup McEachran for 2-1. It was a well worked goal but things got better just 60 seconds later. Rose found Benik 25 yards out, he spun and curled the ball via a deflection into the corner. With 6 goals in 5 games during qualifying, he’s the early favourite for the prestigious Golden Boot.
It finished 3-1 to England, giving them a perfect start to Group B. They lead despite Turkey beating Greece earlier on. Elsewhere, in Group A, Spain beat France 2-1 and Portugal crushed Switzerland 3-0.
Well deserved victory by the England U17’s team over the Czech Republic U17’s team tonight IMO.
I have to say, these boys look better than the under 21’s did last summer. It looks like they realize that a football is meant to be passed as well as shot, and isn’t meant to be handled like a land mine when in posession. I would think that is down to the coaching and selection. Maybe they are coming out of their caves??? Although I’m still pissed that they didn’t choose Aneke for this match. Very pissed in fact. I enjoy watching that guy play.
Mabey Chucks Aneke was injured because i doubt they would leave out one of our best player unless like i said before, he was eather injured or suspended.
any1 got a vid of the match?
pretty good performance from England I have to say. the technical level was better than usual, with McEachran specially impressive. very easy on the ball and creative. great potential.
The defenders, specially Garbutt, Pilatos, and Chabolah were very good on the ball too.
George Thorne is not good enough in midfield. Aneke would have brought something different. He was probably injured.
Overall very pleased with the performance, well deserved victory.
TJ Da Goon are you here mate? what did you think ?
Almost right on cue mate (I would have been if i hadn’t been tutting away reading John’s latest put-downs of Afobe in the last article. I liked J. Sanderson’s rebuttle of said comments that are sounding more and more insolent with each time they are spoken).
Regarding this game. Yes, good win lads but it was very desperate and sloppy at times whilst the boys chased the second goal. Thorne was quite poor today and McCreachran (sp?) took his goal wonderfully and was neat at times but was also very sloppy at times. I was more impressed with Barkley. Very clear example of a boy who’s been well coached. Kudos the Everton staff.
The Chelsea CB (forgot his name) and the RB (name is very similar to Pilates) were very good i thought and are two boys worth looking out for in the future. They used the ball well and looked very comfortable having it. The Liverpool boy, Wisdom, is just a strong lad. Apart from that, i’m not impressed really. Garbutt was decent.
As for Benik and his two strike partners…….all three are very highly rated but going on today’s showing i seriously would have to go with Benik as having the better game out of the three. Will Keane was quite poor by his standards and has some bulking up to do if he’s ever to realise his full potential. Wickham held the ball up quite well, but had a quiet first half (along with Afobe and Keane) and didn’t do anything of any note really. As for Afobe, once he was shifted out wide left, he started getting a lot more touches of the ball and actually began making things happen. He started linking the play and getting at the Czech defence. On a couple of occasions, he terrorised them with his pace, running power and strength. Big slice of luck for his goal but it was richly deserved as he didn’t stop and hassled and hurried every ball that came near him. I was pleased he managed to grab a goal from an unfamiliar position.
Overall, it was a decent performance without ever thrilling but i feel Chuks will add another dimension to this side. We’ll see if they’re capable of winning this thing.
Nice analysis…thanks TJ!!!
Great victoery for England though I missed both second half goals. It’s great to see England play football and look good technically. I thought McEachran was the best player. He is definitley technically gifted and a playmaker and its good that England have more players like that coming through. I doubt England will ever have a shortage of box to box types like Lampard and Gerrard who require others to create opportunities for them, so great to see players who can create for themselves. Like how shit were Liverpool without Alonso this year. I think that more creative players are needed if England are ever going to play possession football with any effect and not have a repeat of u21 final last year, that was certainly poor. It’s great that England have have creative players coming through like Wilshere, Morisson and McEachran.
Didn’t think either Afobe or Wickham played that well. Wickham is getting a lot of hype and it seems he has something about him, but he reminds me of Andy Caroll. He’s got good technque for a big player, but no real pace. Hopefully he will show more quality in the next two games and both are on Euro sport. I wish Afobe had a little more height to go with his skill and pace because that’s his only drawback as England managers seem to prefer big center forwards. Can Afobe play out wide by any chance?
Afobe would’nt be comfortable out wide. I think he is quite big for his age though!
agree with the rest of your post. McEacran, Wilshere, Morisson + Bostock are very exciting prospects for the future and would definitely bring something different than the Lampard type box to box midfielders that always struggle at international level
I think you’re a bit harsh with McEachran TJ!
Agree with the rest of your post though : Wisdom is very poor technically, and Thorne is just not good enough.
I’m overall pleased with the performance as I always expect the worst with England. The fact that they were able to pass the ball was a relief for me.
Wickham was a bit disapointing, he caught my eye in the Youth Cup but I’m not sure he is that special after all.
Chabolah from Chelsea and the right back Pilatos were very confortable in possession, very rarely lost the ball, which was nice to see.
This team with Aneke and Morisson could play very good football. Hopefully Aneke is just injured, he would have enjoyed himself tonight.
I’ll take a closer look at Barkley for the next game, but I have to say he looked pretty composed
Don’t get me wrong mate. McEachran had a good game but i remember him giving it away very sloppily at times. Of course, it’s not entirely his fault as a lot of these boys seem to shy away and don’t make themselves available for the pass. They need to be taught how to be composed on the ball, caress it and not be afraid to make mistakes. They seemed a little apprehensive at times (but it’s to be expected with the multitude of the game).
in possession
Better tourney performance than usual for Eng U17, however it must be said that opposition were only interested in counter-attack and set-plays. I want see them against team that might press them high-up the pitch or technical midfield with nimble strikers if they can pass the ball around that pressure.
good point Supergunner, that might be a different story, we’ll figure that out the next games
Not against Greece U17’s because we should beat them with ease, but the game against the Turkish U17’s team will be a difficult game to win.
I dont think this under 17s side is quite as as good as the under 17s that got to the final with the likes of lansbury, rhys murphy, victor moses, gavin hoyte, danny welbeck, alex smithies, jordan spence, drinkwater.
George Thorne hes a really good young midfielder/defender. He had a bad game but technically hes quite good.
Benik Afobe i am still not convinced. i think Chuks aneke would have given England something different. Hes the player for me who could be player of the tournament and could bring through the arsenal team
HaHaHa…! “Benik Afobe i am still not convinced”. HaHaHa…your hilarious Dude.
…just admit it John…
What more can his possibly do to convince you? Idiot.
Shame on you STUPID JHON ! BENIK will always prove you wrong. Don’t kill yourself with jealousy. What about WICKHAM playing against MIDGETS ? You are and will always be A NOBOBY and more you dislike AFOBE …more God will bless him. Unfortunately you can’t fabricate statistics.
Shame on you STUPID JHON ! BENIK will always prove you wrong. Don’t kill yourself with jealousy. What about WICKHAM playing against MIDGETS ? You are and will always be A NOBOBY and more you dislike AFOBE …more God will bless him. Unfortunately you can’t fabricate statistics.
Afobe played a brilliant game by the looks of it
but I am disappointed that Aneke didnt play
J tribalfootball is saying merdia is about to sign a new contract with arsenal after being assured of first team football next season by wenger any truth in that?
Bad news, Chuks has been withdrawn because of injury. Shame was looking forward to watching him.
*Arsenal FC midfielder Chuks Aneke has withdrawn from the squad through injury and has been replaced by West Bromwich Albion FC forward Saido Berahino, who appeared as a substitute in the 5-0 elite round defeat of Malta, his eighth U17 cap.
http://www.uefa.com/under17/news/newsid=1489831.html
This is fantastic news!!! It’s bad news, of course, that Aneke is injured but there was no mention of it being serious! It’s excellent news, however, that one of Arsenal’s brightest talents has now escaped further exposure to the inept England Youth System.
When it comes to footballing tactics the people that run the England youth system are still dragging their knuckles on the ground and telling time by looking at the sun. Complete and untter footballing Neanderthals! This stubborn will to cling to an internationally feckless style of play pervades all levels of the England national team system (which is one of the major reasons that, despite immense individual talent over the years, the senior team has won absolutely nothing and generally under-performs on the big stage…cue this little tournament coming up in a few weeks…) but it is especially true at the youth levels.
So it’s a beautiful thing that young Aneke can come home and study the best players in the world at the World Cup without those clowns who run the u-17 set up mucking up his footballing brain after all the fine training he’s received at Arsenal.
It’s not fantastic news at all. Chuks is missing the chance to play in a team that is playing the right way and has some talented players to play alongside. It would have been a great experience.
Feel bad for Chuks as he’s had a good run of form and would have added an extra dimension to this team with his specific style. Anyone saying this is great news is a moron.
aneke could have been a real hit at this tournement
Tell me about it. I’m upset as i love watching him play. He oozes class. I doubt without him this bunch could win this comp as his creativity would have been huge for the team. Still, we’ll just have to wait and see.
It doesn’t matter if they don’t win anyway as long as they learn and adapt to the differing styles. They will all have learned alot if they still try to play in the same manner and it would have been a good experience for all involved.
I think the keeper will cost the team in a close game. He got nowhere near one cross. Timing, positioning wrong a few times and he barely had a thing to do. Positional sense of a few defenders was poor at times too. I think that is what will cost the team possibly against teams with more intent and better movement.
Chuks isn’t the only one missing now from this group either. Laing is a good prospect at centre back. Morrison and Robinson could have made the squad too.
Why didn’t Laing, Morrison or Roberts make the squad?
Playing against the best teams in the world and against the best players in the world is not a bad thing but a very very usefull experience that Aneke would have cherrished. BUt he’s 16(I think) and he wil surely a lot of tournaments in the future. So not a biggy and he can now enjoy his holidays
man I was looking forward to see Aneke. I have almost never seen him at all. I guess I will have to buy ArsenalTV soon. I don’t understand why Yennaris isn’t in the team either. He was playing regularly and was the captain for our U18 side who won the academy league.
TJ,
Not sure why Laing didn’t get picked. Robinson for Liverpool had to pull out because of his GCSE exams. So it might have been the same for Laing. Laing was promoted early to the U17′ s last time so dropping him after the same coach promoted him last year seems a bit odd. He could take Wisdom’s place for instance.
Morrison was injured for a while and I guess that cost him his place. I would have liked to have seen him make the squad though.
Cheers mate. I’ve seen a few Man Utd youth games on MUTV and since his return from injury, Morrison hasn’t got back to his best yet. That would probably explain his omission, if that’s what it is.
I didnt realise yennaris was english? Why is the captain of the best U18 side not even in the squad?
‘Cos he’s a little lad and we know Peacock’s a tool and doesn’t pick them.
that’s very bad news for Aneke, he would have brought something different,
England had a very good chance with him. Even if they played the right way yesterday, they might lack the technical ability and creativity to keep the ball against a better side.
wait and see
wisdom will prove gud i fink he’s had a great season and man city arsenal and chelsea did want him b4 he signed a pro at liverpool so that says sumfin in itself and benik shud really be aiming for the golden boot we shouldnt be putting any of the english players down as they are our future at the end of the day winning the championships will only boost our countrys credibility
Im Irish nd i shudn care bu im was disapointed wen i heard Aneke wudn b involved is der any chance of him returning bfore de tournament ends
JS do you rate Sebasian prodl the young 23 centre back from Werder bremen?
Just heard a rumour Arsenal are intrested in him.
I cant believe Fenerbache have made a 12.5 million bid for Ron vlaar. Hes a top top quality defender like a young jaap stam.
This Afobe guy has been mentioned as the main subject of plenty of posts on this website and each time for excellent reasons. So for comments such as “i’m still not convinced” by John, who for whatever reason has something against the kid, to be written on here is absolute crap.
What else can the boy do? haha.
I watched the game on EuroSport and I honestly believe this boy has the ability to be world class in about 5 years. He is only 17!
If you know anything about football you will know that he deserves POTM and if John or anyone else disagrees with that then they are not on the same wave length as the owner of this blog- therefore they shouldn’t even bother reading anything on here.
How can you disagree with EVERYONE that Afobe is a fantastic player? You simply cannot. I hope he continues to prove the haters wrong.
I also agree that Aneke would have added something special to the game but let us celebrate that England still won the battle.. But put it this way, there is still the rest of the war to conquer.
Liking TJ DA Goon’s analysis.
Ballsy
Ayling released?
http://www.ciderspace.co.uk/ASP/news/news.asp?NewsItemId=12483
Hope wenger is there to watch and snap up the best :)