BOOTHROYD’S YOUNG LIONS FRUSTRATED BY HOLLAND

ALL good things must come to an end but how Aidy Boothroyd must wish that was not true. Having rattled up 30 successive victories on home soil, a sequence that dates back to March 2011, game 31 was a step too far. There were no goals at Carrow Road as Holland momentarily checked England’s march to Euro 2019. A point was not the worst result, by any means. England lead Group 4 by five points with three games remaining. With two of the opponents being Latvia and Andorra, they should achieve their target of qualification with minimal fuss. Here, however, was a reminder of the need for improvement. Holland kept asking questions of England, forcing Boothroyd to make tactical changes to keep his team in control of their destiny. In a move that mirrored the senior team, Boothroyd set his team up with three central defenders, Leicester’s Ben Chilwell playing on the left alongside Brentford’s Ezri Konsa and Dael Fry of Middlesbrough. Dominic Calvert-Lewin had two opportunities while Fulham’s Ryan Sessegnon tested Dutch goalkeeper Justin Bijlow from 25 yards. Soon enough, the visitors settled down and they claimed a penalty in the 15th minute when Konsa, on loan at Brentford from Chelsea, sent Guus Till sprawling. Referee Roi Reinshreiber waved the appeal away to ensure the defender’s debut was not ruined. Another debutant — Crystal Palace’s Aaron Wan-Bissaka — came to England’s rescue with a sliding block to deny Arnaut Groeneveld. Given how much joy Holland had in key areas, Boothroyd needed to change tactics and he did so after captain Lewis Cook screeched at the bench in the 28th minute. ‘For the first 10 minutes I thought it was brilliant,’ said Boothroyd. ‘But then there were a couple of little adjustments from them and I thought it would be wise to go back to a system they all know and squash any uprising from the Dutch. It was a fair result.’ England needed half-time to gather their composure but they remained jittery. They continued to press and they could not have come closer in the 83rd minute to finding a way through, but Demarai Gray’s thumping drive crashed against the post and bounced away. It was that kind of evening.