Boothroyd’s job on the line after U-21s crash out
Aidy Boothroyd insists he will battle to keep his England Under-21 job after a devastating last-gasp exit from the European Championship in Koper, Slovenia, last night.
His team were minutes from snatching a place in the quarterfinals after goals from Eberechi Eze and Curtis Jones, but Domagoj Bradaric’s strike in stoppage time sent them out on goal difference, despite the win. Boothroyd says he is the right man for the role despite failing to get out of the group stage for consecutive tournaments. He pointed to the players in Gareth Southgate’s squad as a measure of success and wants clarity over the expectation of winning at finals.
With his contract expiring in the summer, Boothroyd will meet Football Association technical director John Mcdermott and Southgate in the next fortnight to discuss his future.
“The amount of players coming through this system suggests there is a pathway working,” said Boothroyd, who confirmed he believed he was the man to take the team forward in their next campaign. “I love being involved with these players and it makes it more difficult to ask that question. I’m going to keep going and we’ll see what happens. The other key thing is the role – is it winning or development? It’s a little bit foggy at the minute. We’re not sure what it is. I know what it is, the rest of the coaches do – we’re part of a pathway to produce players for Gareth.
“I’m confident I know what I’m doing for this job. The job is about producing players from 15 to 21 and up to the seniors. I can’t do anything other than what I’m doing now, which is getting players through.
“These horrific experiences and learning from them, there’s nothing like getting beaten in the last few minutes of a game when we were excellent.”
Boothroyd went into the game needing a two-goal victory plus Portugal doing their part by beating Switzerland. He may not have picked his two goalscorers in normal circumstances, but saw Tom Davies, Emile Smith Rowe, Marc Guehi and Ben Godfrey injured on the eve of the fixture and not included on the bench.
They were given a lifeline with a penalty when Eddie Nketiah stumbled in the area, which may have been overturned with Var. Eze tucked away the spot-kick to give them hope. Jones’s goal with 16 minutes left was sending them through until Bradaric struck with a 25-yard drive into the top corner.
Jones was infuriated by the Croatians’ celebration and was dismissed after the final whistle for a second yellow card. “It got a bit heated,” Boothroyd said. “There’s been no racial situation at all. It’s just I think the passion and disappointment of one team celebrating and being ecstatic and our boys being totally devastated.”
Boothroyd says his young players will learn from the heartbreaking late elimination, ultimately feeling they paid the price for their first two games in which they failed to create a scoring chance against Switzerland or Portugal.
“We gave ourselves a mountain to climb and we almost did it. An experience like this will stay with you for ever and will help them. You have to look at yourself as a player and coach. We needed a big performance against Switzerland. Portugal are a really good team, one of the favourites. We could have got something out of that and been smarter.”
Aaron Ramsdale, making his final Under-21 appearance, says the squad were devastated, adding: “We should’ve scored more. We should be going through and we’ve got to see it out better. It’s a learning curve but, for us, it’s as much about winning as it is learning. We can take things from it, but we won’t be coming back in the summer and that’s heartbreaking.”
Croatia (4-3-3) Kotarski; Sverko (Musa 86), Vuskovic, Franjic, Bradaric; Babec (Zaper 64), Moro, Bistrovic (Majer 76); Ivanusec, Vizinger (Divkovic 86), Spikic (Colina 64).
Subs Semper (g), Erlic, Nejasmic, Kulenovic, Krizmanic, Vuk, Nevistic (g). Booked Bradaric, Ivanusec, Spikic, Zaper.
England (4-2-3-1) Ramsdale; Aarons, Tanganga, Wilmot, Kelly; Gallagher (Cantwell 71), Skipp; C Jones, Eze, Mcneil (S Sessegnon 89); Nketiah (Brewster 71).
Subs R Sessegnon, Bursik (g), Griffiths (g), Madueke. Booked Kelly, Jones, Skipp, Tanganga. Sent off Jones.
Referee Horatiu Fesnic (Romania).