Full marks for ‘playground football’ but these England hopefuls have to learn basic lessons
If Gareth Southgate wants his senior England players to learn to “play with freedom,” as he said after Friday’s defeat of the Netherlands, then he can do much worse than showing them a tape of their young colleagues.
There is no fear of expression or flamboyance among this side, many of whom look just as comfortable executing an artful pirouette or nutmeg as they do playing the simple pass. Perhaps it is a culture shift, a generational change of attitudes, or maybe it really is the result of the FA’s drive to produce more technically comfortable footballers.
Either way, to watch the Under-21s here was, on occasion, refreshingly close to seeing the old ideal of “playground football”, as they feinted and jinked, whirled and twirled.
“Some of our stuff was breathtaking at times,” said manager Aidy Boothroyd.
The problem with this particular style, however, is that it does not lend itself to defensive solidity. And, while they can be credited for their approach, England did still concede a sloppy goal.
In the end, despite a nervy finish, goals from captain Demarai Gray and Jake Clarke-Salter were just about enough to secure victory in a match played in honour of the late Cyrille Regis, and provide some momentum ahead of Tuesday’s Euro 2019 qualifier against Ukraine.
The performance of Gray was particularly encouraging for Boothroyd, who had given the Leicester City winger the captain’s armband in part because of his roots in the Midlands. “Dominic Solanke was supposed to be the captain, but he took a knock,” Boothroyd said. “In a tribute to Cyrille Regis, I thought it would only be right for a local boy to take the armband.”
There is always an element of fun to these fixtures, as evidenced by the youthful feel of the crowd. And yet with the World Cup looming, the underlying truth for this group of players is that, for some of them, a call-up to the senior squad is not beyond them.
The excellent Trent Alexander Arnold will watch the progress of Joe Gomez, his Liverpool team-mate, in the senior squad and wonder why that could not be him. Such a prospect adds an edge to fixtures such as these, which could pass without much excitement.
England come with much to play for, and they come to impress. They did so in the opening few minutes when Ademola Lookman’s first contribution was to nutmeg a poor Romanian midfielder, and Ainsley Maitland-Niles teased a trio of defenders with his quick feet.
The early goal came through Gray, an electric presence on the left. The Leicester winger combined smartly with Lookman, before stepping inside and flashing a low shot inside the near post, with the help of a deflection.
“It was a captain’s performance until I took him off to save him for Ukraine,” Boothroyd said. “He deserved his goal. He was absolutely terrific.”
It was open, and it was exciting. The towering Ovie Ejaria snaked and slalomed through midfield, while Kieran Dowell provided flair from the right. Abraham, meanwhile, had more than enough power to trouble the Romanian back four and twice went close.
If anything, though, it had become too comfortable. Romania decided to challenge the flicks, and England began to play themselves into trouble.
Over-elaboration in midfield allowed Andrei Ivan with a clear sight of the England goal, and home goalkeeper Dean Henderson was fortunate to see the striker’s shot roll back off a post.
There were also two clear openings for Florinel Coman, who spurned the first and was thwarted by Henderson for the second after England were ripped apart by a gorgeous through ball by Ianis Hagi, the 19-year-old son of Romanian legend Gheorghe.
Still, England were comfortably the better side and Dowell, who is thriving on loan at Nottingham Forest from Everton this season, twice went close to doubling the lead.
The second eventually arrived via Clarke-Salter’s powerful header, from yet another whipped Alexander-Arnold delivery, but the air of defensive unease remained. Almost immediately, Romania had their reply, as Henderson flapped at a cross to allow Valentin Costache to fire into the empty net. After being so stylish for so long, England proceeded to panic, and had to rely on a phenomenal block from Kyle WalkerPeters to preserve their lead.