England Under-21’s progression to the European Championship next summer was overshadowed last night by horrible scenes in Serbia.
I don’t want to talk about how wrong the Serbians acted like that, and the punishments that should be given to them, but rather about the Under-21 team and one player in particular. Although they didn’t last night, the team usually line up in a 4-2-3-1 formation, which is encouraging at youth level, as you can see from Germany with Reus, Gotze and Ozil all coming through who have advanced in the ‘three’ behind the striker.
In the first leg of the tie, England Under-21’s played Sterling – Ince – Zaha behind frontman Marvin Sordell, and all three have certain qualities. Sterling has obviously gained a lot of plaudits through his performances for Liverpool this season, while Ince has gained a lot of praise and attention from Premier League managers, and anybody watching Blackpool can see why. Wilfried Zaha is somewhat of a wildcard in this line up, with the Crystal Palace winger having an aura of unpredictability around him. He seems to have eliminated a lot of the inconsistency that has surrounded him through previous seasons though, and is coming into great goalscoring form in the Championship, with serious offers from the Premier League expected to come in January.
You can see from this training video pre-Serbia (in the first minute or two) some of Zaha’s attributes, and we may seem him at a higher level very soon.