“The job for seniors in England was called the impossible job. The England U21 team is the completely impossible job.”
– Aidy Boothroyd
It’s true – when you’re not playing your best players, most football management jobs seem completely impossible, but when you’re playing your best players, it’s suddenly not that difficult.
England’s under-21 boss Aidy Boothroyd took his fair share of the stick for Young Lions’ tough performances at the European Championships under 21 before their last group game against Croatia on Thursday night.
Eberechi Eze was a tag in Croatia’s backline side throughout the game | Pixsell / MB Media / Getty Images
His side had failed to even score – without winning – before taking on Igor Biscan’s side, leading him to produce one of the most ridiculous comments we’ve ever heard in football.
Let’s not forget, this is a man who failed to pick up a single point at the 2019 edition of Euro Under 21, despite field talents such as Phil Foden, James Maddison, Dean Henderson, Mason Mount, Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Tammy Abraham … hmmmm, yes sounds really impossible, Aidy.
Anyway, enough Boothroyd bashing (for now). The former Watford boss finally made sense before England’s final group game with Croatia and chose to hand over Crystal Palace’s Eberechi Eze his first start of the tournament, and the boy he produced.
The youngster was the liveliest player on the field throughout the competition, and showed a willingness to run against players and engage defenders, something that the Young Lions had really lacked in their previous excursions in the competition.
Aidy Boothroyd gave Eze his chance against Croatia | Sportida / MB Media / Getty Images
As Croatia’s backline could not cope with Ese’s quick feet and seamless balance shift, England suddenly saw a threat to the opposition, and they were denied a clear penalty shortly after half an hour’s mark when the castle was struck down in the area by Marin Sverko.
Although the referee overlooked the clear foul, Eze had long made his mark at the time and stepped up to concede the penalty that Eddie Nketiah won to give England the lead.
The humor and confidence he showed when he stroked up to the ball was almost hard to believe, and kept eye contact with Croatia’s goalkeeper Dominik Kotarski all the time before just rolling the ball into the corner.
With hopes from his teammates, his boss and even a nation on his shoulders as he stepped up to take the spot kick, the nerve the 22-year-old showed to just play home as if he were playing football in the park with his buddies was incredible.
??????? England are nasty in their must-win Group D battle
?? Eberechi Eze from the place # U21EURO | #CROENG pic.twitter.com/OPr2Wjlojw
– UEFA U21 EURO (@ UEFAUnder21) 31 March 2021
As the game continued, Ese’s influence continued to grow and he almost doubled his and England’s speech for the evening with a beautifully whipped free kick that almost took Kotarski out on his left post.
Despite the youth constellation, it was not enough for the Young Lions to make it through to an unlikely quarter-final spot, with Domagoj Bradaric’s 92-minute wonderful goal enough to secure Croatia’s knockout round at England’s expense.
It was all about locking the stable door after the horse had bolted if we are honest. As if Boothroyd had suddenly looked at the Group D table and thought to himself ‘I would not play my best player for the last game’.
While Ese’s screen may have given England little hope of moving on, in the end it only highlighted Boothroyd’s ineptitude to let him sit on the bench for his first two excursions in the competition.
Whether Boothroyd is responsible for the Under-21s’ next game remains to be seen, but regardless of who is responsible, Eze must be the top dog.
