Onderwerp: [U21] Qstarw The last World Champion

Win that game and make it happen ;)

I feel prepared for the match and believe in victory. Generally, I believe that the upcoming World Cup will be exceptional and will end with great success.

Id ask how we stand regarding player ratings but I guess it'll be a new set of players anyway. Do you think they're stronger or weaker than the current group?

The Italians are definitely stronger than England, but my faith in victory comes from the stance of the Italian coach, who has withdrawn from playing with U20 players. This means he is worried about the match against us. I have watched many of his games and hope I have chosen the right strategy to beat them. Of course, we will find out tomorrow if these were good decisions.

I mean our U-20s vs ours U-21s.

only U20

Italia U21 5-0! England U21

52% Possession 48%
32% Play in the half 68%

19 Shots 2
3 Fouls 3
1 Yellow cards 1
0 Red cards 0
0 Offsides 6

64.4 average mark 56.6

After today's match, I feel humiliated. The Italians were definitely better. Their potential is enormous. Losing doesn't upset me, but the manner in which it happened does. Everything worked out for them. Their striker bypassed three defenders, and no one could take the ball from him. Their forwards took the ball from my defenders. Goals were scored from close range and even from very far away. In reality, we had one chance to score when my striker got a one-on-one with the goalkeeper and hit the crossbar. In short, it was a demolition.

You stated that the Italy U21 coach is nervous and all that. He played two tactics during this tournament. Both of them have the game concentrated through the middle of the pitch, almost ignoring attacking on the wings. He played one of them today. The same he played in the first game against England. That doesn't look like he was worried at all.
On the other hand, you chose to play the same way, concentrating in the middle. I don't know what your plan was but if you thought you could block his tactic, it shows to me that the worried one was you, not him.
Tactically, it was big mistake, you haven't used the space on the wings and you were overpowered by the better quality of the Italian players when you tried to match them. His tactic was adaptive and he was the one who moved a player towards the wing. Yours was stale and carried on playing the same chasing the ball game. No movement from the strikers, at some point Walker and Paterson passed to each other about 4 times in the space of 10 seconds because there was no one making a run.
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8 point rating advantage didn't help but that formation was totally wrong for what they do. No width in attack or defence and the 2 attacking mids were useless because they pushed up, compressed the pitch and we ended up with the strikers and the mids working in the same space.

Unfortunately, I made a mistake. I relied on long passes from the midfielders and through balls down the middle because, in the match against Russia, their defense was very stretched. The goal for the midfielders was to extend the ball to the forwards. Often in such a situation, a defender would come to the midfielder, creating space for the forward. I played it wrong, and that's it. I don't want to comment on it anymore today because I'm still working. I need to organize materials for the workers so they can finish the job.

Hard defeat to take but ratings wise they were always favourites and I assume have better players all round to choose from….and more so can use in form players.

Onto the finals !!!! If we get an easier group then better

Oh dear Piotr. It was always going to be a difficult game, where tactics would play a huge importance! Don't feel too humiliated, you were beaten by the better side. Hopefully you'll learn from this match and grow. You have worked very hard for the U21 side over the past couple of seasons or so - thank you.

I know you will always be subject to a certain level of criticism, when managing an NT side. Which is fair enough!

You tried your best but the tactics didn't work today. Italy were the strongest side in the series, just like Thamesmead are to the Prem. Don't be too down, just make sure you learn from today.

Have a good weekend...

Cheers
Chuck

Russia played with not one but two wingers. No wonder Italy's defense was very stretched. Their manager noticed the narrowness of the Italian team and realised that there's no point crowding the game, the only chance is to stretch them.

Anyway, it's not a big deal, Italy is indeed a better group of players. Therefore, the only way to overcome would've been tactically. And you blew it spectacularly. I used this adjective because you put up quite a show about this game. And you sold it out. And now everyone feels like they want their money back. Maybe next time, do a better job behind the scenes and let the show sell itself out. You have some really important games coming up. Good luck.
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