England are ready to bridge the gap – Taylor

SOMEHOW, bemoaning the nation’s ‘27 years of hurt’ does not quite have the same ring.

But that is how long England have had to wait since success was last tasted in the Under-21 European Championships.

That 1984 triumph – achieved courtesy of a 3-0 aggregate win over Spain by a team featuring, among others, Mel Sterland, Steve Hodge and Mark Hateley – meant the Three Lions retained the trophy, having beaten West Germany 5-4 on aggregate two years earlier.

Since then, however, success has been hard to come by, though England did go close to ending that long wait for Euro glory in 2009 when Stuart Pearce’s side reached the final only for Germany, and in particular the outstanding Mesut Ozil, to put paid to those hopes with a resounding 4-0 victory in Malmo.

Two years on and the Under-21s’ manager is ready to go again with a squad that, according to Pearce’s predecessor in the role, has every chance of bringing some long overdue success to these shores.

“I am really looking forward to the next couple of weeks,” says Peter Taylor, who had two spells in charge of the Under-21s and will be part of Sky Sports’ commentary team at the finals in Denmark.

“I look at the eight teams competing and there are some very good teams, with the possible exception of hosts Denmark. The standard should be very good.

“England have as good a chance as any. For two years, England have worked hard to win the majority of their games and the squad has plenty of quality.

“I particularly like the look of the back four, it is probably one of the best around. The crucial thing now is that Daniel Sturridge and Danny Wellbeck score goals, as any team with serious ambitions of winning the tournament must have at least one striker near the top of the goalscoring list.

“A big plus for England is that the likes of (Swansea City’s Scott) Sinclair and Daniel Sturridge (the Chelsea striker who has been on loan at Bolton) ended the English season scoring plenty of goals.”

Pearce’s team kick off their Group B campaign tomorrow night against favourites Spain in Herning. Three days later, they are due to face Ukraine before rounding off what is a tough group against the Czech Republic in Viborg.

Group A may not, on paper, be quite as strong but there is still plenty of quality in a line-up that includes the hosts, Belarus, Switzerland and an Icelandic side who may well be the surprise package on tournament debut.

For Pearce’s part, his side will need to retain the consistency of the past four years that brought a semi-final place in 2007 and that final defeat to Germany.

Four of that German side went on to feature in the starting XI as the seniors reached last year’s World Cup semi-finals – a success that has led to calls for a similar youth structure to be set up in this country. Whether that is a route the English game ultimately takes, remains to be seen.

But the transfer deals that saw Phil Jones and Jordan Henderson, likely to be two key players in Denmark, move for a combined fee of £36m earlier this week suggests the supply line of talent is still thriving.

Taylor told the Yorkshire Post: “It shows there are good, young players. Chris Smalling proved the same by having a great first season with Manchester United.

“I know some people have questioned the size of the fees and said they are on the high side. But I look back to when Ashley Young went to Aston Villa for what everyone considered to be a big fee (of £10m). Now, he would go for double what Villa paid Watford.

“If you sign a good player at a good age then it can be money well spent. The only possible drawback to joining one of the top four is just how much football they will play. But, at such a price, I doubt either lad has been bought with anything but playing regularly in mind.”

Despite his two spells in charge of the Under-21s, Taylor never competed in a Championships. Appointed first in 1996, his side just missed out on a place at the finals two years later despite finishing top of their group.

England did qualify comfortably under his charge in 2000 but by the time the tournament came round he had been replaced by Howard Wilkinson.

Reappointed in 2004 when in charge of Hull City, he led England to the top of their qualifying group only for his side to lose to France over two legs. A year later, the competition having been moved to avoid a clash with the senior tournaments, Taylor did lead the Three Lions to the finals only for Pearce to be handed full-time control in January.

The former Bradford City manager said: “To be fair, I didn’t have too much luck in terms of losing my job at vital times. Also, in 1998 when we did finish top of a qualifying group that included Italy, we were then beaten by Greece in the play-offs. That was difficult to take.

“I appreciate the argument that you have to be decent to win a two-legged play-off but I still don’t think it was particularly fair, especially as we had just finished above a very good Italy.”

In terms of this year’s Championships, which get under way today when Denmark host Switzerland, Taylor added: “The big plus about the tournament these days is that it is now played when there is no World Cup or a European Championships to distract attention. I get the impression that fans are enjoying going down the pub to watch Under-21s games, which wouldn’t be the case if the seniors were in action at the same time.”

As for England, who will be without Arsenal duo Jack Wilshere and Kieran Gibbs through a combination of tiredness and injury, Taylor added: “We have a good chance. It is a shame Arsenal have to play in the Champions League qualifier, as it means we won’t quite have our best team out there. But I still believe this squad has the quality to make a real challenge. It is about time we started to win tournaments like this. The gap since we last won anything is just too long.

“Winning would not only give the players involved plenty of confidence but it would also probably increase their chances with the senior team. Mr Capello would be more likely to trust them with a Championship success under their belts.”

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