Pearce so frustrated as Spain’s World Cup stars await

Stuart Pearce warned England might never end their 45-year major trophy drought unless players and clubs started taking the European Under-21 Championship seriously.

Pearce’s plan to field the strongest possible side at this month’s tournament has been repeatedly undermined by the withdrawal of key players during the past three weeks.

Four of the six senior internationals head coach Pearce named in his 40-man provisional squad have pulled out, with Kieran Gibbs joining Jack Wilshere, Andy Carroll and Micah Richards in crying off.

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In stark contrast, England will face a Spain side in their tournament opener on Sunday boasting World Cup winners Javi Martinez and Juan Mata, as well as Barcelona’s Champions League-winning forward Bojan Krkic.

Hosts Denmark have selected senior star Christian Eriksen, who has never previously played at under-21 level, while Switzerland picked Xherdan Shaqiri, who starred in their 2-2 Euro 2012 qualifying draw with England last weekend.

Pearce said: “I’ve got a breakdown of all the nations here, how many of their players that have represented the seniors.

“And we’ve probably got maybe the biggest number of absentees.

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“We need to make sure that when we turn up to these tournaments that the big, big players are here.”

He added: “We’ve got a lot of lessons to learn and the one reason I would say that is you look at the trophy cabinet – it never lies.

“Look at the Spanish trophy cabinet – it never lies.”

Wilshere’s withdrawal was the most controversial, the Arsenal midfielder reneging on his promise to play after being convinced by his manager he would suffer burnout.

Pearce said: “Draw a comparison between some of the Spanish players and see what they’ve done.

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“Have a look what Bojan’s done. This is his second under-21 tournament.

“For me, football’s about playing football and that’s what you should do.

“I don’t see a downside if I’m honest with you in coming to play for your country – I never have done.

“They’re playing against the best players that Europe has got to offer, in a three, four, five-game scenario that we’ve got here. There’s so many upsides to it.

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“It adds value to the players, which obviously the clubs pick up on as well.

“I’ll still deem that there’s a real learning curve from the tournament like this.

“It’s really high-profile, it’s gaining in momentum profile-wise every two years.

“And it’s a mouth-watering prospect for our players to take on the best Spain have got to offer on Sunday.”

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Despite the withdrawals and a tough-looking Group B, Pearce was confident England still had enough to win this month’s tournament.

“I’ve got a lot of good talent in the squad still,” he said. “There’s some real, real talent that won’t be here but we feel as though we have enough here to win the tournament. But time will tell.”

Pearce elected not to replace Gibbs in what is now a 22-man squad, insisting no-one else in his 40-man provisional party had played enough first-team football recently to be worth drafting in.

He might have changed his mind had striker Connor Wickham and goalkeeper Frankie Fielding suffered significant injury during yesterday’s first full training session since the squad arrived in Denmark.

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Both failed to finish the session as a precaution after hurting their ankle and thumb, respectively, but were not thought to be doubtful for Sunday’s game.

Michael Mancienne performed the captaincy duties at the team’s Federicia FC training base this morning, having also led the side in Sunday’s final warm-up friendly against Norway. However, Pearce insisted the armband was still up for grabs ahead of this weekend’s attractive opener.

Big-money duo will keep their focus in Denmark

Stuart Pearce is confident Phil Jones’s and Jordan Henderson’s big-money moves to Manchester United and Liverpool, respectively, would not distract them during England’s European Under-21 Championship campaign.

Jones and Henderson were allowed to thrash out deals with what are set to be their new clubs while the rest of Pearce’s squad travelled to Denmark for this month’s finals.

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The pair arrived later in the evening and played a full part in the squad’s first full training session at Fredericia FC, near the team’s base in Jutland.

Their transfers have still to be completed and there is the danger their minds could be elsewhere ahead of England’s tournament opener against Spain on Sunday.

But Pearce said: “They’re fantastically focused players and an absolute pleasure to work with.

“I had contact with both of them beforehand to ask for permission to go and tie up individual deals this week with the clubs.

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“If I was in their position, I’d want a deal tied up before I went to major championship.

“I wouldn’t want to be worrying about it and I think that was their mentality as well.”

There is every chance more of Pearce’s squad could be subject to transfer bids during the tournament but the head coach will not allow anyone else to complete a move.

“That’s finished now,” he said. “We’re here as England players and those players will be fully focused on being here.

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“I just deemed it was right and proper in regard to those two individuals before we actually met up that they did actually go and resolve those problems.

“I’m not actually aware at this stage that there is anyone else on the verge of moving clubs.”

Pearce was not surprised at the reported £16m figures being paid for Blackburn defender Jones and Sunderland midfielder Henderson, although he added: “I think the market’s a little bit distorted financially, I really do. But I’m not taking anything away from the real talent there.”