England U20's Today

[Kyle]

Did anyone watch the game today? I couldn't see it but the scoreline looked pretty bad... How'd our City boys do?

[Ted Hughes]

I saw parts of it & to be perfectly frank, most of our English lads are, well fairly shite really by world standards. I've not seen that much of Mee etc since the youth cup winning run but McGivern imo always looks miles better than him. If you're not especially tall as a CB you have to be either a brick shithouse, lightning fast or read the game like Bobby Moore. He has none of those attributes. Our midfield lads are mostly defensive grafters but no obvious DeJongs threre.

Trippier has struggled but I know he does have talent & pace. He could still make it but maybe not at fullback & perhaps not at City. Nimely battled really well on his own amongst a team full of thick headed unfit donkeys & as he's a year younger, he could have something.

Ghana had a better player than England in almost every position though. Better, stronger, faster, fitter. As did Uraguay, particularly the big CB who is one worth watching.

[Kyle]

Yeah, that was the same impression I got from watching the US-Cameroon game. Everyone seemed a bit clumsy and unfit, and a large majority had really bad first touches. All i've seen from the city lads were the bit of them that played in preseason. I will definetly have to catch the next one though, as I'm anxious to watch alex get a run out...

[Niall Quinns Discopants]

I saw parts of it & to be perfectly frank, most of our English lads are, well fairly shite really by world standards. I've not seen that much of Mee etc since the youth cup winning run but McGivern imo always looks miles better than him. If you're not especially tall as a CB you have to be either a brick shithouse, lightning fast or read the game like Bobby Moore. He has none of those attributes. Our midfield lads are mostly defensive grafters but no obvious DeJongs threre.

Trippier has struggled but I know he does have talent & pace. He could still make it but maybe not at fullback & perhaps not at City. Nimely battled really well on his own amongst a team full of thick headed unfit donkeys & as he's a year younger, he could have something.

Ghana had a better player than England in almost every position though. Better, stronger, faster, fitter. As did Uraguay, particularly the big CB who is one worth watching.

And ten years older.

[Ted Hughes]

I saw parts of it & to be perfectly frank, most of our English lads are, well fairly shite really by world standards. I've not seen that much of Mee etc since the youth cup winning run but McGivern imo always looks miles better than him. If you're not especially tall as a CB you have to be either a brick shithouse, lightning fast or read the game like Bobby Moore. He has none of those attributes. Our midfield lads are mostly defensive grafters but no obvious DeJongs threre.

Trippier has struggled but I know he does have talent & pace. He could still make it but maybe not at fullback & perhaps not at City. Nimely battled really well on his own amongst a team full of thick headed unfit donkeys & as he's a year younger, he could have something.

Ghana had a better player than England in almost every position though. Better, stronger, faster, fitter. As did Uraguay, particularly the big CB who is one worth watching.

And ten years older.

Haha.

[Abu Dhabi]

I saw parts of it & to be perfectly frank, most of our English lads are, well fairly shite really by world standards. I've not seen that much of Mee etc since the youth cup winning run but McGivern imo always looks miles better than him. If you're not especially tall as a CB you have to be either a brick shithouse, lightning fast or read the game like Bobby Moore. He has none of those attributes. Our midfield lads are mostly defensive grafters but no obvious DeJongs threre.

Trippier has struggled but I know he does have talent & pace. He could still make it but maybe not at fullback & perhaps not at City. Nimely battled really well on his own amongst a team full of thick headed unfit donkeys & as he's a year younger, he could have something.

Ghana had a better player than England in almost every position though. Better, stronger, faster, fitter. As did Uraguay, particularly the big CB who is one worth watching.

And ten years older.

Not this year mate. They kind of tried to make a solution.

Amajita coach Serame Letsoaka believes his side’s chances of success at the Under-20 World Cup in Egypt later this month has been significantly boosted by Fifa’s clampdown on age-cheating.

World football’s governing body has taken the unprecedented step of measuring the bone density of players by use of an MRI scan in a bid to root out age-cheating at the tournament.

It has already impacted on the selection of some countries, particularly Nigeria, and Letsoaka says this will enhance South Africa’s chances of making an impact in Egypt.

“Most African teams will lose a lot of players. Trust me, most African players are over-age,” he says in the last edition of KICK OFF magazine.

“It is important to have these kinds of tests, though they are not conclusive as they give a gap of two years either way – it is more of an approximate. But these tests are definitely a necessity as most African players are over-age. But as a national coach there is not much I can do when I am provided with documents that state that the players are eligible.”

[craigmcfc]

I take it we're out now then having lost the first 2 games?

[Ted Hughes]

I take it we're out now then having lost the first 2 games?

Not sure about that, I think it's one of those tournaments where you have to try really hard to get knocked out. When we lose the next one to Outer Mongolia we should crack it though.