Full-time: Sweden 0-0 England
Well, that was all rather disappointing. England started better but faded. Sweden were much better in the second half and will feel like they should have won that. England have Pickford’s penalty save to thank for picking up a point. Boothroyd’s side need to work on their final ball and movement in the final third. Sweden’s defence was far too comfortable and rarely dragged out of position. Sweden’s passing improved as the match went on and they looked extremely well organised at the back too. The champions are not going to give up their title easily. Thanks for your company. Bye.
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90+3 min: Redmond whips a ball into the box for Abraham to attack. It’s decent one and coaxes Cajtoft out of his area where he collides with the tall England striker. On second viewing it was a nasty clash of heads. Both players require treatment but thankfully they are up and ready to carry on in no time at all.
90+2 min: Cibicki, Sweden’s best player by far, fires over and then goes down like he’s been shot in the left leg. Cramp.
90 min: This has been an England performance every bit as unconvincing as a senior level display. Boothroyd’s side have won the ball back at last, though, and Gray manages to fire a cross in at Abraham. It’s not a good one though. too low. The service to Abraham has been very poor.
89 min: Wahlqvist is allowed to shuffle up the right wing to the byline under no pressure whatsoever before sinking a cross in towards Strandberg that Pickford sopme gather comfortably but flaps at and is grateful to see bounce off the surprised Swedish substitute and out for a goal-kick.
88 min: England can’t get a sniff of the ball. They haven’t had a meaningful attack in 10 minutes.
85 min: The wonderfully named Tankovic is on for Tibbling, who has been a pesky menace for Sweden this half. And yes, Takovic is barrel-chested. Sweden win a free-kick midway inside the England half. It’s lofted into a packed penalty area but a free-kick is given after Larsson slams an errant forearm into Holgate’s throat.
82 min: Despite the penalty miss, Sweden don’t seem too despondent. They’re still the superior force as this game nears its end. England’s passing has gone to pot.
Pickford saves the penalty!
80 min: Wahlqvist dusts himself off and stands over it. He sidefoots down the middle of the goal and Pickford dives to his left but dangles out his right arm to claw the ball away. The follow-up is sidefooted straight at him. Good stop. Poor penalty.
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Penalty to Sweden!
79 min: Chilwell slides into Wahlqvist and wins the ball but follows through and sends Wahlqvist flying into the air. Penalty! One that wouldn’t have been given 10 years ago. But it’s not 10 years ago.
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78 min: England look tired here. Sweden are making pretty triangles all around the pitch. England’s answer is a hoof up the right channel that Abraham looks at disdainfully.
76 min: The Swedish fans have raised the noise levels again. Their team is keeping possession comfortably in midfield but after working their way diligently to the edge of the England penalty area, the neat and tidy football gives way to an overhit pass by Hallberg to Cibicki. Goal-kick.
73 min: A bit of housekeeping. Gray is on for Murphy, who has faded in this second half. Not a bad substitute to be able o bring on. And Sweden replace Fransson with Mrabti. He plays in midfield for Djurgårdens IF, so Wikipedia tells me. He’s one of Sweden’s overaged players at 23 years old.
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71 min: Tibbling slips the ball behind Holgate for Strandberg to run on to but the Everton defender stretches his long left leg and diverts the ball away to safety. He was being rinsed for pace there and Holgate is no slouch. Strandberg is dangerous.
70 min: Ward-Prowse stings Cajtoft’s palms with a deliciously curled right-footed effort that was heading for the bottom-left corner. It was a fine save. England win a corner, which is cleared and Sweden break …
69 min: England have slowly worked their way back into a dominant position. they’re seeing much more of the ball. Baker tries to slalomn through two Sweden players near the penalty area. He’s brought down by Olsson and it’s a free-kick in a very dangerous position 20 yards out on the left.
66 min: Clonk! It’s England’s turn to hit the crossbar after Chilwell’s dragged shot from the edge of the area is deflected up and on to the bar by Larsson. The resulting corner comes to nothing.
63 min: Strandberg is set free by Olsson, who wanders through midfield under very little pressure. His ball is weighted perfectly to the powerful striker, who takes one touch and slams a left-footed shot into the side-netting. It was a poor finish from a very promising position. Meanwhile, Mawson and Holgate are having a frank exchange of views. It could probably be summed up thus. Mawson: “You’re not Dani Alves! Defend!”
60 min: One to file under clever corners here. Ward-Prowse zips a low daisy-cutter to Baker on the front corner of the six-yard box only for Baker to slam his shot over under pressure. That was creative. I’m a fan.
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59 min: Sweden replace Engvall with Strandberg.
56 min: Well that was predictable. Franssen holds the ball up in the box and lays the ball off to Cibicki who clatters the crossbar with a curled right-footer from the edge of the box. Clang! Boothroyd needs to push his team out.
55 min: Sweden are on top now. England have reversed into a ridiculously deep position and are pretty much inviting their opponents to come and have a party in their half.
53 min: “’Nothing more than neat and tidy’,” writes my miffed Guardian football editor Marcus Christenson. “ Nothing wrong with that.” Nope. Not if you want to draw 0-0 Marcus. Hallberg reveals he has more than a little stardust in his boots with a punchy run through midfield and an attempted one-two with Engvall that was halted by a collection of panicked England defenders. Perhaps he’s keen to show he’s more than neat and tidy too.
51 min: England win a corner. Ward-Prowse’s delivery is infused with venom but ‘peep’! A free-kick is given for some pushing and shoving by Abraham.
49 min: Murphy and Holgate combine well on the right only for the resulting cross to be cut out. A moment later Baker clips the ball into Redmond, who flicks a header into the path of Abraham but it runs away from his long legs and out for goal-kick.
46 min: England have regained possession and are trying the patient approach once more. they’re having to go backwards so often though, such is the pressure being applied whenever they advance into the Sweden half.
Peep!
45 min: It’s the second half. It can only get better. Chilwell boots the ball down the left channel and out of play. Like I said, it can only get better.
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One thing that has been lacking from England’s play is one of Murphy, Baker (who has been pretty much anonymous) and Redmond running beyond Abraham. When Murphy or Redmond have got forward it has been in wide areas. If Abraham can hold the ball up and allow one of these to run past him it could drag the Swedish defence out of position. They’ve been comfortable so far.
Some half-time reading
Half-time: Sweden 0-0 England
Well, after a reasonable start that petered out. England seemed to run out of ideas very quickly against a Sweden team that looks nothing more than neat and tidy.
42 min: England win a throw on the right. Holgate’s elastic arms catapult the ball into the box, where Mawson flicks it on to Abraham, who contorts his lanky frame into a position to fire an overhead kick over from eight yards. That seemed like the difficult option when just controlling the ball and having a normal shot at goal would have been easier.
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40 min: Chalobah pops the ball through a hole in midfield to Redmond, who drops ever so deep to try and get things moving. He drifts a ball out to Chilwell, overlapping on the left, but he looks up and Koncheskys a hopeless cross out of play behind the goal under no pressure whatsoever.
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38 min: Olsson has a sight of goal after Sweden play a series of fast triangular passes on the left before laying the ball off to their creative spark. But he can’t get over his left footed shot, which curls up and over Pickford’s right-hand upright. England’s defence was pulled over the shop there.
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36 min: Murphy has been the most vibrant player so far in this half but England are no longer dominating this game as they were early on. Sweden look more comfortable now and are reading England’s runs better and making their play look much more predictable.
33 min: Pickford hoofs a ball forwards to Abraham, who uses his chest brilliantly to bring the ball under control and play a pass out to Murphy on the right. He needs no invitation to drive forwards and takes one touch before thumping a shot at goal that fades up and over the bar by a foot. Direct but effective. That was very much out of Boothroyd’s old Watford playbook.
32 min: England try to look for an avenue down the left wing but Redmond faces up his marker and runs the ball out of play. This is much more like a senior England performance now.
30 min: The Sweden fans are making a phenomenal noise. And their team is responding to it. They’re pressing higher up for the first time in the game and winning back possession. Mind you, with the pace England have that could be a dangerous tactic.
29 min: England have hardly had a sniff of the ball in the past few minutes – they’re closing down space diligently but Sweden’s passing is faster and cleverer than at any other time in the game.
27 min: Sweden win a free-kick just outside the penalty area on the left after an innocuous collision. It’s cleared to the edge of the box but where Sweden launch their best move of the match. Working the ball to the right before a clever one-two leads to a shooting opportunity for Cibicki, who fires over from 10 yards. The Swedes have their tails up for the first time.
25 min: Chalobah’s distribution from deep has been very good so far. He’s not scared of driving passes to feet when under pressure when the less risky pass would be to clip a ball forward to a player’s chest.
23 min: Sweden are sitting deep and inviting England on to them. Chilwell darts from midfield to a wide position on the left and picks up possession. He looks up and clips a ball towards Abraham, but it is just stood up with no pace on it and is easily cleared. To be fair, Abraham perhaps should have timed his run better and given Chilwell a better chance of finding him.
21 min: Mawson, as though aware of the praise I just dished out, wallops a long ball out of play to wild cheers from the fans bedecked in yellow.
17 min: England look more physically imposing than Sweden, who appear a bit lightweight. When Sweden do get the ball everything is being played in front of England, who look dangerous on the break and more than capable of getting in behind. There has been variety in England’s play too, which will please Boothroyd. He will be happy with this so far.
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15 min: Holgate slips the ball down the right channel to Abraham. That’s a tactic Boothroyd would enjoy. Pure meat and potatoes football. Abraham outpaces his marker and tries to nick the ball around Cajtoft, who does well to get a hand to it and divert it away to the edge of the box where Chilwell plays a square ball to Murphy on the right-hand side of the penalty area. He’s a box of tricks Murphy. He beats Lundqvist with ease again but his two attempts to cross are cut out easily. He needs to work on that final ball.
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12 min: Sweden finally string a few passes together. Each one is being oléd. Now for a stat.
England's starting XI in the opening match at the #U21EURO in Poland has played a total of 429 Premier League matches. @GreggBakowski
— Simon Gleave (@SimonGleave) June 16, 2017
Seems greater in number than I’d have thought.
10 min: England are building a head of steam. Abraham gets on the end of the latest one but he can’t get his knee over the ball and he volleys over.
8 min: Ward-Prowse lofts the corner to the back post where it is headed back across goal by Chalobah and then sliced behind among general panic on the Sweden defence.
7 min: Ward-Prowse’s retro black boots zip the ball out to Holgate, on the gallop down the right wing. The Everton full-back drives a low cross into the box but it is cleared at the near-post. A moment later Murphy drops his shoulder and beats Lunqvist to the byline before winning a corner. Some lovely skilful feet on display there.
6 min: England have started confidently here. Only now have Sweden managed to settle on the ball and become comfortable in possession.
4 min: Murphy is dragged to the floor while trying to do some tricks in midfield. Free-kick. Ward-Prowse whips it in from the right. It’s not dealt with confidently and it takes two or three attempts for Sweden to clear. The England captain’s dead-ball delivery could be key tonight. That was a cracker.
2 min: Oof! Chalobah charges into Olsson in the over exuberant fashion and leaves the Swede gasping for air on the floor. A reducer? Not really. It’s a free-kick but nothing comes of it. A moment later there are wild cheers from the Swedish fans behind Cajtoft’s goal as Holgate hoiks an attempted cross past the penalty box and out of play.
1 min: Peep! We’re off. Sweden, in yellow, get us under way. They’re shooting from right to left on my TV so build a picture of that in your head. England, in white, are going the other way.
The teams are out and the national anthems have been sung. Sweden’s was belted out by the thousands in attendance. Kielce is a mini-Stockholm for the night. England’s fans are well and truly outnumbered by the boisterous Scandinavians.
Here’s something for Boothroyd to consider. Southgate oversaw an early exit at the 2015 tournament and is now England manager. The future is bright for Boothroyd if he actually does something here.
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It’s lashing down with rain in Poland. So expect the surface to be slick and the passes to be zippy.
Aidy Boothroyd has said he has “fallen in love with football again” since going to work for the FA. It has helped to enhance his reputation somewhat from that of a long-ball merchant to technician. He was responsible for the Under-20s before moving up to replace Gareth Southgate. So the World Cup win is as much down to him as it is Paul Simpson. He expects England to have plenty of possession tonight if Sweden turn out in a 4-4-2 formation.
Lee Hendrie, who is a pundit on Sky for this match, has a tan so rich that I can only imagine he has been stood naked in front of the sun screaming “Come on!” at it for the past fortnight. It’s incredible.
The England Under-21 manager Aidy Boothroyd promises to entertain us:
“To work with a group that can actually entertain you? It doesn’t get any better than that. Can they can entertain the nation back home? I think they will, yes. What we want to do is emulate what other England development teams are doing and the senior team, with the changes that are being made there.”
It’s going to end 0-0 isn’t it?
Ed Aarons is our reporter out in Poland. He’s done lazy big-club scouts a favour by picking 10 players to watch at the tournament so that they don’t have to do any homework. Have a look for yourself here.
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Here’s the latest edition of The Fiver and an admission that the Stop Football campaign has officially failed.
Team news!
Sweden: Cajtoft, Wahlqvist, J Larsson, Lundqvist, Tibbling, Fransson, K Olsson (C), Engvall, Daggerstal, Hallberg, Cibicki. Subs: Erlandsson, Dahlberg, Nilsson, Tankovic, Strandberg, Ssewankambo, Brorsson, Mrabti, Ellasson, Binaku, Affane.
England: Pickford, Holgate, Chambers, Mawson, Chilwell, Ward-Prowse (C), Chalobah, Murphy, Baker, Redmond, Abraham. Subs: Stephens, Gray, Targett, Gunn, Swift, Holding. Hause, Iorfa, Hughes, Grealish, Mitchell, Woodrow.
Referee: Tobias Stieler (Germany)
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Preamble
Hello. Welcome to coverage of the opening match of the Euro Under-21 Championship. It feels like there is a little bit more attention on England this year after the success of the the Under-20s, who now rule the world in that particular age group. And let’s not forget the England Under-17 team either. They lost in the final of the European Championship to Spain on penalties. Some have called this group of players another “golden generation”, which is unhelpful really as their development towards becoming strong senior international players usually depends on establishing themselves at a top-flight club, not by success at this level.
Mind you, a good tournament here could help change managers’ opinions of those on show or lead to a favourable move – and the experience of dealing with the demands of tournament football is always useful in terms of physical and mental development. The Swedish fans far outnumber England’s in Kielce so, mentally, they’ll have that to contend with today for a start.
England can be grateful that Sweden, the reigning champions, haven’t taken their strongest team to this tournament – new Manchester United defender Victor Lindelhof hasn’t travelled with the squad. They have also left new Borussia Dortmund signing Alexander Isak at home. Aidy Boothroyd will be looking for big performances from players such as Nathan Redmond and Nathaniel Chalobah, who Gareth Southgate would like to develop into a defensive midfielder with the senior team. James Ward-Prowse, the captain, will be expected to offer guidance in midfield and Tammy Abraham, who scored 26 goals for Bristol City on loan from Chelsea, is also keen to make his mark. He says he wants to emulate the success of the Under-20s. “They did the country so proud and we would love to follow in their footsteps. We want to show we are the next up-and-coming players for the England squad, so there is a bit of pressure.” Having a £30m goalkeeper in Jordan Pickford should do their chances no harm either.
England haven’t had the best record in this competition in recent years. They have won just one game in the past three finals but their victory at the Toulon tournament last year showed that this group of players can handle tournament pressure. The format is difficult this year too. Only the group winner is guaranteed a semi-final place.
My prediction: Sweden 1-2 England
Kick-off: 5pm BST
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