Game by Game - 2

You may have noticed that we haven't had a report on the Mansfield friendly. Our correspondent messaged me during the match to ask how many words I wanted. Sensing his frustration and boredom I told him single figures weren't acceptable. A dour game by all accounts and one that we were second best in for large spells. On the plus side; Wilder recognised this and pulled no punches in post-match interviews. Some teams celebrate 0-0 away draws, our manager doesn't.

The other positive is we didn't go there and lose 2-1, lose all discipline and turn it into a Royal Rumble. Although there is an argument that did show some team spirit and unity from a Wednesday team that had shown little of it for the previous 90 minutes, or much of last season.

That's the thing with pre-season, you enter it full of hope and one game seems to spell disaster, three days later and the mood can be quite different. If anything that is exacerbated by social media (and blogs!) that allows fans to vent publicly and with such immediacy to a wider audience. It seems that the end of the world is nigh for football fans with increasing frequency, yet rarely does it come. And so after the concerns following a 0-0 draw at League 2 Mansfield, the fourth best side in Italy paid Bramall Lane a visit……………

Pre-Season Friendly: Inter (H), 1-1

Inter at home the kind of friendly you would expect to form part of some major anniversary celebrations, say your club's 150th, and not just a run-of-the-mill pre-season friendly. 4th in Serie A and featuring a number of international players, they provided an enticing prospect for Blades fans, more so than say  the third best team in a one team league might.

And for a Friendly fixture it wasn't a bad game. Reasonably competitive, although some early moments where you could see players leaving the foot out of tackles were soon forgotten when Fleck  flew into a 50:50 in the middle of the park. A physical challenge you need to time perfectly and as a spectator you flinch at. Lundstram then clattered into Dalbert, no foul given and after a lengthy delay the Brazilian was stretchered off.

The Blades matched Inter well and it was an extremely well worked goal down the left side that saw United take the lead. Stevens and Fleck exchanged passes twice, before Fleck surged towards the edge of the box and dinked a perfect through ball to McGoldrick, who had held his line well with one of the Inter centre halves sitting deep. McGoldrick's finish was calm and assured, lifting it over the advancing Handanovic. A scoreboard reading Blades 1 Inter 0 is a lovely sight, whatever the circumstances.  Fleck then went close with a dipping half volley from 30 yards that just went wide of the post and the feeling was the Blades could kick on from here.

It was then that Inter woke up. Whereas up to then United had squeezed them back as they steadily played out from the back, their passing and movement became much sharper and they scored a goal equal in quality to the Blades' opener. A superbly weighted pass from Lautaro opened up United down their left side and the cross from Candreva left Icardi with a simple tap in. Icardi gave Egan a tough game, one the debutant stood up to well for much of it, but you can see how the Argentine striker bagged 29 Serie A goals last season. He went close again, after Lautaro back-heeled into his path, with Henderson making a fine save.

Whilst Inter were technically good, they also had the cynical side of the game down to a tee; little shirt tugs, trips and a sneaky raking of studs down the Achilles all stopping United breaks and disrupting play. A scrappy start to the second half was further disrupted as the substitutions started, four for the Blades and five for Inter. I was beginning to wonder if the last excitement of the evening was the scrap that started by the refreshment bar under the South Stand at half time. It was hard for those coming on to make an impression, but the final clear cut chance of the game fell to one of them. Sharp's shot from just outside the box was parried away.

With the scoreboard clock  yet to click over to 90 minutes the referee's whistle blew. What with a slightly delayed kick off and only 2 minutes added to the 1st half, despite the lengthy stoppage, I can only assume the Italians had a curfew, or a somewhere else to be. 

So a United team with 6 international caps between the starting XI performed very well against an Inter side that, even without the two Croatian World Cup finalists and Nainggolan, started with 9 internationals and 269 caps between them. Yes, it is only pre-season, yes there were other gears the Inter side could probably have shifted to, but a pleasing performance all the same, but with work still to be done.

Three final thoughts:

Gianni Flecki the midfield maestro. The best player on the pitch and the source of most of what was good about the Blades performance, surging runs, excellent passing and creativity. Wouldn’t have looked out of place in a blue and black striped shirt in their midfield. By heck, I do wonder how long John Fleck can be ignored by Big Eck.

Ricky Holmes impressed off the bench. Having had limited opportunity since joining last January, it was good to see him come on and give the team added impetus when the performance and the game as a whole was starting to flag. Just a few moments suggest that we may have a player to justify the haircut. It will be interesting to see whether he can deliver a top knot(ch) performance from a starting role.

Having arrived in my seat in the South Stand just before 7:15 I was disappointed to find the inauguration of The Tony Currie Stand had already happened in front of a quarter full stadium. Why they didn't wait until nearer kick off to do this, when the ground was fuller I am not sure. Instead we were "entertained" by some lass who didn't win The Voice belting out Nessun Dorma, whilst Gary Sinclair was so deferential to our visitors it felt like it was a pre-requisite of the match fee. I hope they do something for TC and the fans at the Swansea game with a bigger crowd and TV cameras present. 

The kids are alright

In the aftermath of another turgid England display against Montenegro midweek, I read a tweet that brought a brief flicker of happiness to my face. The England Under 21 team's success in qualifying for next year's European Championship finals in Denmark means that we are the only one of the "big" European nations to qualify for each of the last 3 European U21 Championships.  At a time when Germany are being held up as a prime example of an exciting youthful international side and everyone from Fabio Capello to Harry Redknapp, Dave Whelan to Sam Allardyce feel the need to bemoan the lack of good English talent coming through, it led me to look into the facts a little further.

England's relative success in the last 2 championships (Losing semi-finalists to the eventual winners the Netherlands in 2007 and Runners Up to Germany in 2009) followed two successive failures to reach the finals. This shows that, England are no different from the other larger nations who have all suffered spells where the quality and competitiveness of their young footballers is lacking.

Either side of their success in 2009, Germany failed to qualify in 2007 and have just missed out on 2011. The Netherlands failed to qualify in 2009 after winning the trophy in 2007. France has failed to qualify for the last three finals tournaments and have only made one of the last five. Italy, semi-finalists in 2009, lost their qualifying play-off to Belarus this week. Whilst Spain have failed to qualify for the finals next year and, despite their current senior success, have never reached the semi finals in any of the last 4 tournaments.

Some might suggest that victories in the last 2 tournaments might point towards the success of the Netherlands and Germany in recent major tournaments, but what did become of the players involved in those matches from both sides?

Back in 2007, the fourteen players involved in England's epic 13-12 penalty defeat to the Netherlands in Herenveen included five players who went on to gain full international recognition, with a combined total of over thirty caps to date. Of those David Nugent remains a one cap (one goal) wonder, Baines has played twice and Scott Carson three times. Only Ashley Young and James Milner have made any significant impact at international level.  

A look at the Dutch line-up paints a very similar picture. Four players have made the next step, but only two have gone on to ten or more caps, Babel and Maduro. They also, like England have players whose careers have not maintained their early heights. Three of the England team are currently playing Championship football; Lita, Hoyte and Nugent. A fourth, Liam Rosenior is currently without a club.

In the Dutch side, Daniel de Ridder looked an exciting wing prospect only to see his career falter at Birmingham and Wigan. Maceo Rigters joined Blackburn, but after only two appearances commenced unsuccessful loan spells with Norwich and Barnsley and started this season on loan at Willem II back in his homeland.

Even the player of the tournament, Royston Drenthe, subject to a subsequent 14m move to Real Madrid, finds himself viewed as a "problem" player, sent on loan to newly promoted La Liga club Hercules and still without a full cap.

Playing for the Under 21's was a never a guarantee of future success. In each two year spell you see a turnover of players which usually sees half remain for the next tournament, whilst the remainder move on and hopefully move up.  Looking at the German team that contested the 2009 final, it shows that it is possible to move up. Nine of the fourteen German players have now gained full caps and a tenth, Seb Boenisch has been capped by Poland after switching allegiance. Five players are in double figures, in terms of senior appearances (Neuer, Ozil, Khedira, Boateng and Schmelzer) although, as is often the case, several players had gained full caps prior to the U21 finals.

What happened to the England team from the final is slightly different. Five players (Richards, Gibbs, Johnson, Walcott and Milner) have made at least one senior appearance. Of these; only Richards, Walcott and Milner are in double figures in terms of appearances, however it is hard to believe that Johnson will not be there soon. Gibbs is clearly the long term replacement for Ashley Cole and it's likely that Jack Rodwell (a used sub in the final) would have had an opportunity by now, had it not been for injury. 

It is clear that with an ageing squad, Joachim Low was able to blood many of his young players in a relatively short spell of time. Post South Africa, several pundits and media voices called for a similar overhaul of the England team. Blood the young talent and, accept that Euro 2012 may not be a successful tournament, look to the future. Yet the response seems to be that many of the England team are not ready for the scrap heap just yet and the lack of big club/European experience goes against the young upstarts in terms of getting an opportunity.

Germany's situation was helped by the Bundesliga being a relatively open and competitive league. Five different winners in the last ten seasons and numerous clubs gaining Champions League experience gives young players at a wider range of clubs exposure to big competition at an earlier stage of their career.

Although it is good to see Capello being more willing to give players from outside the top 6 their chance (Cahill and Davies of Bolton as examples), they are not guaranteed to be the mainstays. Phil Jagielka performed well in his two games, but we can be pretty sure that he would have been dropped if both Ferdinand and Terry had been fit to face Montenegro. Yet, if England were looking forward, beyond the next tournament, there is a clear argument for not playing Ferdinand and giving his long term replacement time to bed in.

I don't think that at the moment we are worse off than any other major country in developing young talent and successful teams. It's what happens in the formative years, post  youth football, where it seems to go wrong. A lack of club opportunities as much as a lack of international ones. There may not be a never-ending supply of talented players that the coaches would wish to pick from, but if the best young players we have are not blossoming what chance have the late bloomers got.

With the Under 17 European Championship title under our belt and a strong squad available for Denmark 2011, things do look rosy. The kids are alright (in fact they are pretty good); they just need the chance to develop and the chance to show it.