England U17 coach Steve Cooper says the World Cup win will live with him forever
Sunday 24 December 2017 10:59, UK
It has been a year to remember for England's youth teams with both the U17s and U19s winning their respective World Cups.
This summer, Paul Simpson's U19s won their first World Cup match in 20 years and went on to win the tournament beating Venezuela in the final 1-0.
Steve Cooper's U17s came from behind to beat Spain 5-2 in the final in India with Manchester City's Phil Foden scoring twice to secure the victory. Liverpool youngster Rhian Brewster won the tournament's Golden Boot.
Here is what Cooper had to say about his U17s England side.
On 2017:
"I'm incredibly proud and honoured to be a national coach for the England teams and for whatever team I've always felt that honour. To take that into a World Cup in India and to see the players not just win the World Cup but in the fashion they did it and the behaviours that they showed. They are one of the most selfless groups of players I have ever worked with.
"It's something I think will live with us forever of course, these players have got a long way to go in their career and it's really important that they work hard and continue to make as much progress as they can. But however that career goes, winning a World Cup is something that they can always look back on and say yeah that was good and I am very proud, and I feel the same."
On possession:
"We want to keep the ball and we want to be in control of the game so we play what we see, with good team positioning, playing together as a team and trying to design our way up the pitch."
On pressing:
"Our first idea is to be on the front foot and stop the opposition from settling into play and getting the ball back as quickly as we can. I think it suits the English mentality and suits the characteristics of the young players we are developing
On data:
"Data and statistics now are a massive part of Football, especially with what we are doing here at the FA and it's something that has given us some marginal gains."
Here is what Simpson had to say on his World Cup-winning U19s and what it took to win the tournament.
On psychology:
"In my day there was a different type of mental toughness because you had to be able to withstand a lot of banter that was going on in the field and you had to put up with some real physical tackles, which has probably gone out of the game a little bit now."
On communication:
"When we come back in at half-time, an in-possession coach, an out-possession coach and a goalkeeper coach do the set plays. They have a sheet of paper that they put their ideas on, I sit and do mine then we come together as a group of staff and have three points.
"So it is very structured about the way we do it so we have a clear plan about how we are going to go about it and then I go and deliver the three messages to the players."
On 2017:
"The high point for me was that final whistle in South Korea when the game was over because that was an incredible mix of emotions. First was relief, as a coach you want the players to get that gold medal so when the whistle went there was massive relief and then just a huge feeling of satisfaction with what the players had gone and achieved.
"Remembering that this was a competition that we haven't actually won a game in the finals for 20 years, to come away with a gold medal was testament to the work that the staff did to help the players go out and perform to the levels that they did."
