England were stifled by Switzerland but players must pick themselves up for Portugal, says Andy Hinchcliffe
Lacklustre England Under-21s suffered a nightmare start to Euro 2021 with a 1-0 defeat to Switzerland; Andy Hinchcliffe: "Switzerland looked like a proper team, and England looked unsure as to how to break them down"
Thursday 25 March 2021 18:04, UK
England Under-21s were "stifled" and "ran out of ideas" as they slumped to a losing start to Euro 2021 against Switzerland, according to Sky Sports pundit Andy Hinchcliffe.
Nice striker Dan Ndoye's late winner condemned the Young Lions to a 1-0 defeat in Koper on Thursday in Group D.
Bastien Toma also hit a post for Switzerland while Andi Zeqiri was denied by Aaron Ramsdale in a deserved win for Mauro Lustrinelli's side.
"It was a classic example of you can only play as well as the opposition allow you to," Hinchcliffe told Sky Sports. "Switzerland were absolutely outstanding in terms of their formation, and they completely stifled England.
"They created the better chances in the game, even if they did come from England mistakes. They were the better team and looked like a proper team, and nearly everybody played their part. They got their tactics absolutely spot on and England looked unsure as to how to break them down.
"They never got to grips with how the Swiss were playing and the better team won the game. England tried to create things, but they were met by a red wall. The Swiss knew England would play a back three without the long forward passes as Eddie Nketiah is not a physical presence or a focal point.
"England tried to play out so Switzerland knew to high press and play with two strikers who got among England's three centre-halves. They put them under pressure, and they duly made mistakes. England didn't learn from those mistakes but that was due to the Swiss tenacity, and they knew how to disrupt them."
- England U21 0-1 Switzerland U21 - Match report and free highlights
- How the teams lined up | Match stats
- Euro U21 Championship fixtures | Watch U21 champs on YouTube
- Get Sky Sports | Get NOW TV
England will have to improve after defeat in Slovenia, with Lloyd Kelly heading their best chance wide in the first half.
Switzerland lost just once in qualifying from Group Two, finishing behind France on goal difference, to reach the finals for the first time in 10 years - but Hinchcliffe believes their greater experience at Under-21, if not tournament, level told on the day.
The mentality now is so important. How do you lift those England players? They're going to have to also lift themselves as the coach can't do all the work. The players have to pick themselves up and they will need to step it up another level.
"When I looked at the two squads, the Swiss had more caps at this level than England," he added.
"They had less experience of finals tournaments, but if you look at the two starting XIs, Switzerland had 35 more caps than England which I think really showed. Lustrinelli got his tactics spot on and his side looked savvier in terms of trying to get the game won.
"The extra caps and experience was really noticeable and England looked short on ideas. Smith Rowe like all the England players got completely stifled and had no room in which to play. You can understand why Aidy picked the team he did and why they played in those positions, but the only surprise perhaps was that he didn't move to a back four at some point.
"All he did was change the personnel, but he never really changed the picture for Switzerland in terms of what they were facing. Hudson-Odoi was the one player he tried to move around the most in terms of affecting the game but every time he picked the ball up, there were two or three players around him.
"I've noticed from playing in the qualifying campaigns to playing in the finals, the step-up in quality and experience is huge. It was really noticeable after just half an hour on Thursday, and it's what England have struggled to do over the past five tournaments or so.
"I wouldn't be overly critical as I believe any side in this tournament - Spain or Germany - would've struggled to create chances against the way Switzerland played today. England just didn't have that touch of quality, but perhaps the tweak in formation might have given them something."
Live European Under-21 Championship Football
Aidy Boothroyd believes the Young Lions can still qualify for the quarter-finals but his side can ill-afford a repeat display when they face Portugal on Sunday, live on Sky Sports.
"Aidy will have to assess this performance, see where Switzerland did well and see where England can improve heading into the Portugal game," said Hinchcliffe. "He's certainly got the squad to change things around.
"The next game now is simply a must-win for them. The opening game is always critical in tournament football and you tend to be a bit conservative. Nil-nil wouldn't have been a great result, but considering how the game went, England probably would've taken it given the number of chances the Swiss had.
"The mentality now is so important. How do you lift those England players? They're going to have to also lift themselves as the coach can't do all the work. The players have to pick themselves up and they will need to step it up another level.
"I thought Oliver Skipp was England's best player today. He impressed me in midfield while our attacking players weren't given the time to play. The defenders were put under a lot of pressure which they might not face as much at club level.
"Skipp was the one player who stood out for me. He showed a lot of drive and tenacity but that tells the story when you've got such an attacking starting XI. It shows you the type of game England were involved in that their key men never really came to the fore as they weren't allowed to."
Boothroyd: We weren't clinical enough
The extended tournament means the top two from the groups will qualify for the quarter-finals in May but Boothroyd's men now face an uphill battle ahead of games against Portugal on Sunday and Croatia next Wednesday.
"I thought we had the high percentage of the ball but we weren't clinical enough," the England U21 manager told Sky Sports. "The final ball was not what we needed it to be. We didn't create enough in the final third, it's as simple as that really.
"You expect a 0-0 in games like that, then a freak goal. But they are the fine margins. We're not out of it yet, we've got two more games to go, and we can still do it and get out of the group, that's what we fully aim to do.
"We played a safe game today. If you're going to win you can't play safe. You have to risk the ball in the right time in the right areas, and I didn't think we did that.
"With the subs we brought on, we had a go, but unfortunately it wasn't our day today. We lick our wounds, focus very quickly on the next game, and make sure we get a good result."
England mustered just one shot on target, Callum Hudson-Odoi's free-kick in the second half that drew a routine save from Anthony Racioppi. Despite 63 per cent possession, there were very few other opportunities for the Young Lions.
Boothroyd added: "It does concern me, but this is the biggest test, we have to go through a little bit of adversity to come out the other side. I can't deny we should have been more clinical in the final third. Am I worried about it? No I am not. Because I think the team that goes out against Portugal will be an attacking team, and we'll see if we can improve.
"It's a very down dressing room. But I've been in and spoke to the players and told them it's one game, we have to quickly pick the learnings out of it and move on fast to Portugal on Sunday. We've still got a chance, and while we've still got a chance, we'll fight for everything we've got.
"There's no time to mope around and feel sorry for yourselves at freak goals. You've got to get on with it. We focus now on our next game, and making sure we have a real go, and make sure we improve on that work in the final third."
No tempo, no chances, no goals for England
Darren Bent told Sky Sports:
"I thought it was a really disappointing performance from England. There was no real tempo to it, when you look at the attacking players on the pitch and what they created. It was next to nothing.
"There was no real fluidity to the way England played and I wasn't quite sure what the game plan was. When Aidy Boothroyd reflects on the performance, I'm sure he'll be totally disappointed in his team."
Rob Green told Sky Sports:
"If they play like that again, they're out - it's that plain and simple. The stats speak for themselves. There were a lot of passes and plenty of creative influences on the pitch to get the ball to Callum Hudson-Odoi in the hope he'd do something. Other than that, they played totally into Switzerland's hands.
"They sat nice and narrow, were comfortable off the ball and were organised. Dwight McNeil looked lost where he was playing, Smith Rowe was quiet, and Nketiah was frustrated. You come away thinking, 'who created anything?', 'who did anything?'
"Boothroyd can send them out onto the pitch with a game plan but it's up to the players to do something themselves."
What's next? How to follow
You can watch England in the Euro U21 Championship live on Sky Sports Football and watch every other match in the Group Stages live on Sky Sports Football YouTube.
England's remaining two fixtures will also be blogged live on SkySports.com and the Sky Sports App:
- England U21 vs Portugal U21 - Sunday, March 28, 8pm; Stozice Stadium, Ljubljana (Sky Sports Football)
- England U21 vs Croatia U21 - Wednesday, March 31, 5pm; Bonifika Stadium, Koper (Sky Sports Football)
