England will begin preparations for the European Under-21 Championship by training with Gareth Southgate’s senior squad on Tuesday, with Aidy Boothroyd confident his “exciting” group have the pedigree to triumph in Italy next month.
Boothroyd announced a 23-man squad on Monday, including a first call-up for the Wolves midfielder Morgan Gibbs-White. His team face France, Romania and Croatia in June and, with Southgate’s squad currently depleted by Champions League final absentees, they will join England’s training at St George’s Park for next week’s Nations League finals.
The England Under-21 head coach said: “We’re going to be mixing tomorrow but I speak to Gareth and Steve [Holland, assistant coach] on a daily basis. We are there to serve them to make sure they are ready for the Nations League. We have a bit of extra time than them so, if we can help them, we will.
“Our training is four days on, three days off, and we train twice a day all the way through May and June until we go [to Italy] on 14 June. It’s not an army camp but it’s not a holiday camp either. We are coming up against three really good teams. France will be a real test with their athleticism, guile, power and pace. Romania and Croatia will be different again, with their strength coming from the team as a group. We’ll need different tactical solutions for each game and it’s up to us to get the right balance in our team.”
Boothroyd’s squad includes 11 players who have won a World Cup with England at under-17 or under-20 level and three – Tammy Abraham, Demarai Gray and Angus Gunn – who played at the last Euro, when the under-21s lost to Germany on penalties in the semi-final. Everton’s Tom Davies, an under-21 regular, has been ruled out of the tournament with a shoulder injury.
“If I was cool and young, I’d describe this squad as fresh – but I’m not,” the head coach added. “It’s exciting, a real attacking team. It’s balanced in terms of experience, in terms of soldiers and artists, and we have some real flair players. A tournament like this is exactly what they need because they’re going to be marked men. They have got to be able to deal with that. We have picked a squad we think can be successful.
“Morgan has been in an Under-17 World Cup and won it, and been in a Euro final and lost on penalties. These are the experiences we want to give them. Hopefully [when] they get to Gareth they’ve been and done it.”
Boothroyd signed a two-year contract extension with the Football Association last week that will see him lead the under-21 side through to 2021. He insists there was no temptation to return to club management.
“Whether there was or there wasn’t [other interest] I wasn’t interested,” he said. “When you get opportunities like this to work with the quality of players and coaches we have – and work so closely to the England manager – it would be daft to want to go anywhere else. I’m sure in the future there will be opportunities. I’m only a custodian in my position but I’m loving what I’m doing and, when the time comes for me to move on, that’s what will happen. For now I’m focused on getting us right for the tournament and future tournaments.”
Full squad
Goalkeepers Angus Gunn (Southampton), Dean Henderson (Manchester United), Freddie Woodman (Newcastle United).
Defenders Jake Clarke-Salter (Chelsea), Jay Dasilva (Chelsea), Lloyd Kelly (Bournemouth), Jonjoe Kenny (Everton), Ezri Konsa (Brentford), Fikayo Tomori (Derby County, loan from Chelsea), Aaron Wan-Bissaka (Crystal Palace)
Midfielders Harvey Barnes (Leicester City), Hamza Choudhury (Leicester City), Kieran Dowell (Everton), Phil Foden (Manchester City), Morgan Gibbs-White (Wolverhampton Wanderers), James Maddison (Leicester City), Mason Mount (Derby County, loan from Chelsea), Ryan Sessegnon (Fulham)
Forwards Tammy Abraham (Aston Villa, loan from Chelsea), Dominic Calvert-Lewin (Everton), Demarai Gray (Leicester City), Reiss Nelson (Arsenal), Dominic Solanke (Bournemouth)
