Brooking keen on England chances

By Paul Saffer

England should produce some attacking football at the UEFA European Under-17 Championship - that is the verdict of the Football Assocation (FA) director of football development, Sir Trevor Brooking.

Perfect record
The former West Ham United FC playmaker, who received 47 senior caps himself during a distinguished career, is now responsible for the development of English football at all levels of the game, and takes a close interest in the national youth teams. Both the U17 and U19 sides qualified with perfect records for their respective European Championships in March, and the younger of those sides begins their finals campaign tomorrow afternoon against Belarus in Santa Croce sull'Arno, before going on to meet their other Group A rivals, Turkey and the hosts Italy.

'Scoring potential'
Sir Trevor has certainly been impressed with what he saw in the Elite round, as England defeated eventual runners-up Serbia and Montenegro, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, claiming three goals in each game. "They've got scoring potential which was reflected in their results," he told uefa.com. "It was strange to have both Irish sides involved. I saw the game at Wolverhampton where they beat Northern Ireland. The Serbia and Montenegro game was the key one as they had done well in their qualifying round group and that was reflected in the other results."

Fervent support
There is plenty of support for the team back home in England, as seen by a total of more than 16,000 fans turning up for the Elite round matches. "It is very encouraging especially as two of the games were played on the same day as senior games," Sir Trevor said. "They enjoyed seeing one or two budding stars of the future, which they have made a note of and can follow them. Qualification for the U17 and U19 is a big psychological boost."

Technical improvement
In his present role, Sir Trevor is particularly keen so see young English players' techniques begin to match those of their continental counterparts, both with the aim to future FIFA World Cup and UEFA European Championship success and also to ensure the proportion of homegrown talent in Premiership squads grows above 40 per cent. And he has certainly been impressed by the progress made by U17 coach John Peacock and his fellow managers.

'Different styles'
"I'm full of admiration for how the national coaches have got the players playing a certain way with the longer-term aim of developing their skills to go through eventually to a senior side," Sir Trevor said. "Results are important but are not the be-all-and-end-all, it's about getting experience and playing different styles of opposition, which they would not face in the domestic games."

High ambition
However, a good run in this tournament, whether a top-three finish and a first qualification for the FIFA U-17 World Championship in Peru in September, or even better, would be welcome for a nation whose previous European honours have come at U18 and U21 level. "We've got some good, exciting players from an attacking point of view and we are hopeful that they can do themselves justice in Italy," Sir Trevor said.

Winning combination
He added: "At U21 level we recently played Spain and the Netherlands and they were both superior technically, but then you watch the U17s and you can see we are working on the technical aspect. We musn't lose the English aggression and personality, as that is how we have achieved our success in the past. So if we can combine that desire with technical ability that is the key to progress."