After San Fermín, with the summer pan at full throttle, the English and Spanish played the final of the European Under-21, a match that explains the nature of football today. There is no rest, the calendars do not leave free dates, the players are squeezed from the earliest age – the European under-19 is also played – and the prognosis is getting worse: more tournaments of whatever, however and wherever . Football is greased at the expense of the health of the players, who did not faint in the final, hectic in the second half, always conflictive, uncertain until the last moment -Abel Ruiz wasted the penalty of the tie-, disputed by two teams that decide their troubles since adolescence. With a rebound goal, followed by a very ugly gesture from Palmer to the Spanish bench, England won, which has a very complete generation of players. Spain has won the tournament five times. He has been a fixture for four decades in the youth categories. There is no stage that is unaware of its successes. You had to go back to 1984 to record England’s last success with the under-21s. Its enormous potential was weighed down by the insularity of its football, paralyzed in a model that served neither the senior team –England won the 1966 World Cup, the only great trophy in its showcases– nor its young teams.
The change has occurred in the last 10 years, essentially due to the influence of foreign coaches, who have occupied most of the benches in the Premier for some time. From Arsène Wenger to Guardiola, Klopp and now De Zerbi, his teachings have transformed a rustic model, drowned in time and in the cane drive of its fans, into the most interesting project in Europe.
The academies of the main English clubs are filled with the pedagogy that Manchester City, Arsenal, Liverpool or Brighton transfer to them, teams that are at the forefront of the Premier and European football, both due to economic wealth, international stars and game systems. Today’s football looks at England not like in the old days, mythologized for their status as inventors of the game and the ambient aroma that their matches gave off. The English advertise their product as well as ever, but with the immense added value of modernity, which only the irreducible nostalgics look down on. These generations met for the first time in 2017, when the players were finishing their college years. England beat Spain in the U-17 World Cup and the opposite happened in the European. Those juniors are now professionals and have a full beard. Some are absolute internationals –Phil Foden, Jadon Sancho, Ferran Torres and Hugo Guillamón attended the World Cup in Qatar last year–, others are starters in the under-21s and a few have disappeared from the radar, as is usual in the decanting process. of soccer. England plays with more patience and class than he was known for. Several of his players – Levi Colwill, Curtis Jones, Gibbs-White, maybe Madueke, who knows if Palmer and Anthony Gordon – will be important in the Premier. Spain, which has played with solvency throughout the tournament and was on the verge of extra time in the final, maintains its fidelity to the choral game, played by players who, in general, have not broken in the First Division.
That great under-17 generation has produced a competent under-21, but there are no players who change the pace of the senior team. Álex Baena points, Sancet progresses, Miranda recovers and Gabri Veiga is still a mystery. As in the last 10 years, the sub-21 has been a guarantee of proper functioning. Unfortunately, in the last 10 years none of the phenomenal Spanish youth players have transferred their ingenuity and competitiveness to the senior team.
