U21 Euro Championships 2015

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Starts tomorrow, and I am personally quite excited about the Danish team which is probably the most talented bunch since the 80's!

Group A
1
23px-Flag_of_the_Czech_Republic.svg.png
Czech Republic (Hosts)
2
20px-Flag_of_Denmark.svg.png
Denmark
3
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Germany
4
23px-Flag_of_Serbia.svg.png
Serbia

Group B
1
23px-Flag_of_England.svg.png
England
2
23px-Flag_of_Italy.svg.png
Italy
3
23px-Flag_of_Portugal.svg.png
Portugal
4
23px-Flag_of_Sweden.svg.png
Sweden

Matches:
17 June 2015 - 18:00
Czech Republic v Denmark

17 June 2015 - 20:45
Germany v Serbia

18 June 2015 - 18:00
Italy v Sweden

18 June 2015 - 20:45
England v Portugal

20 June 2015 - 18:00
Serbia v Czech Republic

20 June 2015 - 20:45
Germany v Denmark

21 June 2015 - 18:00
Sweden v England

21 June 2015 - 20:45
Italy v Portugal

23 June 2015 - 20:45
Czech Republic v Germany

23 June 2015 - 20:45
Denmark v Serbia

24 June 2015 - 20:45
England v Italy

24 June 2015 - 20:45
Portugal v Sweden

Favorites:
1. Germany
2. England
3. Portugal
4. Italy
5. Denmark
6. Serbia
7. Czech Republic
8. Sweden

Manchester United players
Jesse Lingard

Players to watch from Denmark
20px-Flag_of_Denmark.svg.png

Pierre Emil Højbjerg | 19 | Box-to-box midfielder
Pione Sisto | 20 | Winger/attacking midfielder
Yussuf Poulsen | 21 | Winger
Viktor Fischer | 21 | Striker/Winger
 
Neatly done OP. Looking forward to this.
 
i was literally just thinking about when exactly this was starting - well timed Top!
 
Sweden has a couple of talented players and the playoff games vs France were amazing. Still, looking at that group we'll most likely struggle.
 
The Danes were missing some of those players but they barely scraped through against us with a 90th minute goal.

Portugal is the only team to win all their matches leading up to the tournament but it's probably fair to say that Germany and England are favorites. France had a good team so Sweden must be good by being there. Who are their best players?
 
The German team:

It might be hard to really pick out a star from them. A lot of them are already established Bundesliga players
since some seasons

Goalkeepers
23 Timo Horn 12.05.1993 1. FC Köln
1 Bernd Leno 04.03.1992 Bayer 04 Leverkusen
12 Marc-André ter Stegen 30.04.1992 FC Barcelona

Defense
4 Matthias Ginter 19.01.1994 Borussia Dortmund
3 Christian Günter 28.02.1993 SC Freiburg
22 Dominique Heintz 15.08.1993 1. FC Kaiserslautern
16 Robin Knoche 22.05.1992 VfL Wolfsburg
2 Julian Korb 21.03.1992 Borussia Mönchengladbach
5 Nico Schulz 01.04.1993 Hertha BSC

Midfield
18 Maximilian Arnold 27.05.1994 VfL Wolfsburg
7 Leonardo Bittencourt 19.12.1993 Hannover 96
11 Emre Can 12.01.1994 FC Liverpool
14 Kerem Demirbay 03.07.1993 1. FC Kaiserslautern
6 Johannes Geis 17.08.1993 1. FSV Mainz 05
17 Joshua Kimmich 08.02.1995 RB Leipzig/Bayern Munich
21 Felix Klaus 13.09.1992 SC Freiburg
10 Moritz Leitner 08.12.1992 VfB Stuttgart
8 Yunus Malli 24.02.1992 1. FSV Mainz 05
20 Max Meyer 18.09.1995 FC Schalke 04
19 Amin Younes 06.08.1993 1. FC Kaiserslautern

Forwards
15 Serge Gnabry 14.07.1995 FC Arsenal
13 Philipp Hofmann 30.03.1993 1. FC Kaiserslautern
9 Kevin Volland 30.07.1992 1899 Hoffenheim

Philipp Hofmann seems to have been keen to get the magic 13 ;)
 
Hope we get out the group this time.
 
Looking at this team it's bizarre to think that we were a few minutes plus extra time away from going through. Then again our top scorer plays in the 3. Liga in Germany and scored as many goals as Morata. Paper isn't what matters.
 
The German team:

It might be hard to really pick out a star from them. A lot of them are already established Bundesliga players
since some seasons

Goalkeepers
23 Timo Horn 12.05.1993 1. FC Köln
1 Bernd Leno 04.03.1992 Bayer 04 Leverkusen
12 Marc-André ter Stegen 30.04.1992 FC Barcelona

Defense
4 Matthias Ginter 19.01.1994 Borussia Dortmund
3 Christian Günter 28.02.1993 SC Freiburg
22 Dominique Heintz 15.08.1993 1. FC Kaiserslautern
16 Robin Knoche 22.05.1992 VfL Wolfsburg
2 Julian Korb 21.03.1992 Borussia Mönchengladbach
5 Nico Schulz 01.04.1993 Hertha BSC

Midfield
18 Maximilian Arnold 27.05.1994 VfL Wolfsburg
7 Leonardo Bittencourt 19.12.1993 Hannover 96
11 Emre Can 12.01.1994 FC Liverpool
14 Kerem Demirbay 03.07.1993 1. FC Kaiserslautern
6 Johannes Geis 17.08.1993 1. FSV Mainz 05
17 Joshua Kimmich 08.02.1995 RB Leipzig/Bayern Munich
21 Felix Klaus 13.09.1992 SC Freiburg
10 Moritz Leitner 08.12.1992 VfB Stuttgart
8 Yunus Malli 24.02.1992 1. FSV Mainz 05
20 Max Meyer 18.09.1995 FC Schalke 04
19 Amin Younes 06.08.1993 1. FC Kaiserslautern

Forwards
15 Serge Gnabry 14.07.1995 FC Arsenal
13 Philipp Hofmann 30.03.1993 1. FC Kaiserslautern
9 Kevin Volland 30.07.1992 1899 Hoffenheim

Philipp Hofmann seems to have been keen to get the magic 13 ;)

Who is the first choice goalkeeper?
 
Don't really know too many U21 players that aren't English, can anyone a little more knowledgeable than me tell me how our team compares to the other contenders?
 
Looking at this team it's bizarre to think that we were a few minutes plus extra time away from going through. Then again our top scorer plays in the 3. Liga in Germany and scored as many goals as Morata. Paper isn't what matters.

It is not even names. Team chemistry in this tournaments mean a lot - and that you have a matching system that takes care of defense, too. And atleast one guy with the right mentality to score at the important moments...

With the Germans you just saw it at the U20-World Championship. Could be that we have too much shiny young technicans or bling bling professionals now - and maybe too less guys with the guts.

Who is goalkeeper - probably Ter Steegen. His CL campaign could have helped him - even if Leno is playing CL, too.
 
Starts tomorrow, and I am personally quite excited about the Danish team which is probably the most talented bunch since the 80's!

I hope they win.. Just because of Scholz!
 
Excited about this England team. Theres much more cohesion and progressiveness about the U21 when compared to the first team, Southgate has genuinely got them playing modern, attractive football (never thought he could do it).
 
Can't wait to see Ings play, and Can in midfield for a change. Been waiting for this to start. Will have to keep an eye on the Danish team now the Danish fanbois on here are bigging them up. :rolleyes: :p

By the way, Mr OP, I believe you're just about to tell us these games are on BT Sport in the UK? Yes?
 
Looking forward to it. Will probably most of next weeks games because my brother doesn't have wifi. Hopefully England make it through to the semis though, so I can support them properly from there.
 
One United player. That's pathetic.

Ye it is quite poor - especially when you see the list of United players who are still eligible and have been in past U21 squads but werent picked: Johnstone, Shaw, Blackett, Thorpe, Jones, Will Keane and Powell.
Obviously Shaw (injured) and Jones (senior squad) have an excuse but the rest are just deemed not good enough.

Mike Keane is the only other product of our youth system in there.
 
One United player. That's pathetic.
How is it pathetic? We have 2 u21 players that are already regulars for the senior England team. The majority of the England side don't play for top teams because frankly, they aren't good enough. We've been linked with a few such as Ings, Berahino and Stones and it has been constant crying about how they aren't good enough.

Bayern also has only 1 player and none on the German team.
 
Ye it is quite poor - especially when you see the list of United players who are still eligible and have been in past U21 squads but werent picked: Johnstone, Shaw, Blackett, Thorpe, Jones, Will Keane and Powell.
Obviously Shaw (injured) and Jones (senior squad) have an excuse but the rest are just deemed not good enough.

Mike Keane is the only other product of our youth system in there.

Johnstone should be in the squad but playing in League One last season counted against him.
 
Hopefully Stones and Garbutt get a lot of game time. The latter i'm incredibly excited about going into the new season as i've been surprised as to how good he has looked when given some minutes in the league. Didn't think he would get the game time to make it for us.
 
Yeah I'm excited to see what the Danish guys are made of. Obviously Fischer and Højbjerg are already a fairly big part of the senior NT, and Yussuf Poulsen scored against Serbia the other day with Andreas Christensen coming on as well. Speaking of AC, I've got pretty high hopes for him. He has made his debut for Chelsea and he's only just turned 19 in April.
Alexander Scholz seems to be highly rated in Standard, and you'd expect Jannik Vestergaard (Werder Bremen) to partner him in defence (unless Frederik Sørensen is preferred, I don't know how his development has been in Verona). I rate Riza Durmisi (left back, Brøndby, has made his debut for the seniors) pretty highly, but suspect his defensive shortcomings might be a problem at this tournament. It might be worth keeping an eye out for Lasse Vigen Christensen (CM, Fulham) as well.
In general they appear to have a good mentality and great team chemistry.
Germany are favourites though.
 
Apart from Serbia, I always like but don't have any hopes whatsoever about England team.. but I would love to see Denmark and Sweden performing well.
 
Is this on telly at all, like freeview telly as I'm stuck in a hotel tonight...
 
Why are there so few participants in these tournaments? Why not expand it to 16 teams at least?
 
How is it pathetic? We have 2 u21 players that are already regulars for the senior England team. The majority of the England side don't play for top teams because frankly, they aren't good enough. We've been linked with a few such as Ings, Berahino and Stones and it has been constant crying about how they aren't good enough.

Bayern also has only 1 player and none on the German team.
Also, a lot of the talented U21 players at the big clubs won't have played as much as the U21 players at smaller clubs, as there is obviously less competition and they will have less chance to establish themselves. I wouldn't worry too much that United only have one player representing, it will be the same for most of the big clubs across Europe (well not so much for Italy, due to the co-ownership rules, clubs like Milan/Juve/Inter co-own loads of the U21/U18 talents).
 
Why are there so few participants in these tournaments? Why not expand it to 16 teams at least?
I believe the logic is mostly fewer teams, more quality. Not that it always works. Also, these are young players, it would do them no good to over stress them and force them to play too much games in a season. Plus these tournaments are on 2 years cycle, not 4 like "regular" Euro / World championships.
 
I believe the logic is mostly fewer teams, more quality. Not that it always works. Also, these are young players, it would do them no good to over stress them and force them to play too much games in a season. Plus these tournaments are on 2 years cycle, not 4 like "regular" Euro / World championships.
How many people really watch these tournaments for the quality of football? You watch it because you want to see the young stars of the future. That's the exciting thing. The more of them, the better. Fewer teams, more quality does not sound sensible to me in that situation. Secondly, adding two more groups means one extra game for each of those young players. I don't think that's gonna break them. It would give the opportunity to a lot more youngsters to play on that stage though. And yes, they're on a 2 years cycle but unlike the regular tournaments, the players are mostly different every cycle. It doesn't put more strain on them.
 
Hopefully Stones and Garbutt get a lot of game time. The latter i'm incredibly excited about going into the new season as i've been surprised as to how good he has looked when given some minutes in the league. Didn't think he would get the game time to make it for us.
Isn't he out of contract this summer? Or has he signed a new contract?
 
How many people really watch these tournaments for the quality of football? You watch it because you want to see the young stars of the future. That's the exciting thing. The more of them, the better. Fewer teams, more quality does not sound sensible to me in that situation. Secondly, adding two more groups means one extra game for each of those young players. I don't think that's gonna break them. It would give the opportunity to a lot more youngsters to play on that stage though. And yes, they're on a 2 years cycle but unlike the regular tournaments, the players are mostly different every cycle. It doesn't put more strain on them.
I'm watching it for the quality of football as I expect the Danish U21s to play more exciting stuff than the seniors. Us Danes have been served some incredibly dull possession football in recent years.
 
Hopefully Stones and Garbutt get a lot of game time. The latter i'm incredibly excited about going into the new season as i've been surprised as to how good he has looked when given some minutes in the league. Didn't think he would get the game time to make it for us.

Garbutt's concentration on delivering a whipped cross is fantastic. Showed it again against Belarus a few days ago. Not sure what he's like against a decent attacking unit, will find out against Portugal I suppose.
 
I am glad Viktor Fischer is fit again, thought he was a great prospect years ago and read he scored some goals at the end of last season at Ajax. Hopefully he can deliver, would be a player i would like to see at United.

There are really some talented players in there. From the German team, Geis and Arnold will be interesting, because i havent seen much of them and they are highly rated.

Other players i will keep an eye on are Berardi for Italy, William Carvalho and Bernardo Silva for Portugal. Others will make themselves a name during the tournament.