England U21s crashed out of the 2013 UEFA U21 European Championships tonight after losing to their Norwegian counterparts 3-1.  After this disappointing performance in the tournament, does the future look bleak for England as a nation going into future competitions?

Well, the answer is no. The majority of the players are still only 21 or under, meaning they are still to mature. They can only get better and players such as Wilfred Zaha, who will join up with his new Manchester United team mates in the summer, will develop their skills as they progress on in their careers. Other players who were on loan last season such as Danny Rose and Nathaniel Chalobah will be returning to their parent clubs hoping to break their way through into the respective first teams.  Future Captains like Jordan Henderson need to gain more experience at both Liverpool and the England seniors in order to progress in his career but he will no doubt be the “Steven Gerrard” of the future.

Perhaps a managerial change is needed. Stuart Pearce has failed to really push the U21s to European success in the last two championships- and maybe a change at the helm would be beneficial, but who would take over? Perhaps a Neil Warnock or a more iconic figure in the International game… Glenn Hoddle?

Anyway, these players will be one day be given the chance to represent us, the general public in world cups and European Championships in the near future (Russia 2018 and Euro 2020); and by then these players will hopefully be the ones taking the Premier League by storm and make us successful once again.