England have always had a great tradition for goalkeepers, the likes of Gordon Banks and Peter Shilton are legends, and David Seaman was dependable for well over a decade and kept goal for his country in four straight major tournaments. However, in recent years, the likes of David James and Paul Robinson have wrestled for the number one shirt with neither putting in outstanding performances. James and Robinson are by far the most experienced goalkeepers England have in their arsenal, with Rob Green and a host of untapped youngsters also vying for position. James started 5 times in World Cup qualifying, with Green in favour most recently starting 4 matches, so there is still a myriad of possibilities for who will be starting in Royal Bafokeng against USA next month. EPL Talk will now look...

K. Gibbs - The Boy's a Bit Special The England U21’s continued their qualification campaign for the 2011 European Championships v. Macedonia Friday at the Ricoh Arena in Coventry. The match featured Premier League & Championship talent from the (young) Three Lions & ended up being quite an exciting & high scoring 9-goal affair. Stuart Pearce favored Newcastle striker Andy Carroll & Arsenal’s Theo Walcott partnering up front with a 5-man midfield consisting of  Tom Cleverley & Kieran Gibbs on either flank, with Danny Rose, Jack Rodwell & Jack Wilshire filling out the middle. Pearce settled with 3 at the back consisting of Micah Richards, James Tomkins & Michael Mancienne covering Scott Loach in goal. After a slow opening 9 minutes, Andy Carroll...

After plenty of hesitation, information and misinformation, denials from the player and his manager, it finally seems that Nemanja Matic will sign for Chelsea. The Serb has discussed personal terms in the four-year contract and the only thing left is for the Blues and Kosice to settle for the transfer fee. The way things are now, Chelsea sees no problem in paying but they won’t agree to Slovakians’ blackmails that see Matic as a gold mine. Let us remind you that only few weeks ago his manager stated that the people from this club constantly change the transfer fee, expecting to earn a fortune on this player, even though the biggest transfer in the club was 300 000 Euros. Now they want ten times as much. According to some information from Slovakia, Matic had a year long...

That hardly seems fair If you were wondering why Sweden U21 striker Marcus Berg was running rings around most defenders he came up against at the recent European Under 21 Championships it was because he was about four years older than most of the other players in the tournament. That’s according to the BBC gossip column, [...]...

…Stuart. You didn’t really think you’d go on and beat the Germans now did you? Come on Psycho, you’ve already sort of had your penalty redemption back in ‘96 against Spain, when you scored and we went through. Yes of course that was followed up by a semi-final penalty loss to match 1990 and then there was the last U21 finals – just over two years ago – against the Dutch, when even after scoring 12 spot kicks England still managed to suffer. It all honesty England were lucky to get that far and on the day they were hugely outclassed by a far superior German side with the final score being a decent indication of the teams on the night. Who actually thought when the hosts Sweden got two goals back, after going into half time three nil down, in the...

The Under 21 European Championship in Sweden has been one of the most exciting tournaments in competition’s history and no less than five teams had been hoping to go all the way. Spain proved to be a big disappointment since they had been eliminated in the group stage, whereas Italy impressed even though they failed to make it to the final. England and Germany fought for the coveted title, with Germany teaching their opponents a real lesson in the final game by beating them 4:0. Here are some reasons why Horst Hrubesch’s team won the big tournament. First of all, Germany played as a team. There are no real stars in Horst Hrubesch’s side and that is something that is characteristic for all German sides. All the players were completely dedicated to the team’s cause and you...

This has been one of the most exciting editions of the Under 21 European Championship and a lot of players have shown great deal of potential. This is my choice for the Team of the Tournament and be free to give your thoughts and comments on how this team should look like. Keeper: Manuel Neuer (Germany) Schalke keeper has been in tremendous form throughout the tournament and no wonder that Joachim Low already sees him as the part of the senior national team. Clubs like Chelsea and Bayern has shown interest in the player and I can definitely see him as future Germany number 1. Right-back: Marco Motta (Italy) Italy Under 21 captain arrived to this tournament with a wealth of Serie A experience and he has proven his potential in Sweden. Reliable at the back, while dangerous when going...

James Milner missed a penalty in the (England U21 Vs Sweden U21) , U21 Euro 2009 semi final match when he tried to do a David Beckham. He sent the ball skywards in a rugby style punt. A hilarious miss but England managed to progress to the Finals after winning the shootout 5-4. They will face Germany in U21 Euro 2009...

David Beckham eat your heart out What is it with England number 7s and their inability to remain vertical when taking a penalty? Well, we can laugh heartily at James Milner’s disastrous effort since it was of no consequence in the end. Despite their best efforts to throw it away, Stuart Pearce and his construction team [...]...

Stuart Pearce's England U21 team face hosts Sweden in Gothenburg, bidding for a place in the European U21 Championship...

The number of English Premier League clubs are said to be interested in signing Serbian Under 21 midfielder Nemanja Matic, who has already spent some time in England while on trial at Middlesbrough. The creative midfielder impressed the visiting scouts at the Under 21 Euro in Sweden in Serbia’s first match with Italy and it seems that he has done enough to earn him a lucrative deal this summer even though he will miss the remaining games at the competition through injury. The 20-year-old Serb moved quickly from his native country and he joined Slovakian side MFK Kosice. During the two years at the club he attracted a lot of attention with impressive performances and was on the verge of joining Middlesbrough in December last year but Gareth Southgate missed the chance to sign him and...

Groningen’s prolific striker Marcus Berg, who had become a regular in the senior national team, joined the U21 side in order to help them at the tournament they hosted and he immediately showed why he was tracked by the number of European clubs. Berg scored a hat-trick in the opening game against Belarus and thus helped his side record a very important win, while at the same time he impressed the visiting scouts and he therefore made a big step towards making a move to much bigger club then Groningen. The Swedish player has already made a name for himself while playing for Groningen, the club he had joined after impressing at IFK Goteborg. During the two seasons he has spent in Groningen, Berg scored impressive 38 goals and thus become one of the most prolific strikers in Dutch...

It was not the start that England’s Under 21 side wanted, but it could have been a whole lot worse after today’s close shave against a Finland side full of surprises. By finding themselves in the toughest of the two groups with Spain and Germany, this was the game that Stuart Pearce would have targeted as a must win match. With a side full of Premiership regulars including Micah Richards, Theo Walcott, Lee Catermole and captained by West Ham’s prodigious midfielder David Noble, this is a squad that great things are expected of. The Finns certainly made sure that no-one in the camp will forget this clash in a hurry as England were fortunate to escape will 3 points. England looked shocked and reverted to type by simply humping the ball forward and hoping for the best....

We are not sure how well do you know CM manager but long experience taught us that anyone can buy a big start if they have enough money in their favourite club. In this simulation as in real life, finding young players with perspective that might explode in years to come is real art. Of course, all the scouting agents, as well as big clubs, eager to get the players that will sell their jerseys, often forget about these talented boys that take the longer way to the stars. www.soccerpie.com gives you ten names; perhaps precisely some of them will thrill you playing for your favourite club. If not, at least sign them in CM, it might pay off. Marcus Berg – Groningen, 22 years old Swede who scored 44 goals in 60 matches played in Netherlands. Did someone mention Ruud Van Nistelroy? Dieumerci...