Cooper takes plenty of positives from Swiss defeat

The Young Lions kicked-off their first game of the annual UEFA Development Tournament and took a two-goal lead before seeing a Swiss comeback deny them victory or at least a deserved share of the spoils.

But Cooper was left enthused by some of the aspects of his team’s performance, as they now switch their attention to a game with Slovakia on Wednesday.

"There are many positives to come out of the game, even though the result didn’t go our way and I think it’s important to stress that," said Cooper, who joined The FA from Liverpool’s Academy last year.

"There were some good individual performances and we played with the ideas and style of how we want England teams to play. 

"There was no doubt at certain moments in the game we looked like a really good team, especially going forward and in the attacking areas. 

"The lads are disappointed they lost but it’s only natural to feel that way after a narrow defeat. It’s important for the players to understand that this is international football, we have to keep practising and we will only get better.

"There’s no doubt that certain parts of the game we need to manage better, the three goals cost us so we need to look and learn from the mistakes and improve for the future."

Cooper's starting line-up to face Switzerland at St. George's Park

The Tournament, which also sees France lining-up as England’s final opponents on Saturday, is organised with next season’s Euro U17 Championship in mind, allowing the young players to experience the management and schedule of international competition.

And Cooper believes Monday’s result will soon be at the back of their minds with two more games to focus on.

"I think we played in the right way so we will remain positive going into the remaining two games," he added.

"All the chances we did create were well-worked opportunities and the boys will learn from these games moving forward. 

"We want to dominate games and play attractive attacking football and in stages of today’s game we did that.

"There are a lot of things to work on and it’s a development age group and we have to get the players used to playing international football and being in an England environment."