The England Under-20s boss named his squad on Friday morning that will compete in the 43rd annual competition in the south of France, alongside China, Ivory Coast, Mexico and Morocco in Group B.
Following the announcement, the former Watford, Colchester United, Coventry and Northampton boss travelled to the talkSPORT studio to discuss a number of topics, ranging from his selection to the plans of The FA’s national coaches.
The Toulon Festival
27 May - 7 June 2015
Toulon, France
Players born on or after 1 January 1993 are eligible
On youngsters gaining tournament experience with England, Boothroyd said: “We’re big on that. One of the things we’re trying to do is have cap accumulation for our younger players as they come through - they need to be playing in different tournaments and against different teams.
“We’re starting off against the Ivory Coast in our group so we have that exposure straight away.
“It’s not just about the playing, it’s about the downtime too and how the players handle that too.”
“It’s about making sure we compare ourselves with the Germans and the Spanish and benchmark them and go past them.
“Look at the cap accumulation and the tournaments Philip Lahm has played in up until the last World Cup compared to some of our players – their caps at youth level are miles more than ours and it’s something we need to address.”
Boothroyd then went on to admit his excitement ahead of taking his squad to Toulon, and explained his close relationship with the England U21s boss Gareth Southgate and The FA’s Technical Director Dan Ashworth.
“It’s great to be back in it – it’s huge. Gareth Southgate took an U21 squad here last year and managed to finish third against a really good line-up and we’ve got the same this year.
“The age group’s been moved up a tiny bit to allow a few Olympic teams to come in to it but we’re going to go with a team that’s mainly Under-20s and add one or two older players into it but it’s against some of the best teams in the world.”
And on his relationship with the other national coaches, he continued: “There is a system in place – Gareth is U21 coach and in charge of all the national teams. Dan Ashworth is the Technical Director who oversees it all but where Gareth is concerned, he’s brilliant with me.
“He respects the fact I’ve been a manager and a coach and allows us to play whatever formations that we think are right. And this year, because of the players we’ve been able to select, we’ve managed to play a diamond, a back three, we’ve played three in midfield with a sitter, three in midfield with one off the front, which has been great for me as a coach because it’s opened my mind up to all kinds of different things; different systems, different styles of play.
“I see Gareth twice a week, we’re always on the phone – he’s on my friends and family list – I speak to him more than I do my missus to be honest with everything that’s going on! I don’t speak to Roy Hodgson as much as that – he’s based at Wembley but he visits St. George’s Park probably once a month, he’s in and around it. He’s taking the seniors – he knows exactly what he’s doing and the rest of us report into Gareth so it is all joined up and that’s important.
“St. George’s Park is a wonderful place. That’s sometimes the danger when you build these immaculate, state-of-the-art buildings, as good as it is, it’s the people in it that make it. There are some great staff working behind the scenes very hard to do the best for England and The FA.”
That close relationship with his fellow Three Lions bosses and staff at The FA is vital, especially when it comes to squad selections.
“It’s a difficult balance but certainly since I’ve been involved with The FA and England, the relationships that the likes of myself, Gareth and Roy Hodgson have – we have to work together and sometimes difficult decisions are made but everyone is involved,” he explained. “Hopefully clubs can get the best out of the players and England can get the best out of the players at international level.”
Liverpool’s Jordon Ibe and Manchester United’s James Wilson will both join Boothroyd in crossing the channel next week for the tournament.
When quizzed by talkSPORT host Alan Brazil, a former Scotland international, on why they were not included in Southgate’s squad for the European U21s Championship, Boothroyd responded:
“They’re two that are in my squad. Gareth’s picked his U21 team and included players who have done very, very well for him.
“There’s always going to be a bit of movement, they’ll play three or four games and then they’ll get an international cap. When you [Alan Brazil] were playing you had to do a little bit more than that before you got the adulation that some of the younger players do these days. That’s not a criticism, that’s the world we live in.
“But as far as Jordon’s concerned, he’s done brilliantly to get into the Liverpool team. Brendan Rodgers thinks an awful lot of him, he’s been with us and done very, very well and the same goes for James.
“He’s not quite played the games or had the exposure to get into the U21s. We’re talking about James or Harry Kane – you’re going to take Harry Kane and we’re always going to have debate over it.”
