Will England fall short after leaving out capped stars from U21 squad?

Having lost to Germany on penalties at the 2017 European Championships at the semi-final stage, England will be hoping to improve on that finish in Italy.

It’s been 35 years since the Young Lions last lifted the trophy and they couldn’t have been handed a more difficult start than an opening group game against France.

Aidy Boothroyd is in charge having been Gareth Southgate’s assistant two years ago and the former Watford boss has, somewhat unexpectedly been handed a new contract in the build up to the tournament. He certainly got a tune out of an impressive batch of young players in qualifying, winning eight and drawing two of ten matches whilst conceding just four goals.

However, where many of the competition have called upon a number of players that are already capped at senior international level, England have just one player in their squad with any experience in the first team. That man is Tammy Abraham, who made two appearances under Southgate in November 2017.

The likes of Trent Alexander-Arnold, Ben Chilwell, Joe Gomez, Jadon Sancho and Marcus Rashford - who all started in the Nations League last week - have been given the summer to rest, while Chelsea pair Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Callum Hudson-Odoi are both injured.

Instead many of those that look likely to feature for Boothroyd this summer - including the aforementioned Abraham - were playing Championship football in 2018/19. Dean Henderson is battling to start in goal ahead of Angus Gunn, and arguably winning said battle, while Jay Dasilva, Lloyd Kelly, Ezri Konsa and Fikayo Tomori were all in England’s second tier last term and are competing for spots in the back four.

There may then be just one Premier League player from last season in England’s starting rearguard, and while Jonjoe Shelvey is the more experienced at international level, it would be a travesty were that not Aaron Wan-Bissaka. The Crystal Palace full-back is subject of concrete interest from Manchester United at present and for good reason.

The 21-year old is not only the highest rated of England’s top-flight players from last season but the highest in the entire tournament from Europe’s top five leagues (7.27). With averages of 3.7 tackles, 2.4 interceptions and 1.8 successful dribbles per 90 minutes he enjoyed a frankly remarkable campaign and many felt his form has warranted senior international recognition by now.

Elsewhere the midfield options are extremely attack minded, and fitting the likes of James Maddison, Phil Foden and Mason Mount into the same side may be difficult. Either Kieran Dowell or Leicester’s Hamza Choudhury may have a big role to play in protecting the defence as a result in what looks set to switch between a 4-2-3-1 and 4-3-3 formation.

Boothroyd did experiment with a back three at times last season but reverted to a quartet from June onwards and is unlikely to tinker too much this summer. As a result Choudhury could feasibly be joined by Foxes teammates Maddison, Demarai Gray and Harvey Barnes in the starting XI.

Meanwhile there’s fierce competition for the role of solo striker, with Abraham and Dominics Calvert-Lewin and Solanke all in with a very real chance of getting the nod.

Throughout the team, in fact, there are very few players that look likely to be mainstays during the tournament, with Boothroyd hoping that the competitiveness of his squad allows him to rotate without disrupting rhythm. The lineup for the aforementioned opener with France will probably be the best indicator of what the coach feels is his strongest squad should England progress to the final four.

Whether a squad with significantly less top-flight experience than the other big hitters in Italy could compete in the knockout stages remains to be seen. In truth, progressing from a group including France whether it be alongside les blues or at their expense would be a success. Anything above that a very welcome bonus for a squad that - had they followed the suit of the likes of Italy and Spain and called up the best available - would have been real contenders.