'Up the tempo'
Friday, 28 August, 2009
John Peacock looks ahead to tonight's game against Turkey.
England v Turkey
The FA International U17 Tournament
7pm, Friday 28 August 2009
Sixfields Stadium, Northampton Town FC
Tickets are priced £5 for adults, £1 for concessions
Click here for the Tournament results, fixtures and standings
England travel to Northampton tonight to take on Turkey in their second match of The FA International U17 Tournament and Head Coach, John Peacock, has spoken of the need for his side to up the tempo following their 1-1 draw with Italy on Wednesday.
England dominated possession throughout that game but their equaliser came courtesy of an own goal from the Italian 'keeper Nicola Leali, and it was Leali who continually frustrated the host side, pulling off a number of fine saves.
However, Peacock was cheered by his side's deserved comeback and he now wants them to further improve against the Turks, who lost their opening game to Portugal.
"I was disappointed with how we played in the first half," Peacock said of the Italy match.
"We didn't play with any great purpose. We were playing at about 70 or 80%, it was a bit like a training match where we kept a lot of the ball. We had a lot of possession, but we didn't hurt them as perhaps we should have done.
"In saying that, I thought the Italian 'keeper was excellent and their goal was very much against the run of play. The possession for the whole game was probably 65%-35% in our favour. We needed to up the tempo in the second half. It was a bit of an uphill climb, but I'm glad we came through it in the end. We got the equaliser and it was no more than we deserved.
"[I was] really pleased with how they applied themselves to the task. We played with a little bit of a different shape from what they're probably used to, but they equipped themselves really well with that."
Peacock is using this Tournament as a warm-up to the First Qualifying Round of next year's U17 Euros which will take place in October, and all eyes are now on Turkey at the Sixfields Stadium tonight.
"We're certainly looking forward to the game against Turkey," Peacock said.
"There are some good players in this group, there's no doubt about that. But they're not just going to win games or Championships by ability alone; they're going to have to show more application, more desire and certainly an increase in tempo, but if they can marry that together with the talent that they've got it should be a good week; this is a great Tournament with three top teams alongside ourselves."
You can watch the action from England's 1-1 draw with Italy with our exclusive video highlights of the game. Simply click on the video icon at the top right of the screen.