Pearce confident of improvement
Sunday, 12 June, 2011
Head Coach happy with point, but knows his side will get better.
By Chris Hatherall
England Under-21 Head Coach Stuart Pearce hailed his team’s desire and spirit after they came from behind to draw 1-1 with tournament favourites Spain in the UEFA European Under 21 Championships.
Pearce was pleased after Danny Welbeck’s late equaliser as his team earned a point in their opening match despite conceding a lot of possession in the early stages.
He believes the result proves England's spirit and has also vowed his team will improve as the tournament goes on.
Pearce said: “There’s no doubt there’s spirit in this camp, it’s not just me coming out after a game and suggesting that. I’ve said it for a long time.
“I know that they are never going to give up, they will carry on. It’s a learning curve for our players, but it was a fantastic evening."
Pearce admits England weren't always as slick in possession as their opponents but expects his players to improve in the coming games.
"We probably needed a touch more arrogance when we had the ball, credit to them they are a good team; technically they are a good side," he added.
“We are disappointed with the goal we conceded and that probably gave them a lift. Spanish sides historically, when they go a goal in front they show their arrogance, we needed to show some arrogance that they had when we had possession of the ball
“Sometimes, for me on the touchline, I don’t think our boys probably know how much time and composure they have to show but they will learn a lesson by that. They know we are going to get better in the next game than we did today, we know this is going to be a tough group. .
“Listen, if we had the amount of possession they did, I think the score would have been 4 or 5 nil to us to be honest with you so it shows the credit to our players sticking at it.
"They kept going when it got quite difficult at times. But what we have to do is learn the lessons from this and move forward. We can play a lot better than that technically and individually, so we will do.”