Preparations begin in earnest for final Euro qualifiers.
France v England
A Women’s U17 International
7pm GMT, Tuesday 23 November 2010
Stade Municipal Paul Chandon, Epernay
France v England
A Women’s U17 International
2pm GMT, Thursday 25 November 2010
Stade Municipal Paul Chandon, Epernay
Lois Fidler has taken her England Women’s U17 side to France for a difficult double-header, but she believes playing such a strong nation will only assist with their preparations for the Second Qualifying Round of the European Championship.
England qualified for what Fidler refers to as “phase two” of the Euros after finishing as one of the best runners up in the First Qualifying Round. They defeated Turkey 2-0 and Armenia 7-0 before a 0-0 draw with the host nation, Belgium, robbed the Three Lions of top spot in the group.
However, qualification was later confirmed and Fidler can now start thinking about Iceland, Sweden and Poland, who they will take on next April, and she views France as the ideal opponents to kick-start their Euro plans.
“The French are in a similar position to us in that they were also the best runners-up in their phase one group, but you can’t underestimate any French squad,” she began.
“The reason we want to play them is because they are one of the top footballing nations and they are guaranteed to give us a test. It gives the players a chance to really challenge themselves against good opposition. They are in exactly the same position as us; preparing for phase two, wanting to progress and wanting to get to the Finals next summer.
“They are technically good, well organised, play a short passing game and they will pose a different challenge than the ones we faced in phase one and that is always good.”
France are the European Champions at U19 level and Fidler knows they have a strong conveyor belt of talent which will pose a great threat this week. These two matches will be her final chance to assess her options ahead of next April’s games and she is keen to assess as many players as possible.
“With the two games coming in such a short space of time, it will give everybody an opportunity to play. The squad [for the Second Qualifying Round] is not a foregone conclusion. We’ve got a healthy mix of youth and experience and I’m looking forward to seeing as many girls in action as I can.
“We’ve had limited preparation time,” she continued, “but we want to progress from our phase one experience and we have focused on turning all of our possession into more chances in front of goal.
“Training has gone well, now we’ll see how we get on in the games.”
England have narrowly missed out on a place at the European Women’s U17 Finals in the last couple of seasons, a statistic Fidler hopes to rectify this time around, and although the players will no doubt take a lot from the next two games against France, their Head Coach believes there is no substitute for competitive tournament football.
“You’d be foolish to not make a connection between the exposure to tournament football at youth level and the impact that can have on your career,” she said. “It’s all about being exposed to the best teams and the best players and realising that you need to continue to press and keep challenging yourself to improve and move on.
“The more exposure we get to tournament football at youth level, the more it will bode well for our senior side in the future and we will be doing everything we can to get to the Finals this year.
“Hopefully these next two games will really help us with that aim.”
Fidler has had to make two late changes to her squad with Hollie Crosby and Jessica Sigsworth replacing Bethany Mead and Jade Bailey.