Loftus sees young players' progress in Euro U22 qualifiers

The English squad were the youngest in the four-strong Pool A out in Cisterna di Latina, Italy that also comprised of the hosts, Ukraine and Denmark. 

And while, as expected, they struggled in terms of results against teams ranked much higher than themselves, there were lots of promising performances, particularly from some of the younger members of the travelling contingent. 

“We took the likes of Jim Cox, Josh Sturland, Torin Cole, Finn Chalkley-Beales and others because we know these guys are going to be young enough do it again (at U22 level),” said Loftus. 

“It was our approach, a bit different to what we have done before, to give these players the experience of playing at this level. 

“The good news is that the younger players have got the NEVZA Championship coming up this year, so that group have got more opportunities to develop again. 

“Getting good competition is important in terms of trying to move things forward. It’s too soon to know if these players are going to come through to the Senior set-up, as there are too many variables, but we have to keep trying to raise their expectations and standards.” 

England prepared for their time in Italy with a stint in their Netherlands where they trained at the Dutch Olympic Centre and scrimmaged against its U20 side. 

The first of their Euro qualifiers pitched them against hosts Italy where they lost 25-11, 25-20, 25-15, before they were beaten by Denmark (26-16, 25-21, 25-13) and then took a set off Ukraine in their final match (25-20, 24-26, 25-14, 25-15). 

Analysing each of the matches in turn, Loftus said: “Against Italy, I think they only made two service mistakes in the first set, they were superb, and it’s very hard to play against that. 

“In the second set, once we had got used to things a little bit, we played really well and perhaps surpassed our own expectations. In the third set, they upped their game and were better than us, but, overall, the guys were pretty pleased. 

“The Danish game was a bit disappointing on the back of that... it was a bit after the Lord Mayor’s show. Mentally and physically we invested so much in the first match that we started terribly. 

“But credit to the boys because we made some changes and were competitive in the second set, getting into the twenties. 

“It proved a bit too much for us in the third set and we weren’t as reliable on the first day, but after five or six days away, and a young group, it was understandable. 

“Ukraine had beaten Italy 3-1, so we feared the worst, but we did remarkably well. The first set was close and they just edged it with a bit better serving than us. 

“In the second set, we played to our maximum and they dropped off and we took an opportunity, when we were down but then won it in extra points. 

“We forced them to go back to their strongest six and, at that, point, they showed their class, but the team played at their best level for most of the match, which was really encouraging to see. 

Loftus was quick to praise the University of Nottingham’s Rob Morgan for the way he conducted himself on and off the court. 

“I’m not a massive fan of talking about individuals, and all 14 players contributed while we were there,” he said. 

“But we made Rob captain and he did an unbelievable job with his leadership and attitude. His spirit and caring nature were great to see.” 

The rest of the England staff was also most welcome to Loftus, who says each had important input during the trip.

He added: “Jeff(erson) Williams has been my mentor for years, and I wouldn’t be where I was in the game if it wasn’t for him. 

“Phil Crawford did some amazing things and worked really hard on the players’ development off the court, asking questions of them and trying to reframe things. 

“Chris (Jones), as ever, has done a great job organising all the logistics and we wouldn’t have been there without him. 

“Binh (Hai-Binh Ly) does an unbelievable job with all the analysis and stats and for the first time the sports therapy of Misa (Kalinova) gave us that extra level of professionalism.” 

“They are the best staff in the world, and I’d like to offer all of them my thanks.”

Images courtesy of CEV

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