By Dominic King for the Daily Mail
Published: 22:30 BST, 16 June 2019 | Updated: 22:44 BST, 16 June 2019
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England's young footballers have spent the last couple of years gathering trophies around the world, but one prize has remained beyond them.
The Under 21 European Championship carries great prestige but England have had a habit of falling short in this tournament. They have not won it since 1984 but hopes are high that the talented group Aidy Boothroyd has taken to Italy will reverse the trend.
They begin with a tough assignment against France in Cesena but the planning for this campaign has been meticulous. Here Sportsmail provides the inside track on how Boothroyd and his players are planning to conquer Europe.
Aidy Boothroyd is hoping to guide England to glory at the 2019 European U21 Championship
INSPIRATION
This 23-man squad is familiar with success, with many of them graduating from teams that won the Under 20 World Cup, the Under 17 World Cup and Under 19 Euros in 2017. The stories they share from those triumphs have made them collectively hungry to be successful again.
They spoke about this when the players and management went out to bond over a meal at a restaurant called The Swan, close to St George's Park last Monday.
England are using the training facilities of AC Sammaurese, a club in Serie D, and the walls of the changing rooms have been adorned with inspiring messages from Gareth Southgate, Raheem Sterling and others who know what it means to play for England.
'It is a genius thing to do in terms of psychology, motivation and making the players feel at
