Six young English talents that must seek regular football to secure a spot in Southgate’s squad

in , , , , , , ,

England U21 boss Aidy Boothroyd publicly expressed his concerns regarding the lack of playing time for a number of the countries brightest young talents on Wednesday.

There are a handful of players that are hugely appreciated by staff at international level, but are just not getting the opportunities to showcase their ability for their clubs.

This, of course, is the reason why several players that have represented England at youth level have sought to complete loan moves over the summer. Chelsea’s Tammy Abraham, Mason Mount and Trevoh Chalobah are among those that will all spend the season with various Championship clubs.

The Blues have been guilty of restricting their young players in the past and are famous for shipping a shed load of their youngsters out on loan every season, a group that former Chelsea midfielder Josh McEachran says was referred to as ‘the loan group’.

There are also some that have chosen to move permanently in an attempt to fulfil their potential. The likes of Chris Willock, Jonathan Panzo and of course Jadon Sancho are all now playing their club football abroad. Liverpool’s Rhian Brewster considered doing the same, only for Jürgen Klopp to promise him first-team opportunities when he returns from injury.

Some clubs, though, have insisted on keeping certain players as they feel they’ll be needed over the course of this season. Without regular first-team football, though, these players are in danger of missing out at international level and being overlooked for others given the platform to prove their worth week in, week out.

Here are six young England talents on the cusp of a spot in the senior squad but need the minutes to secure it or, in some cases, hold onto it.

1. Dominic Solanke

Club: Liverpool

Age: 21

Club appearances last season: 27 (6 starts)

Preferred position: Forward

This is the particular player that Boothroyd was referring to on Wednesday.

“I’m really pleased with Dom but I’m also a little bit worried about him because he is not getting the minutes and not getting the games,” the U21s manager said.

The striker has been named in Boothroyd’s squad but has been training with the senior team at times this week.

Solanke left Chelsea for Liverpool before the start of last season, hoping to be given more opportunities in the Premier League.

In 2014, Jose Mourinho, who was Chelsea boss at the time, said people must ‘blame him’ if Solanke didn’t go on to become an England player in the coming years and said the striker was destined to play plenty of Champions League matches in future following his first-team debut against Maribor in 2015.

After a very promising first pre-season with Liverpool, Solanke has struggled to make an impact on Merseyside. That, of course, isn’t easy when he’s competing alongside the likes of Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino, Sadio Mane, Xherdan Shaqiri and Daniel Sturridge, and maybe that’s the problem.

His only senior goal for Liverpool so far came against Brighton on the final day of the 2017/18 campaign. Jürgen Klopp said last season that Solanke was the future of England and the striker made his senior debut in a substitute appearance against Brazil around the same time, but he is yet to feature in a matchday squad for Liverpool this time around.

Divock Origi, who is also competing for a first-team spot alongside Solanke at Liverpool, was expected to leave the club this summer but a move did not materialise. This may further jeopardise Solanke’s opportunities at Liverpool and he may be wishing he’d pushed harder for a loan move this summer.

2. Ruben Loftus-Cheek

Club: Chelsea

Age: 22

Club appearances last season: 25 (21 starts) (Whilst on loan at Crystal Palace)

Preferred position: Central midfield

Loftus-Cheek came through the ranks with Solanke at Chelsea and is another player that Jose Mourinho previously tipped for the top.

Of course, Loftus-Cheek is in the current England squad and featured for Gareth Southgate’s side at the World Cup, but he is in danger of losing his place this season due to a lack of opportunities at Chelsea.

The midfielder’s saving grace last season was his loan move to Crystal Palace, which was a huge success aside from a few injury issues. His decision to seek regular Premier League football is probably what got him into the England set-up for the World Cup and an injury to Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain meant that he was used by Southgate more than he might have expected.

Chelsea have insisted on keeping Loftus-Cheek this season. So far he has only made one substitute appearance under Maurizio Sarri, but the former Napoli boss says that he has needed time to adapt to a new style of play and feels the 22-year-old will be an important option for his side as the Blues’ schedule ramps up after the international break.

If Loftus-Cheek doesn’t get the opportunities he needs this season, then don’t be surprised to see him seek a new challenge next summer.

3. Phil Foden

Club: Manchester City

Age: 18

Club appearances last season: 10 (3 starts)

Preferred position: Central midfield

Argubaly the star performers in England’s 2017 U17 World Cup triumph – he was named the best player at the tournament – Foden has shown glimpses of his talent at Man City. But they remain just glimpses.

What stands out with Foden is his quality on the ball and his ability to take charge of games, something a lot said that England were missing from a midfield player during the World Cup.

Despite calls for him to be included in Gareth Southgate’s latest senior squad, however, Foden was selected for the U19s and registered a goal and two assists in their 4-1 win over the Netherlands on Wednesday.

Liverpool and England midfielder Adam Lallana withdrew from the latest squad with an injury earlier this week, but Southgate has suggested that the likes of Nathaniel Chalobah, Will Hughes and James Maddison would be more likely to replace him than Foden for now.

In terms of learning and developing, Pep Guardiola is the perfect manager for him and, having only turned 18 this year, he certainly as more time than Solanke and Loftus-Cheek before he should panic.

But with his former teammate Jadon Sancho being handed more and more minutes in the Bundesliga, Foden may soon want to follow suit.

4. Callum Hudson-Odoi

Club: Chelsea

Age: 17

Club appearances last season: 4 (0 starts)

Preferred position: Winger

Hudson-Odoi was one of those players that fans tipped to make a real impact at Chelsea after his performances in pre-season.

He still might, but he is yet to feature in a matchday squad in the Premier League under Maurizio Sarri, meaning he has not been selected for England U21s or for the senior team this time around. He was selected for England U19s but was an unused substitute in their 4-1 win over Netherlands on Wednesday, with Borussia Dortmund’s aforementioned Sancho being selected in his favoured left-wing position instead.

Hudson-Odoi is another huge talent that featured in England U17s World Cup-winning campaign and lead Chelsea to yet another FA Youth Cup title last season.

He’s still only 17 but has shown that he’s already more than capable of causing some top full-backs real issues. He glides past players for fun and, more importantly, he seems to have an end product.

All going well, his time will come. We just hope that he doesn’t fall into the same category as a number of super-talented young English players that have come through the ranks at Chelsea have done in recent years.

5. Angus Gunn

Club: Southampton

Age: 22

Club appearances last season: 51 (51 starts) (Whilst on loan at Norwich City from Manchester City)

Preferred position: Goalkeeper

Gunn is a goalkeeper that many have high-hopes for.

He left Manchester City ahead of this season in an attempt to prove himself at Premier League level with Southampton.

However, Alex McCarthy, who has rather ironically just been recalled to the England squad, is ahead of him at the pecking order at St. Mary’s and he also has Fraser Forster to contend with.

It was unclear how Southampton boss Mark Hughes planned on using Gunn when arrived for £13.5m in July, but for that price, you’d assume that the club eventually expect him to become the first-choice goalkeeper.

McCarthy, though, is a player that has always looked like he could become good enough to be a first-team regular for a Premier League side and his good form may develop into a real issue for the 22-year old.

Gunn is part of the current England U21 squad and with Southgate clearly assessing a number of young English keepers at the moment, the former City man will want to catch the eye of the England boss as soon as possible.

Ademola Lookman

Club: Everton

Age: 20

Club appearances last season: 27 (9 starts) (Spent second half of season on loan at RB Leipzig)

Preferred position: Winger

Interestingly, Lookman is reported to have been desperate to complete a permanent switch to RB Leipzig this summer, after impressing there during a loan spell last season.

The Bundesliga side are said to have offered in excess of £20m for the winger, who netted 5 goals and registered 4 assists during his time in Germany/

Everton boss Marco Silva has since insisted that Lookman must knuckle down at Goodison Park, with the Toffees said to view the former Charlton man as a key part of their future.

After arriving at Everton for around £11m in January 2017, Lookman made an impressive start to life on Merseyside and scored in their 4-0 rout of Manchester City. However, he quickly found his opportunities limited and his sought a loan move abroad to continue his development.

He was part of the England U20 squad that won the World Cup last summer and has been selected for the U21s ahead of their matches against the Netherlands and Latvia this month.

But with his preferred move to Germany denied and having only featured in one of Everton’s four fixtures so far this season, Lookman will be desperate to make an impact at club level as soon as possible.

The post Six young English talents that must seek regular football to secure a spot in Southgate’s squad appeared first on Squawka News.



From Squawka NewsSquawka News https://ift.tt/2NhHgNh
Labels: , , , , , , ,

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)