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The golden generation of English football is often referred to the bygone one which was graced by the individual talents of Rio Ferdinand, Frank Lampard and Stevie Gerrard. Though each one of them has been an unstoppable force at their respective clubs, their collective failure to do so has led to a country losing faith in its national team.
The English national side has now become a stand-out joke prior to every international tournament, and the manner in which the Three Lions huff and puff through the qualifiers often leaves a bad taste in the mouth.
In the aftermath of a decade full of false hope and staggering belief, the younger version of the Three Lions is set to take centre stage at the European U-21 Championships in Israel, starting from the 5th of June. The young colts go into this tournament through a qualification round in which they have remained unbeaten in the last 9 games.
The success of a younger generation of home-grown players is definitely going to be compared to the heights achieved by the Premier League in the country; and rightly so. Apart from the top clubs roping in foreign talents, the structure of various clubs in different tiers of the League has often led the administration to spend considerably in youth talent. This is clearly visible when, unlike the senior squad, most of the England U-21 team comprises of talents from considerably smaller names like West Brom, Crystal Palace, Crystal Palace, Blackpool and Southampton. The squad picked out by the management of Stuart Pearce and Phil Neville stands like:
Goalkeepers: Jack Butland, Jason Steel, Declan Rudd
Defenders: Dany Rose, Steven Caulkar, Adan Smith, Craig Dawson, Nathaniel Clyne, Tom Lees. Andre Wisdom, Luke Shaw
Midfielders: Jordan Henderson, Henri Lansbury, Joshua McEachran, Jason Lowe, Jonjo Shelvey, Tom Ince, Chalobah, Andros Townsend, Callum McManaman
Strikers: Connor Wickham, Marvin Sordell, Wilfred Zaha
One of the main traits that was visible in this team was the pace that they posses in every position. Though this is quite expected while talking about youthful talents, but the skills and trickery that some of this bunch posses clearly shows an enterprising road ahead in Israel.
Wingers have been one domain in which England has never lacked talent. The likes of Walcott, Downing, Ashley Young and Shaun Wright Phillips have now become household slangs in England, but needless to say that each one of them was termed as a game-changing talent when they first arrived at the scene.
In quite a similar manner, this spirited setup established by Pearce has its fair share of speedsters down the flanks. The likes of Wilfred Zaha, Tom Ince, Andros Townsend and Callum McManaman were further enhanced by the existing talents of Raheem Sterling and Oxlade Chamberlain. Though Chamberlain now is considered much more seriously for the senior squad and hence is not included, the Liverpool winger Sterling was one of the shining spots in the qualifiers. The Jamaican-born trickster bombed onto the scene during the initial parts of this EPL season and was instrumental in Liverpool’s rare wins during that part of the campaign. An unfortunate thigh injury has led to his absence from the team in the past 2 months, and this has kept him out of the Championship too.
The leading name in the current team is that of Wilfred Zaha, and the self-professed Arsenal fan who has been signed by Manchester United stated his case brilliantly in the game against Romania in March. Zaha teamed up with Sterling on that occasion and both the youngsters rotated well amongst themselves while attacking from the left. Zaha, at times, seems to be in the same mould as Chamberlain, but then the accuracy of his shots with minimal back-lift has left the likes of the Arsenal winger behind. Pearce, though, might have been only experimenting in the Romania game, but his positioning of Zaha as the centre forward behind the striker worked out pretty well. This could have been a good option had Sterling not been ruled out; now Zaha would unquestionably get the left wing role.
Connor Wickham (L) with Marvin Sordell
England have had plenty of talented strikers and some of the partnerships that have been formed in the past have been legendary. A tantalizingly familiar pair seems to have been formed in the early stages of this English U-21 setup; a tall target man with a silky, quick paced finisher behind him has become stuff of Liverpool dreams now. But the duo of Conor Wickham and Marvin Sordell have shown enough promise for a similar combination. Both of these youngsters have been brought up with lower teams in the Championship, and have now moved on to comparatively bigger setups of Sunderland and Bolton respectively. While Wickham has impressed only in patches with much more emphasis on his hold up play, Sordell has brought in many an admirer with his quick turns and fantastic long range efforts.
While strikers and wingers have always been a plenty in England, it is the midfield zone that has provided the real stalwarts to the game. Often, the Three Lions have suffered in competitions due to injuries to the limited number of midfield maestros in their setup. A contrasting feature turns up here in the U-21 setup as the central midfield is the area of least enterprise for Stuart Pearce.
The captain of the youth team, Jordan Henderson, is played as the distributor in midfield, and the Liverpool man who has seen lesser senior team action since the Euros has now become a mainstay in this junior team. Henderson plays a role requiring much more discipline and calmness in distribution, and rarely does he need to make those untimely runs that he has become quite notorious for. With a plethora of talent in front of him, Henderson’s role of sitting in front of the defense was quite visible when he calmly picked out Shelvey on the wings en-route the 2nd goal against Romania.
Jack Rodwell (L) and Jordan Henderson
The other midfielder in this setup was a surprising choice as the ex-Arsenal man Henri Lansbury was drafted in. After featuring sparingly for the Gunners, Lansbury now plies his trade for Nottingham Forest where he has earned a reputation of a goal-scoring midfielder arriving late in the box; *cough Frank Lampard *cough. An unfortunate injury early in the Romania game might lead to his absence from the tournament. More than able replacements in Joshua McEachran and Shelvey are available with Pearce.
Southampton’s academy has long since been contributing to the English setup and their prodigies appear again here. Both the full-backs spots have the option of playing current Saints’ players as Nathan Clyne and Luke Shaw are both available. The duo has had a terrific first season in the EPL and has flourished even more under the fresh management of Pochettino. Pearce has often preferred Dany Rose in the left back spot, a Spurs player who has been equally instrumental this season. Rose has earned good reviews from his time in Sunderland and looks set to occupy the spot. Another Spurs player, Steven Caulker, could be preferred in the centre back role alongside Craig Dawson from West Brom.
Though the onus is never with the English to win any tournament, this team led by Pearce and Neville looks really stable enough to progress well into the summer. A motivation of grabbing a bumper transfer deal in the midst of the window would be another huge bonus for some of the lower League players.
