You’ll be a man, my son…
With the England U21s viewed as the standard bearers of English youth development, the public consensus is once more united in its biennial chastisement of the English system following another poor tournament showing. While the finals highlighted many of the system’s unresolved issues, there were other signs of the shoots of sustainable growth around the country in the 2014-15 season – though they were treated as isolated occurrences rather than the produce of a single ecosystem.
MK Dons fans believe they’ve seen the future of English football in Tottenham-bound Dele Alli while they liberally praise Chelsea loanee Lewis Baker; Leeds fans say they possess the future in Lewis Cook; those of an Ipswich Town persuasion laud Teddy Bishop; Charlton supporters were eager for Joe Gomez to stay another year before heading to the Premier League; while both Chelsea and Man City fans claim their academies represent the future of the national team.
Some may question that final statement as there is a fundamental dissonance between those last two cases and the preceding ones: the lack of first team opportunities available to exceptional talent. In 2014-15 Football League players of Premier League potential were given their first chance in the senior game; the greatest problem now facing English football is that players of the same, perhaps greater, ability in the Premier League are not afforded anywhere near the same opportunities and are being surpassed by those who were.
Had Tim Sherwood not taken over at Aston Villa, it is very likely that nobody would have heard of Jack Grealish’s intoxicating exploits at the end of last season. It’s a shame the other player internationally divided between England and Ireland, Daniel Crowley, is no longer around at Villa to benefit from Sherwood’s patronage. As much as Sherwood may want you to know it, the progress of Kane and Grealish under his management is no coincidence.
Another undoubted positive of Sherwood’s knowledge of developments over the last 10 years is he may be the only Premier League manager prepared to loan and play the unproven youngsters of other clubs. Villa have already been linked to his former Tottenham charges Josh Onomah and Milos Veljkovic and, if such an arrangement should happen and be successful, it would be another advance in the case for trusting the talent the system is producing.
The Premier League now has five clubs managed by those who are prepared to at least consider the notion of playing youngsters of sufficient talent. For too long Southampton were a lone bright spot but they are now joined by Liverpool, Villa, Tottenham, and Everton, while there are encouraging signs at West Brom of Tony Pulis proactively engaging with his club’s excellent academy and Steve McClaren will be pleased with the talent at Newcastle. While the situation is far from ideal, things are crawling in the right direction, even if for commercial reasons the Premier League’s promotion of a healthy youth policy is never likely to equal that of the Bundesliga.
After 2014-15’s steady progress, 2015-16 should be an interesting season on a youth front as the second wave of the modern system’s produce (those born in or after September 1995) begin to make their mark in senior football. The England U21s were largely built around the 92-94 generation of players who were the first exposed to the newly-inculcated coaching methods between the ages of 10-13 and were largely scouted when 6-9. To put this into context, much of their early, crucial development took place between 1999-2005 when English football was not noted for its excellent practice in talent ID or coaching.
The generation who are on the verge of surfacing are far more representative of the modern school of development. It’s going to take a while to get used to for some, but when Jimmy Bullard talks about Dele Alli being a continental style of player, what he actually means is that he is one of the new breed of English academy produce.
Items of interest in 2015-16 – The Players:
One of the apparent success stories for the England Under-21s at this summer’s European Championship finals was Ruben Loftus-Cheek, who was heralded for displaying a modicum of talent in his brief appearances and is once more firmly established in the public’s mind as the player Jose Mourinho loved rather than lambasted. It is devoutly to be wished that he and Alli – his midfield partner in the England U19s’ 2014-15 campaign – make an impact on the Premier League in 2015-16 and hold down spots in the England U21s squad rather than being fast-tracked up to the seniors. At the other end of the scale, it’s feasible both could end the season on loan and they’ll be determined to speedily impress their manager this coming pre-season. Their fortunes at clubs which have recently shown very different attitudes to promotion of youth players will be a major theme.
Tottenham are increasingly the club to keep an eye on as the only Premier League team who combine a world-class academy set-up with the desire to offer opportunities to their top-rate produce. Joshua Onomah has aspirations of breaking into the first team this season and at the very least he should see cup football alongside midfielder Harry Winks and defenders Milos Veljkovic and Cameron Carter-Vickers, with the talented, but physically under-developed Kyle Walker-Peters an outside tip for inclusion.
Southampton remain the greatest promoters of young talent, if no longer the greatest developers, and their biggest hope this year for a breakout star is in the gentle touch and subtle skill of Jake Hesketh. Were it not for injury, he would have made a bigger impact last year and his skill-set is perfectly tailored for the careful tutelage of the Dutch school.
Arsenal’s once-dominant academy can be a source of frustration for their fans but, for all that, it does contain a surprising amount of talent. Gedion Zelalem may be the most vaunted for his joint attribute of not being English or homegrown (and therefore innately handicapped when it comes to kicking a football) but the real gems on the edge of the first team are the aforementioned Crowley and Ainsley Maitland-Niles. The former’s debut seems to have been delayed to protect him from the hype he will undoubtedly generate (caused by the British media’s bewilderment at discovering a homegrown player who isn’t handicapped). Having worked on his physical conditioning over the last few years, the highly technical Crowley cannot be far from breaking into the first team for good and it’s hard to see how continued Under-21 football will aid his development. Maitland-Niles may take longer to gain a consistent place but Wenger has already shown great faith in the youngster and clearly believes in him as a technically proficient, powerful box-to-box midfielder.
James Wilson begins his second breakout season after failing to make the impact expected of him in his first. Clearly talented with the ball at his feet, his first exposure to senior football saw glimpses of that but he was too often let down by poor movement. He also appeared timid amongst superstar team-mates far likelier to respect him were he appreciably more demonstrative. At Wilson’s age, prospective United transfer target Bastian Schweinsteiger was already instructing and haranguing his senior colleagues.
Charly Musonda has a strong claim to being the Premier League’s most talented foreign youth import since Cesc Fabregas and his promise has not gone unnoticed across the continent, with Monaco trying to line him up alongside Bernado Silva and Ferreira-Carrasco in their attacking midfield options.
It’s now an annual occurrence at City and Chelsea that players who are ready for mid-table Premier League football reach a juncture in their careers around the age of 19 where openings with their home club are denied them and they have to make do with loan football at a level where the style often hinders as much as helps. While Musonda and Andreas Christensen may provide a pleasant change from that this year, there is also good news in Lewis Baker’s widely-lamented loan to Vitesse.
At the same time as Tom Carroll’s decision to reject a loan at Ajax two years ago in favour of a stint at QPR in the Championship was being cited as a sign of why England failed at the U21 Euros, Baker’s decision to forego Championship football for the Eredivisie was received as a signal of his premature obsolescence.
Only the second genuine Chelsea youth product (i.e. English and schooled at Chelsea from a young age) to go to Vitesse with the intention of playing, Baker now has the perfect platform to develop as the returning Bertrand Traore has done. For all his two-footed ability, Baker’s most important assets are his work-rate and an aptitude for harvesting the maximum possible gain from experience, which bodes well for his Dutch sojourn.
At City, the nearest in the pecking order to the first team are the returning loanees Jason Denayer, Marcos Lopes and Seko Fofana alongside homebirds Jose Pozo, Brandon Barker, and Kelechi Iheanacho. All possess outstanding characteristics counter-balanced by areas of weakness and, with the exception of Denayer, are unlikely to see much meaningful action in a revamped City side. Iheanacho’s natural talent may push him up the pecking order and it will be interesting to see what stance Manuel Pellegrini takes with his young charges in a season where he needs grand results, if only to raise his stock with potential suitors.
Following Sylvain Distin’s Everton departure, Brendan Galloway will be hoping for a pre-season much like the one John Stones enjoyed two years ago. As with Stones it’s likely he’ll be introduced gradually over the season and opportunities will largely be dependent upon injuries and cup games. Although he needs to improve his consistency, he possesses enough ability to lead Everton fans to think he and Stones will be Everton’s long-term centre-back partnership.
At Liverpool, Joe Gomez is likely to follow Jordan Ibe’s route to Premier League football over the next two years and it will be informative to see who Rodgers favours of his coterie of talented, but somewhat lightweight, youth team players.
Following their differing tastes of senior football late last season this is an important one for Jerome Sinclair and Sheyi Ojo. Both have hopes of following in Ibe’s steps which will probably include several loan stints, though some optimistic Liverpudlians have tipped Ojo for first team football this season (as they did last). Jordan Rossiter’s early entry into Under-18 and then Under-21 football and his boyish physique have left him a Peter Pan figure in many minds, consigned to be forever 17. Despite that he will be 19 at the end of the season and he needs to prove he isn’t another in the line of false pretenders to Gerrard’s crown (a very unfortunate comparison he’s been laboured with as he’s nearer in style to Lucas Leiva).
Adam Armstrong is one player who can’t complain of a lack of opportunities even if they haven’t come in the most favourable conditions and dried up once John Carver took over from Alan Pardew. A good performance at Crystal Palace in the League Cup aside, Armstrong rarely thrived as he has in the junior game and he’s set for a loan to the Football league this season – although much will depend on McClaren’s pre-season assessment. Last season was simultaneously one for Rolando Aarons to remember and forget; a promising start was cut short by injury and he begins this season still a novice, but with the blessing of a manager who should be supportive.
Although it may be a while before the Championship has an apprentice of the year shortlist that includes players of Gomez and Cook’s calibre, it will once again present a lower barrier of entry for talented teens to get accustomed to senior football.
Between Bradley Fewster, Bryn Morris, Callum Cooke, Dael Fry, and Harry Chapman, Middlesbrough should be assured of a minimum of three first team regulars, if not more, over the coming years. Just who is going to break through first, and when, may turn on injuries in their senior squad, although Bryn Morris can’t be far from having a crack at the Championship even if it’s not in his contracted club’s colours.
At Reading, this could be the season when the talented trio of Tariqe Fosu and Aarons Tshibola and Kuhl make an impact on the first team. Despite a lack of experience, all three would offer a significant technical upgrade on Steve Clarke’s senior options and few sides have such a gifted collection of midfielders waiting to break through.
Two of the more prominent names on the verge of appearing in the Championship are Forest striker Tyler Walker and Wolves’s Connor Hunte. Both technically-skilled attackers (Walker a striker, Hunte a winger or No.10), they have the ability to make major names for themselves in the coming seasons. Walker is the more rounded of the two and nearer senior football, with Hunte the more talented, but while he may have changed his ways which saw Chelsea release one of their most highly-rated youngsters, there are still doubts about his application and defensive work, whereas Walker is noted for his dedication. Time will tell who is the more successful.
Patrick Roberts’ widely suggested move to Man City may seem one of career-ending doom, but at times last season it looked like that was what being contracted to Fulham meant for him. A player who is wholly unsuited to the Championship and Fulham’s current style of football, few sights were more depressing than watching England’s finest creative talent since Ravel Morrison visibly losing confidence, to the point it was a relief when he was on the bench rather than playing.
The ability is still there, even if the confidence isn’t, and he visibly perked up when playing the technical football that suits him in England’s development squads. A loan to a country and club that fits his playing style is just about the best thing that can be hoped for the development of a talent so special it demands to be given the optimum conditions in which to flourish. After that it’s up to him, but quite frankly if City do sign him and can’t eventually get him into the first team they may as well close down their youth programmes.
Items of interest in 2015-16 – The Coaches:
Beyond the young playing staff, some of the most significant youth football stories this season will be the fortunes of coaches who’ve been rewarded for their work in the junior game with important roles in the senior one. While some are presenting the departures of John Peacock and Sean O’Driscoll from the FA as weakening the cause of youth development, it can hardly be a bad thing for two figures so closely associated with the youth system to be in a position where they can advocate chances for those they believe in.
Rodgers’s positive influence itself comes from his career in youth development where Derby’s Paul Clement was a fellow colleague for many years. Their progression up the senior game is perhaps the most important development of the past few years and there are others such as Kieran McKenna, Michael Beale, and Joe Edwards who are making their own paths to the top. In many ways this is the biggest sign of a healthy system as it is the coaches entrusted with the player’s care who are the most vital factors in their success, and the most undervalued (many clubs happily splurge on facilities, but are reluctantly forced by EPPP to spend pittances on the coaches who determine whether the facilities have any effect.)
In conclusion…
To sum all this up in a tone that may appear rather more downbeat than the rest of the article, it’s likely that not even 20% of the players I’ve listed will enjoy the season they’re hoping for, whether that be due to injuries, stunted opportunities, poor individual or club form, managerial sackings, or personal issues. It’s equally possible Paul Clement, John Peacock and Brendan Rodgers will be out of jobs within six months.
For the players, the odds are stacked against them in a risk-averse culture which favours the comfort of small margins of success or failure against those which can swing from the extreme of a Harry Kane scenario to that of a Southampton side which was relegated from the Championship with the likes of Adam Lallana in it.
It’s a harsh environment, but one with a lot of talent in it. One thing I did wish to make clear is that there is a substantial amount of well-coached, tactically-versed talent out there which is great fun to watch at any level. Of the 38 players mentioned, all were born in the 3-year range of 1995-1997 and my subjective opinion is that roughly half possess the potential to play senior international football (two already have).
Naturally this list isn’t exhaustive and, as few predicted Teddy Edwards’s easy assimilation to the Championship last season, there will be players who will probably do far better than many touched upon here, but it is as good a place to start a watching brief from as any.
With thanks to our regular contributor Samuel King for this epic preview of the new youth season. You can follow Samuel on Twitter @KingSRV and keep up with all the goings-on at Under-21, Under-19 and Under-18 levels this coming season by following us on Twitter @youthhawk and keeping tabs on our Wiki. Part two of Samuel’s 2015-16 season preview will look at England’s developments squads.
The YouthHawk Blog 