Let’s just savour the fact that England’s youngsters are officially the best in the world. An entertaining final in South Korea was won 1-0 courtesy of Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s goal and Freddie Woodman’s spot-kick save.
This was no fluke either. Paul Simpson’s side won six of their seven matches at the tournament against opposition from Asia, Africa, Central and South America, as well as Europe. They conceded on just three occasions and kept four clean sheets. While pushed all the way by an impressive Venezuela side in the final, England lifted the trophy as deserved champions.
Worthy winners they may be but no sooner had the ticker tape settled on the turf at the Suwon World Cup Stadium than questions about the career prospects of England’s world-beaters were being asked. Such is life for English football’s next generation that even World Cup-winning celebrations can only last so long before the ‘yeah, but’ brigade arrive.
Cue mainstream media missives and hollow hopes that this latest crop of talented youngsters cannot be allowed to fall by the wayside. However, any desire for these players to break into regular Premier League football in the next two years needs a substantial plan of action, not just the faint dreams of those watching on in passing.
The FA have made great progress, establishing a vision of a style of play and a pathway that runs from their U15s through to the senior side. Dominic Solanke is a perfect ambassador for that journey, having played in U16 tournaments, the U17 and U19 European Championships before travelling to South-East Asia and claiming the player of the tournament award. Solanke has also been a beneficiary of EPPP and a world-class youth development programme at the Chelsea Academy.
Unfortunately for the FA, their influence stretches only so far. They have worked tirelessly to rebuild the foundations but the Premier League has long since moved on to a plush new complex. The pathway for teenagers into top-flight first teams has always had its obstacles but now more than ever it feels like a road to nowhere for the vast majority.
Five of the final starting XI banked Premier League minutes in 2016/17 totalling a combined 1,097, equivalent to about 12 full matches (all stats courtesy of youthacademies.co.uk). But remove the influence of Everton’s Ronald Koeman, a manager clearly the exception to the rule in terms of blooding young talent, and that figure drops to 449 (roughly five full matches).
Extending the parameters briefly to examine the Premier League minutes last season of all English players aged 21 or under increases the figure to 19,855, which is just 2.6% of all available starting minutes (not including substitute minutes). That includes minutes for Dele Alli, Raheem Sterling and Marcus Rashford, who account for over a quarter.
There are clearly problems throughout the League but it is a sensible assertion to make that it is more difficult to break into a top-seven first team than any of the other 14 clubs. The fact that 14 of the 22 Under-20 squad are currently on the books of either Arsenal, Chelsea, Everton, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United or Tottenham Hotspur puts their pathway struggle into even greater focus.
It is true that times have changed and it is unfair to compare this latest ‘golden generation’ to the feted year groups of yesteryear in terms of their club progress. The Premier League has morphed unrecognisably over the past 15 years into a global brand and the desire to be among the elite has created a culture of short-termism that has spread far and wide.
The demands of supporters and the media simply fuel the short-termism that has poisoned English football. Reversing it is the greatest challenge that we now face.
However, the solutions proffered in the days since the World Cup win have been scarce. Simply hoping that managers will offer opportunities on the back of a successful age-group tournament will not bring about the changes required. English football’s resistance to ‘B’ teams does not appear to be waning and navigating through the pathway of numerous loan moves is an uphill task in itself.
Congratulations and credit is clearly due to Paul Simpson and his youngsters but crossed fingers and hollow hopes ignores the elephant in the room. As brand Premier League continues to grow, so too do the blockades for young players in English football.
The YouthHawk Blog 