The Squad Goalkeepers: Connor King (Burnley), Ryan Sandford (Millwall). Defenders: Danny Collinge (MK Dons), Benjamin Cull (Southampton), Ro-Shaun Oman Williams (Manchester United), Reece Oxford (West Ham United), Ben Sheaf (West Ham United), Charlie Wakefield (Chelsea), James Yates (Everton). Midfielders: Liam Bell (Newcastle United), Tom Davies (Everton), Jacob Maddox (Chelsea), William Patching (Manchester City), Christopher Willock (Arsenal). Forwards: Rishian Hepburn-Murphy (Aston Villa), Kaylen Hines (Arsenal), Layton Ndukwu (Leicester City), Adam Phillips (Liverpool). http://www.thefa.com/england/mens-u16s/News/2013/wales-victory-shield-squad-announced-160913.aspx
A squad made from club academies at many levels and in different regions. Good news for the future of English football.
Joe Willock's DOB is 20/08/1999 per http://www.goal.com/en/people/england/95220/joseph-george-willock?ICID=PP_95211.
Adam Phillips would seem to be a free kick specialist - had a great effort from distance for Liverpool u18s today and scored a cracking free kick in the second half. A great long ball down the middle as well. Seemingly a goal scorer but not sure about his general game.
It's the first game of the new campaign tomorrow (Friday), against Wales. (For anyone who may have forgotten)
Shame Rushian Hepburn-Murphy is injured, was looking forward to see him play. Jonathan Leko (West Bromwich Albion) replaces him.
I completely forgot. Looking forward to seeing Willock, Williams, Patching and Maddox play specifically. Especially Williams (as a united fan), player of the tournament at Marveld according to a united friendly journalist and central defenders don't tend to grab peoples attention as easily as midfielders and forwards.
On the other end of the scale, Maddox is quite small, a tricky attacking midfield type, but is playing regularly for our U16s (so up one age group as he's U15) and scored last weekend. Wakefield has been used as a right midfielder a fair bit too, including last weekend, so we could see him used there.
and very good with the ball on his feet too . Yeah I saw the game , the free kick was "magnifique" one of the best I've seen at youth level , even if the goalie was a professional I am pretty sure he couldn't had saved it . I think his game was overall normal for a 98' playing with kids 2-3 years older than him ...he was not really involved but showed some good touches at times , I am pretty sure that was his first game with Liverpool U18 so it's kinda normal I think .
Head Coach Kenny Swain is excited by the new-look schedule for England U16s Kenny Swain believes this season is going to be an exciting one for England U16s, with a new programme being introduced to give more international experience to the stars of the future. The Young Lions get their Victory Shield campaign underway on Friday evening when they face Wales at Kidderminster’s Aggborough Stadium. And that’s the just the start to a busy season which will see two new tournaments added to the fixture list for the U16s. In December, Swain will take a squad to the USA to face matches with the hosts, Brazil and Portugal before St. George’s Park will stage games with Spain, Belgium and Denmark in February. “This is the start of what promises to be an exciting new season for the U16s, with an increased programme in place for us,” revealed Swain. “We have the three Victory Shield games first and then quickly after that, just before Christmas, we have been invited to the USA for a tournament against Brazil, USA and Portugal. “It’s a wonderful opportunity to be able to play against those sort of nations, particularly Brazil and USA as we regularly play Portugal at youth level here in Europe. “We have also been invited by UEFA to join an U16 development tournament which will see Spain, Denmark and Belgium coming to England for three games early next year. “Then there is the Montaigu Tournament in France to look forward to at Easter, so it really brings the U16s into a more challenging environment for the players who need it.” Swain says that the number of players challenging for a spot in his U16s group has increased over the last few years, which has led to a need for more game opportunities. And the U16s Head Coach paid tribute to Director Of Elite Development Dan Ashworth and Director Of Football Development Sir Trevor Brooking for recognising this. “Over the last four or five years, the number of players challenging for a place in the squad has increased and there are now more players threatening to get into the squad than ever before,” he added. A big improvement indeed. “This year, we’ve got around 50 players to look at, whereas in the past it has been closer to 30. “As a result, the opportunities to give all of these players time on the pitch is becoming more difficult so with that, comes a fantastic opportunity for us to extend the programme and therefore the opportunities for players. “We need to challenge our best players more on the international stage and give more opportunities to the players who are really threatening to get into the squad. “When you have 50-odd players, the opportunities are very limited but now they are going to get more game-time and opportunities which can only enhance the players’ experience and our ability to monitor their progress. “It’s going to be a really exciting year and it’s with gratitude that we can thank Sir Trevor Brooking and Dan Ashworth in our Football Development department, Club England and The FA Youth Committee for recognising the need to offer more opportunities to our players.” http://www.thefa.com/england/mens-u16s/News/2013/kenny-swain-new-season-preview-041013.aspx Great to see these new games added to the U16 programme. Hopefully an U15 team could be set up in the future too.
You know the past England mantra of size over skill has got people so twisted up it seems like being big at youth level means you shouldn't be selected. Duncan Edwards was pretty big but not bad with the ball either Physicality is still an advantage, lets not forget that.
Indeed. I just popped in to say the standard line about England youth sides being so much bigger than the puny little foreigners (who we bully) isn't valid. I'm not too optimistic we will have a couple of real likely strikers in this group (again) - and I'm thinking of full sized ones, rather than little munchkin types. But hopefully I'll be pleasantly surprised.
Hugo Logan was a late 98 striker (still U15) who played in the Nordics, I don't know why he hasn't been called up for this unless he's injured.
England: Sandford, Yates, Cull, Davies, Williams (c), Oxford, Wakefield, Patching, Hinds, Phillips, Bell Subs: Sheaf, King, Ndukwu, Collinge, Leko, Johnson