I don't like the idea of a settled squad. There should always be competition for places. Roberts is playing at a higher level than some of the others. There are arguments for and against calling Smith Rowe up but again, he's playing at a higher level than a lot of these players.
There are lots of talented guys who could be getting a look in, keeping people on their toes and keeping people involved. Players like Ojo, Crowley (if he would accept a call up), Ejaria, Roberts, Worrall, Tuanzebe...
It's really only Roberts isn't it? Everyone else named there is of a lower calibre than anyone else in the squad, and Roberts would be in ahead of who out of Lookman, Gray or Nelson? Not sure he deserves a place when you look at it like that.
I’d have Roberts in for Solanke but I can’t make a strong case for it. Only that Solanke is getting zero game time in the first team and we already have a physical presence up front.
I forgot about Maitland-Niles who is just back to fitness. He’s one that should make this squad but maybe it’s a little early for him in his comeback.
Under 21's are naturally so fluid, a stagnant squad is the last thing management have to worry about.
I wouldn't be surprised if Roberts had turned down call ups, he never came across as particularly committed to his England career, and indeed his requests to stay at Celtic always stuck out as someone happy in a comfort zone rather than a player driven by ambition. Certainly I think something off the pitch happened. I don't really see that its just that he's not fancied given the likes of Jack Harrison and Sheyi Ojo got call ups in the same position. The Toulon Tournament in particularly should have stuck out as ideal for him to reintegrate in the group. Nor do I think its merely a grudge from Boothroyd given he picked and made Gomez captain despite him pulling out the under 21 Euro's.
That would certainly explain things. It goes to show that there's so much behind the scenes that we don't know about besides purely footballing considerations.
I don't think he's actually missed many England squads when he's either a) been fit or b) been playing well. I'd like him to get in a squad, but it's not like he particularly deserves to be in there right now. The Toulon squad last summer was a mess, but for far greater reasons than no Roberts.
I wouldn't be surprised if Roberts has Irish connections himself. Kevin Kilbane says he knows of three former England internationals who wanted to play for Ireland but felt railroaded. Maybe Robert's falls into that camp but I've not heard of any Irish connections, and Im probably just making too much of the Celtic love.
I think if he had any Irish/Welsh or Nigerian () blood in him, I’m sure we would have heard about it by now. However, even though he’s born in a London, both his parents are from a Merseyside from what I believe and the Scousers ( not all )have a known hatred for ‘being English’ so you never know if they fall into this category. ‘We’re not English, we’re Scouse’ bla bla bla
I don’t know where all this nonsense about Roberts’ commitment comes from. He made one decision that he thought was best for his career (right or wrong). Other than that he’s always been very committed, gained loads of caps and seemed to love playing for England. His family are always delighted when he gets England call ups too.
Interview with Aaron Wan-Bissaka on getting used to MOTD praise, why he can’t go home whenever he wants anymore, almost being released by Palace and getting the better of Zaha in training. #cpfc https://t.co/fnRlNjDccj— Adrian Kajumba (@AdrianJKajumba) November 9, 2018
Hello guys I’m new to this forum, I’m portuguese and I think that, right now, you probably have (with France and maybe us ) the most talented generations of young players, and you’re the number 1 contender (in my opinion) to win the U-21 tournament next year. What would you guys think is (or could be) your strongest squad to the tournament? In my opinion, based on players ability, and current form (keep in mind that I don’t follow the Championship), it would look something like this: Gunn, ?, ? (Don’t really know other keeper) Arnold, Wan Bissaka Gomez, Tomori, Fry, Konsa Chillwell, Sessegnon Cook, Winks, Davies, Foden, Mount, Maddison Sancho, Nelson, Lookman, Gray, Abraham, DCL I would like to know your opinion! Thank you!
---------------------Henderson----------------------- AWB--------Tomori--------Tuanzebe----Chilwell ------------------------Winks--------------------------- --------------Cook---------------Maddison---------- Foden----------------------------------------Sancho ------------------------Nelson-------------------------- I doubt Sancho goes tbh but I feel that as soon as Hudson Odoi gets a loan he will be a senior international before long so perhaps he could take that place. Hopefully he will go on loan soon. Obviously Tammy Abraham will be a big contender for the 9. If Emery is true to what he says and Nketiah will get more chances for Arsenal soon then I'd back him to be competing for that 9 slot too. Solanke needs a loan in January as he's wasting his career currently. I think up to Rangers with Stevie G would be good.
Well, you can probably split this question into two possibilities. a) our strongest line up: —————————-Henderson/Gunn————————- TAA————Gomez————Tomori—————Chillwell —————————-Winks———————— —————Maddison———-Alli Sancho——————-Rashford——————Lookman b) most likely with players available ( maybe something like this ) —————————Henderson——————— Wan-Bissaka———Tomori——Clarke-Salter—Sessegnon —————Cook————————Onomah————— —————————-Foden————- Gray—————-Abraham——Lookman I’m sceptical that Southgate will let the younger players from the seniors play, especially if they continue to get picked from now until the end of the season so I’m effectively ruling out TAA,Gomez,Winks,Chillwell,Maddison,RLC,Sancho,Alli and Rashford. For what it’s worth, Im not sure of us being up there to win it in all honesty, the depth France has is insane tbh and is quality. Portugal is damn strong also and wouldn’t rule out Germany and Spain as usual who will also be strong.
Nice to see him doing well, but it feels like Chilwell is doing so well that we might not see him in an U21 side again. The German + Spanish sides are pretty mediocre this year, Germany especially. France are solid, but I think their side looks more like our U20 WC winners. Loads of solid players, lacking a bit of an x-factor. Will be tough to beat. Portugal aren't as strong as they have been in the last two cycles. Their real talent is a bit young and their older talent isn't that great. Italy might be able to put a pretty good side together, hard to know yet though because they've not had to actually show their hand in qualifying. They usually let everyone drop back down from the Seniors so they'll likely be good. I wouldn't be pessimistic. I think we'll probably have the best squad, it's just probably the most tightly clustered field in recent years, with few if any gimmes.
There's an update to the #YoungLions squad set for this month's trips to Italy and Denmark:https://t.co/sF55zkir5a— England (@England) November 12, 2018
Thanks for your answers. I conclude that, in the end, it will be all about which NT players are called up for U-21. A bit similar to Portugal, where players such as Ruben Neves, Ruben Dias, Gonçalo Guedes and Renato Sanches are already integral pieces of the NT, but they could really make a diference in our U-21 squad if they get called up, although I think that your squad depth is stronger. The big difference here, is that in England you have two very competitive leagues, where a player can always improve and get some game time against tough opponents. In Portugal, it’s not that our players don’t have the tactical and technical skills, it’s just that a lot of them are already playing at an inferior level that they should, which means they eventually loose motivation and stagnate. The 1999 generation, for example, won both U-17 and U-19 european tournaments, yet almost all of these players are still playing in “B” teams or U-23 leagues. Players like Sancho and Foden are younger and already playing in big teams like Dortmund and Man City. That is why you see players like Neves, Helder Costa, Joao Carvalho or Diogo Dalot leaving to England at such a young age. Because they know, if they want to improve, they have to play in better leagues. Although a lot of people hate on Jorge Mendes here in Portugal, he has been a savior to portuguese football by getting these youngsters to flourish in english football.
Four withdraw and only one replacement. I thought this would have been a good opportunity to get Maitland-Niles back into the fold plus Harvey Barnes our, why not bring back Pat Roberts.
Defenders: Jake Clarke-Salter (Vitesse Arnhem, loan from Chelsea), Jay Dasilva (Bristol City, loan from Chelsea), Ezri Konsa (Brentford), Fikayo Tomori (Derby County, loan from Chelsea), Kyle Walker-Peters (Tottenham Hotspur), Lloyd Kelly (Bristol City) Midfielders: Lewis Cook (AFC Bournemouth), Tom Davies (Everton), Kieran Dowell (Everton), Ryan Sessegnon (Fulham), Phil Foden (Man City) Forwards: Tammy Abraham (Aston Villa, loan from Chelsea), Dominic Calvert-Lewin (Everton), Demarai Gray (Leicester City), Ademola Lookman (Everton), Reiss Nelson (Hoffenheim, loan from Arsenal), Dominic Solanke (Liverpool) I'm not usually too bothered about replacing absolutely everyone, but as it's so early in the break, and with only 4 games to go before a major tournament, it'd seem so counter productive to only bring 17 outfield players.
I like Lloyd Kelly but it seems a bit silly to promote him when Tuanzebe won’t be able to play again at this level after this campaign. The non changes are typical of our set up. For all the admiration it is pretty lazy in approach. We have talent like Edun on standby for the U20’s so why not just promote another CM from there to cover the glaring gap that is now in this squad?
Yeah plus if we get a few more injuries after the first game, Boothroyd is going to be trying desperately to call up some players for the final game or call up players from the U20’s leaving them short. I can’t say I agree with the process the FA go through when calling up replacements or the thinking behind it as it always seems not well planned tbh. I’ve seen it happen a few times in the past when looking on a game day and comparing the Squads, always the opposition seem to maximise their squads where we have had two or three less, I always think it looks a bit school boy stuff tbh and looks like we haven’t got the players to call up.