I'll start with the caveat stats don't tell the whole story, but his stats are unbelievably impressive for his age and given the majority of the teams he's played have been top of the table teams: https://fbref.com/en/players/da011f18/Lewis-Hall Ordinarily i'm not a huge fan of our converting players to full backs and wide players given the scarcity it leaves elsewhere but in Hall's case it'd actually be useful if he became a top left back given our scarcity of options in that area. Even in the age groups teams the under 21's have Thomas who's never going to be the level we want, 20's have no one, 19's have Chambers who has some potential though I wouldn't especially expect to make it, and 18's have Sousa who won't even choose England if he's good enough.
Unfortunately I think he will probably end up back in the midfield at some point. He has said he prefers the midfield. But for England as you say it will be much more Beneficial if he doesn’t. Why are we so weak at producing them when right backs are plentiful.
We don't see to produce much in the way of left footed defenders in general really, obviously they are more scarce in the first place but I can't even remember the last regular starting centre back we had who was left footed. Even in squad players Mings is the only left footed regular squad member we've had going back years.
Ramsey, Colwill, Hall, Madueke, Garner, Thomas, Jones, Gordon, Gibbs - White, Skipp all starting. Smith Rowe, Elliott on the benches. Palmer and Lewis also starting for Man City but Johnson is absent from West Ham’s squad.
🚨 Arsenal have no intention of letting Emile Smith Rowe depart this summer. 22yo contracted until 2026 + important part of #AFC plans. After injury-hit campaign, hope is he shines at #U21EURO & in pre-season before big 23/24. W/ @ArtdeRoche @TheAthleticFC https://t.co/sRSk7zzE6E— David Ornstein (@David_Ornstein) May 30, 2023
He can have an impact on their squad. They would pick someone else if it was just about home grown quota surely? He could be sold for the highest amount compared to the other squad peripheral HG options.
True. Let’s hope he can actually stand out at the under 21’s as he has the talent but has had a weaker season than quite a few others in the squad.
While there has been talk of him going on loan elsewhere in the PL Cucurella and Maatsen are said to be leaving Chelsea so if they do actually both go Hall will likely stay as the back up to Chilwell.
In a Scottish Context , Mattie Pollock (on loan at Aberdeen from Watford) and Alex Cochrane (Hearts) have also had good seasons. It's nice to see.
Might be an unpopular opinion, but I'd rather have seen Giles in the squad than Luke Thomas. This situation reminds of me of when we didn't even call-up Omari Richards , after he'd had a really great season , in a very good Reading side which just missed the play-offs. At least give the lad a call-up surely.
I'm not sure its that unpopular, I've never been convinced by Thomas when I've seen him for Leicester or the U21s.
I have created a tournament thread for the upcoming U21 finals. Please use this thread for U21 discussion - https://www.bigsoccer.com/threads/uefa-2023-u21-european-championship-r.2126106/
Newcastle transfer news: #nufc are in talks with Southampton over a deal for Tino Livramento. Defender likely to be one of many departures this summer after #SaintsFC relegation and Eddie Howe a big admirer. Story with @LukeEdwardsTele https://t.co/BapjkpZkZt— John Percy (@JPercyTelegraph) June 26, 2023
Branthwaite has apparently asked to leave Everton with interest from several clubs - West Ham have been named as one. He is reportedly seen as too expensive by PSV Eindhoven who would ideally habe liked him to stay there.
He is pretty important as the senior starting right back position will be up for grabs post Euros. James is so injury prone he is not reliable enough.
Hull City are close to sealing a season-long loan for Manchester City striker Liam Delap #HCAFC #MCFC https://t.co/vLh6dXtUpn— Mike McGrath (@mcgrathmike) June 30, 2023 Let’s hope he has good season if this goes ahead.