England U-16 Discussion Thread #2 [R] (2010 born)

1-1 draw with Spain (7-6 win on pens). Toju Wellspring scored. Match report below:

https://rfef.es/es/noticias/espana-inglaterra-desarrollo-uefa

 

Seems Xavier Parker was a late withdrawal and replaced by Kwasi Senyah. Bit surprised they've only taken two goalkeepers on tour when they selected four goalies last camp for only couple of fixtures with Netherlands. Alfie Smith is only just back from injury at Birmingham so maybe that's why he's absent.

Benetton was arguably England's best player in the defeat with Denmark and Mikel Jack looked ok against Spain. Not sure this 2010 squad is particularly talented but the goalkeeping options seem promising.

Same channel uploaded the next game against Spain.



Basically agree with the Spain FA match report @ADM99 posted when they stated it was an even game. The 87th minute equalizer is a great strike tbf.

Dunno if it's actually true but there's a website that had England at 59% possession for the match which would obviously be very unusual against this opponent.

 

Livestream vs. France:

https://www.youtube.com/live/ddADG1uf7ck?si=JUwFhU5mSeWtFifM

0-0 at half time

 

How early a kick off by the way!

 

Haven’t seen the game but from a social media account, we’re unlucky not to be leading at halftime.

 

France lead after some bad defending by Jobling I believe

 

No 8 for France looks a player

 

Think it's Samy Bedja at Marseille. Has already trained with their first-team a few times.

 

Think he just got outpaced and then out muscled which isn’t always a surprise at this level considering everyone has different growth spurts etc. Didn’t really get chance to see a replay though.

 

Also hadn’t realised we went down to 10 men around the 50 minute mark:

Can’t really describe what I’ve just seen. pic.twitter.com/6Dw6bJOnrG

— The England Academy (@EnglandAcad) February 26, 2026

 

Both sides down to 10 after this incident

 

Arsenal's Mishel Nduka:

Mishel Nduka | England U16 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Highlights pic.twitter.com/Tm5UbaF1Wc

— N5Local (@n5local) February 26, 2026

 

🔴 Update: Josh Abe’s season is OVER after picking up a serious injury on England U16s duty this week.

Crucial period for #LFC winger who is yet to sign a scholarship but has been made clear there is a pathway for him.

Chelsea, Arsenal and Man City among the clubs interested. pic.twitter.com/R8zSyvbGTA

— Jack Lusby (@LusbyJack) February 28, 2026

 

A blend of Bellingham and Rogers

 

Received the Player of the Tournament award.

 

Alvin Brown (Villa), who has featured for this group this season, has been called up to Norway's U16s.

 

I watched the two games against France and Spain, against Spain their ball retention was surprisingly good which is surprising since Spanish teams at all levels prioritize possession, England could have won that game but conceded a long range goal, against France they should have been 4 or 5 0 up by the time of the red card, Oscar Johnson and Abe were very good on the wings but one got sent off and the other got injured, after the substitutions the game changed, the first goal was conceded not because of Jobling but because of Bob Martin, and the second goal was conceded because Ekiugbo lost the duel even though it looked like he had already won the ball, I really liked Fejokwu who is a very calm ball playing defender, he reminds me of Marc Guehi in terms of playstyle and appearance, the Chelsea trio of Watson, Henry and Jobling who is now at Spurs was also good, Jobling played more as an inverted fullback moving into the midfield often, Nduka seems like a future star to me and I would have given him the Player of the Tournament but they gave it to the France number eight for two goals on the rebound, and this is with England playing without two stars Mahdi Jazoulli and JJ Gabriel, the 2010 generation is very strong

 

Also no Grimwade this time who has impressed me more for England than for Chelsea this season. That's not meant as a criticism of him, just an observation as he seems to struggle a bit when playing up with their u18s yet always impresses me for this England youth side and was, imo, their second-best performer at last year's edition of the KDB Cup (behind Watson). Probably will need some time to adapt to more physical defenders and players in general at club u18 level but he's shown he has the skill, technique and confidence to succeed.

 

Heze needs to work on his frame. He’s a very technical and intelligent player, but he lacks pace and power even for this level. He’s just not on the same physical level as the other guys called up for his position.

 

as an U16, how do you "work on your frame" exactly? he's still a boy.

 

I know he’s 15 years old. What I mean is that right now he’s falling behind the more physically developed guys his age, and in the future he needs to get stronger. He’s only 15 — there’s plenty of time to develop.

 

2030263957995364695 is not a valid tweet id

 

I do wonder if he + Dowman's exploits last season will start a conversation around lowering the PL2 minimum age.

 

Doubt it. The direction in global sports is all raising age limits to protect children from injury and exposure too soon.

 

Heze Grimwade highlights from the Reece and Lauren James Cup this weekend. Chelsea won the tournament with wins over Bayern Munich, Rangers, Club Brugge and Right To Dream.