England U-20 (Elite Squad) Discussions Thread

1-0 down

 

2-1 up, Brown just before HT and Scarlett from the spot.

 

Finished 2-2 after they got a 88th minute pen which our keeper saved on to the post but they scored off the rebound.

 

Good set of results considering a lot of these players had never played together before.

 

How have we conceded twice with two goalkeepers?

 

Two former England youth internationals in that u20 Ireland side. Oko-Flex is 22 now and Hodge 22 in a couple of months. Probably not the trajectory they were hoping for.

edit: just seen they scored both of Ireland’s goals!

 

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And two Irishmen in goal for England.

 

After one goal in his first 14 caps for U20, Scarlett has scored seven in his last four games against Czechia, Poland, Ireland & Sweden. Hoping he can make the jump to senior level although his loans at Portsmouth & Ipswich don't look promising.

Didn't see either game but it sounds like Archie Brown impressed, set up Scarlett for the winner over Sweden and then scored against Ireland.

First goal for my country 🦁 Glory to God https://t.co/X7C9BLYyx2

— Archie Brown (@__archh) June 11, 2024

Given our weakness at Senior left back, Carsley really should consider selecting Brown later this year.

Very different cases also. Oko-Flex moving to England at 11, not sure he even completed the required 5 years of education qualification. Surprised he chose to represent England at all really. As a winger he'd obviously have had a difficult challenge competing with Saka, Foden, Gordon, Palmer etc

Hodge qualified through one Republic born grandparent who apparently had a Manchester accent having moved there as a child with their Irish parents. Didn't stop Hodge turning England down when selected at U17 level, allegedly because ROI said they would start him and Steve Cooper couldn't guarantee he'd be picked over then Arsenal duo of Azeez & Musah. Difficult to say how good Hodge is going to be as up to this point injuries have disrupted his career. There's less competition in that position but hopefully the like of Mainoo & Wharton surpass him.

What was the thinking behind taking four goalkeepers for these couple of fixtures and then giving Ward all 180 minutes of both games.

 

I think he did fine at Pompey and looked good whenever I saw him, but his loan at Ipswich was just a total non-starter and badly handled by Spurs for me.

Kept him for all of pre season when wasn't really required, then gave him 20 minutes in League Cup which meant that he was cup tied for 2 Ipswich games in that competition.

And then I think it would have been beneficial to have pulled out of at least one of the England squads to give himself another couple of weeks to settle in and learn what is quite a complicated game model and give himself a chance.

He then went back to Spurs a few days earlier than he needed to as was recalled and a day later George Hirst tore his hamstring and we were left without a proper senior striker for 5 weeks when he could have had a chance to make an impact - he'd had a couple of good looking cameos just prior to this.

Would love to know the full details of how it went down, but for me that late sub appearance in League Cup basically cost him the season

 

Think the Portsmouth one was ok for a first loan as an 18/19 year old, played quite a lot under Cowley, but less so when Mousinho took over (and a fare bit out wide). The Ipswich loan was a disaster in terms of development, but ultimately he only played 100 odd minutes in 4 months, so not too much of a surprise He and/or Tottenham decided to terminate (unfortunate and unforeseen that Hirst got injured after).

Spurs sent Troy Parrot to Excelsior in Holland last year and he did very well, I wouldn't be against that type of loan for Dane.

 

Could he easily get a Dutch Visa? Parrott being Irish meant any post Brexit rules didn’t apply to him.

 

I don't know mate, maybe google it, plenty of English players have played in Holland in recent seasons.

 

Why would it be difficult for him to get a Visa to work in The Netherlands compared to plenty of English players playing all over Europe?

 

Noel Buck take a bow son! Absolute banger top bins 🤯

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It would be funny if one of Americas best homegrown talents were to play for England Seniors some day.

 

I've also seen quite a few of them say it'd be some sort of hilarious victory for them if an American plays for England's senior side, despite the fact they get on their knees begging for any English teenager with a loose American connection to walk into their senior team while also ignoring the fact that both Canada and Australia have managed to produce senior England internationals long before they have.

 

I saw this goal as it appeared on my Reddit feed, one of the comments from a US fan was questioning why he was accepting England U20 call ups when he was born and raised in the the US, seemingly ignoring the fact they regularly pick 3 or 4 English raised players (Antonee Robinson’s US links are pretty tenuous).

It shouldn’t be particularly surprising or any type of victory a country of 350m+ with a competitive top flight is capable of producing a players capable of playing for England. Wales and Ireland manage to produce some good players, with about an 1 - 80th of the population and a terrible domestic league!

 

The Channel Islands have produced more world class footballers than America. They've gone round the world offering kids US passports left right and centre and what looks to be one if not their best Home grown talent plays for England.

 

Yep, same with Dest, Tillman & Cardoso who were born and raised (just raised in the latter's case) in the Netherlands, Germany & Brazil. Because of their nature as a country they basically have a constant high volume of eligible dual nationals that other nations have produced for them.

There's a tonne of investment from Europe into American youngsters and they now have a bigger playing population on a weekly basis at grassroots level than every other country in Europe. Add that to the quality of their infrastructure and I think it's far to say they don't really have an excuse for not producing a team good enough to contend for a World Cup in the coming years.

 

I do wonder how long he sticks with England. Competition for places in Englands midfield is going to be tough. Hes a few days older than Mainoo.

 

They should be very competitive in the next couple of decades, as you say their absolutely enormous population, lower median age (lower then most of the developed world) and resources and infrastructure should alone have them competing.