England Under 21 Discussions Thread (2004+ born) #8

Heres one of the goals, a nice header. Not sure what was going on with him and the home crowd though…

🇧🇪 Max Dean scored twice yesterday for Gent as they beat Charleroi 3-2 away from home.

The 21-year-old notched twice in the second half - he also scored a penalty.

It was only the former #MKDons striker’s second start since returning from injurypic.twitter.com/buEThg0lhI

— English Players Abroad (@EnglishAbroad1) February 15, 2026

 

Is that MLS in midfield?

 

It was. Seems like Calafiori was injured in the warm-up and MLS is probably back to left-back unless Saka is going there.

 

Can’t see the game but that’s rotten luck once for if he wanted to stake some kind of midfield claim in what is his preferred position.

 

Could defo see that happening before next summer's U21 Euros but he really should be out on loan. That spot feels wide open now.

 

Hard to tell, really. Arblaster has been rated for quite some time as our best academy prospect alongside Sai Sachdev when they were still coming through the age groups whilst there was next to no noise around Sydie before he broke through in the Championship. Arblaster obviously has had some starts in the Prem and was linked to Newcastle back then, however he's still finding his feet now after his long-term injury with some mixed performances, whereas Peck has become one of our most influental deeper lying midfielders. Right now, he's probably higher rated than Arblaster. One point most Blades agree with: They can't start together in midfield as they are too similar in their playing style.

 

Kellyman with a brace for Cardiff so far. Looks to be playing in the number 9 position?

 

Am I right in thinking that he’s already used his one time switch and can’t go back to Northern Ireland?

 

I believe that is the case.

 

Ballard with his 16th goal of the season.

 

According to whoscored he’s been used as AMC, AMR, RM and FW. As a centre forward he has 5 goals in 5 games!

 

their manager is another ex-City product.

 

Norwich City defender Kellen Fisher, 21, is on the radar of a host of Premier League clubs with Everton among the Englishman's leading suitors. (Teamtalk), external

 

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿😮‍💨 𝐄𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐍 𝐍𝐖𝐀𝐍𝐄𝐑𝐈 (𝟏𝟖) delivered a brilliant performance and GAME WINNING ASSIST against Lyon tonight.

pic.twitter.com/dEvXdaL9iC

— Rising Stars XI (@RisingStarXI) March 2, 2026

I can’t remember where the post is but someone mentioned that they had concerns about Nwaneri not being able to make it due to his physicality similar to Elliott in the Premier League or playing at the highest level but I actually disagree with that. One big difference I see between them is Nwaneri’s speed which I think makes a difference to his play. Has a very quick turn of pace from a standing start along with quick feet so imo he’s different to the Elliott’s and McAtees of this World who aren’t quick along with their lack of physicality.

 

That was me Marcho, I think that Harvey Elliot would do well in Ligue Un as well. Although it must be noted that Nwaneri has failed to establish himself as a starter for Marseille yet. He's very young of course but the loan has hardly been a roaring success so far.

 

Yeah that’s fair but for me I think they are slightly different profiles as players to make it at the top. Nwaneri has more weapons to his locker to make it imo, especially his speed and pace and quick feet. I’m not knocking Elliott as I think he can still make it to a high level, maybe not in the Premier League though. Going abroad will probably suit his game more. Regarding Nwaneri, I guess time will tell and yeah he is still very young so could go either way.

 

Yeah I also don't think Nwaneri's issues are physical. Like Marcho said he's pretty damn quick and he has a decently thick frame. I think he's quite physically superior to players like Elliott and Gomes, and probably even Foden when you compare them at the same age.

I haven't watched him at Marseille but his issues are probably related to other things. I don't think sending a young player on loan to a side at the top of a top five league in Europe is ever that likely to be successful unless that young player is mature beyond their years.

 

To be fair Horris I remember you saying that this would be a bad loan for him. That said, given how high we thought Nwaneri's talent level was when he was in the England youth teams this loan has still been a disappointment so far. Ligue Un's claim to be a top 5 league is a little misleading as well, in the coefficients it's as close to the 10th ranked league as it is to the 1st ranked in terms of points.

I think he is physically superior to Gomes and Elliot but I don't really see him as being particularly fast. He's definetly not close to a young Foden physically in my opinion. Although Foden is small he's really explosive, he can turn and move with the ball as quickly as any player I've seen.

 

I'd personally say Nwaneri is extremely explosive too. Even just his highlights videos show how easily he finds separation from defenders at senior level. Compare that to someone like Mikey Moore, who isn't slow himself but really struggled to get past players in the Premier League, and it shows how impressive Nwaneri is physically.

I might be selectively noticing here but I do think our players on the whole sometimes take a little bit longer to reach peak levels than players from other countries. It sticks out when watching England youth teams and when watching the UEFA Youth League how much more adept at pressing and all different types of off ball movement young players from other countries often are compared to ours. It's like our youth coaches place all the emphasis on the technical, on-ball skills and just leave the players to pick those things up at senior level (which, tbf, they often do). Also the fact that other countries' youth players get earlier senior experience through B teams.

I think this probably affects someone like Nwaneri a lot because for 10s, subtle and clever off-ball movement is so important and is the key to regularly getting the ball in the dangerous areas they need to affect the game. For me, Foden never mastering this is the main reason why he's never hit the level we hoped he would, and it's also why Palmer is much less effective as a 10 imo. I think Nwaneri showed some encouraging signs of progression with this in later appearances for Arsenal but he's still clearly very raw in that department.