Just did some catching up on young YAs in England, who all seem to be doing pretty well: I believe Zak Whitbread has been injured, but just came back to play a second half for Liverpool U-19s. ______________ Lloyd Sam has been playing regularly with Charlton's U-19s and has appeard in a few reserve matches as well, most recently: Monday, November 18th, 2002 Tottenham 2-3 Chalton Sam came on at 46' Wednesday, December 18th, 2002 Charlton 1-1 Ipswich Sam came on at 75' ______________ Frankie Simek has been a regular for Arsenal's U-19s, but has also been on the subs bench for Arsenal's reserves the last 3 matches, and has come on as a sub in 2 of them: Arsenal 1-1 Watford FA Premier Reserve League Monday 25th November Simek came on at 67' Coventry City 1-1 Arsenal FA Barclaycard Premier Reserve League Wednesday 11th December 2002 Simek on subs bench, DNP Tottenham Hotspur 0-3 Arsenal FA Premier Reserve League Monday 16th December 2002 Simek came on at 78'
Three to look for in the new year -- signings not announced but rumored (with varying degrees of certainty): Jon Spector, Manchester United Danny Karbassiyoon, Arsenal Richie Frank, Arsenal And five others who are there now: James Bishop, Peterborough Jay Denny, Stoke City Jemal Johnson, Blackburn Rovers Ian Joy, Kidderminster Harriers Tom Parratt, Birmingham City
Tom Parrat is from the same highschool and youth club that I came out of. He is an excellent midfielder. His father played for England's University team before immigrating to the US. I know he played several seasons in Detriot in the NASL and MISL.
Tom Parratt is a U-17. Not a lot of info on the BCFC U-17s on their website--Fixtures, results, and very brief match reports. I did see that Parratt scored off a header in BCFC's 4-1 victory over Everton a few weeks ago. He also scored the lone goal in a 1-3 loss at Sheffield United. Both reports describe him playing in midfield.
A little more info on, and a picture of, Jemal Johnson here. (This is pretty old, so many may have seen it already.)
My understanding is that Richie Frank was NOT offerred a contract after the 2-week trial he underwent with Arsenal in August. Regrettably, he was injured fairly early during the trial. Typically, they will continue to keep tabs on the player, and I'm sure the trial will alert other Euro clubs to the player, who by all accounts is a great prospect, an attacking mid type, great technique.
Great news that Whitbread is healthy again. Reportedly, the US U-20's want him to join the team for the upcoming World Youth Cup.
I dont think Whitbred has officially declared his intentions, though it would appear he is keeping his options open, so to speak. Again, nothing has been officially said as far as I know but it seems to me he'd accept an England call up today if he got it. With that in mind I'm beginning to doubt that he will play with the U-20's next year, as he seems to be a relatively decent prospect. My feeling is that if he plays with the U.S. it'll be when he's relatively sure he has no shot with England. Or he could have no interest in the U.S. at all. Anyway, hopefully he(or someone who has more information) will prove me wrong in the immediate future.
whitbre(a)d has already been on a u.s. roster, so he has shown some inclination to play for the u.s. note the following from the u.s.s.f. site in july: ___________________________________________ U.S. YOUTH NATIONAL TEAM UPDATE – U.S. UNDER-23s HEAD TO ENGLAND FOR FOUR-GAME TOUR: The U.S. Under-23 Men’s National Team left yesterday for Huddersfield, England, where they will play the reserve teams of four professional clubs....Below is the upcoming schedule and the roster for the trip to England: Aug. 1: Bolton Wanderers Reserves Aug. 3: Huddersfield Town Reserves Aug. 5: Crew Alexandria Reserves Aug. 7: Manchester United Reserves Goalkeepers (2): Doug Warren (Clemson), Jason White (Princeton); Defenders (8): Nelson Akwari, Ian Joy (Kidderminster FC – Scotland), Ricky Lewis (Clemson), David Stokes (North Carolina), Scott Thompson (UCLA), Zach Whitbread (Liverpool – England), .... __________________________________________ however he is not captied. so if england calls him up for a fifa sanctioned event, he'll probably jump at it and we'll lose him.
dheck posted a link earlier that indicates he was with Man. United for about 4 years just reading Johnson's comments from that link he sounds pure English with his "lads" and "getting on" What do you think the chances are of capping him?
Johnson's been in the UK since he was five or six, so I'm not surprised that he "sounds English." As for Whitbread, seems pretty clear that he is treating all this as a career decision. While he may indeed favor England, seeing as the US is clearly very interested he may see an opportunity to move up the ranks to senior status more quickly and have a better chance of playing in the Olympics and World Cups because of our relatively small player pool, especially at youth levels. He wouldn't lose UK/EU player status by accepting a US cap... It probably comes down to how much the USSF is willing to do for a player of his quality (whatever that is) seeing as he's unlikely to skip much Liverpool time for domestic camps with college kids or youth friendlies. I bet that if we qualify for the Olympics and he's offered a roster spot, he'd take it. Not sure about the World Youth Championship but I'm sure it's on his mind.
from dave marino-nachison: "He wouldn't lose UK/EU player status by accepting a US cap" ___________________________________________ i need some more info on this dave. i've heard that fifa either has or is recommending a new rule for youth players in terms of what would cap tie them. are you saying that even if whitbre(a)d plays for the u.s. in a fifa event like the olympics or world youth championships he still won't be cap tied to us?
No. I'm not knowledgeable about the FIFA youth rules you describe -- I'm simply pointing out that if you qualify for an EU passport (as a US citizen), you don't lose it just because you become cap-tied to the US.
if you play in a fifa sanctioned event (youth or senior level) currently, you are cap-tied to 'said' country you played with... i know a few months ago there were some rumblings about fifa and a possile change to those rules, allowing a younger player to change his 'country' when he gets older, according to some when he/she is of more sound mind to make such a decision...