The 11 England starlets set to make the step-up?
Tom Cleverley
Impressive while on loan at Wigan Athletic this season, and being touted as a possible replacement to Paul Scholes at Manchester United. Cleverley was promoted to the starting line up for yesterday’s game, which shows how highly Pearce rates the midfielder, and you know what I usually disagree with almost everything Pearce says or does but on this one I agree, Cleverley is definitely destined for a great Three Lions career at senior level.
Fabrice Muamba
Came into the starting line up for Michael Mancienne, and didn’t really implement himself into the game, committing too many needless fouls’ last night. We have been hearing of Muamba’s talents since his Arsenal days and as of yet we are still waiting for the midfielder to perform consistently at the highest level.
Jordan Henderson
If this is the Jordan Henderson that Liverpool have spent £20 million on, I hope they kept the receipt. Went missing when England needed a dominant leader in the middle of the park, and if Henderson carries that on at Anfield he could be walking alone.
Scott Sinclair
27 goals for Swansea and was substitute for the first two games, surprising move by Stuart Pearce, especially with England’s obvious impotence in front of goal this tournament. Despite Sinclair having a frustrating tournament the attacker is a player who always looks threatening and you get excited when he is on the ball, the former Chelsea player will most definitely have a bright international career.
Danny Welbeck
England managed two goals in their three group games and both were scored by the Manchester United striker. Despite giving the Three Lions something in the final third, I personally don’t see a bright international future for the striker. Welbeck wont go on to be prolific like Michael Owen or Alan Shearer, Welbeck is very much a supporting striker and lets face it England have them in abundance, and by supporting striker I mean, a poor excuse for a forward.
Daniel Sturridge
The former Manchester City striker has had a real ‘coming of age’ season this year while out on loan at Bolton Wanderers, showcasing his talents consistently in the arguably the world’s best league. The Chelsea man failed to add to his 21 international goals that he has scored at all levels, but Sturridge did look threatening whenever on the ball, even when deployed out wide. England’s senior side don’t really have many options in the final third, with Wayne Rooney the only ‘world class’ striker at our disposal and the likes of Peter Crouch and Darren Bent far from reliable. Sturridge may well become a prominent fixture in the main side before 2014 and will no doubt be key in helping England end their 48 years of hurt.
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bollocks article if more than 3 of these players make to be a regular england player i’ll be very surprised
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Peter Reply:
June 20th, 2011 at 6:55 pm
Fielding, Jones, Smalling, Walker and Sturridge should be there or there abouts. The rest have lots to do to get any where near the Seniors. In particular Muamba and Henderson were completely absent and I would not see them playing in the Premiership let alone the England set up on what they showed last night.
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pantomyme Reply:
June 20th, 2011 at 7:24 pm
peter,
walker has better players ahead of him that weren’t present due to injury, and fielding was shocking – him at full international level would end in embarassment….and as i said below, how can you judge a CM when his CBs are hoofing the ball beyond them with literally every single touch. smalling and jones are talented, but if this is the standard of united’s central defense in 5 years i would be fearful if i were a manc…the didn’t put 30 passes on the ground to the central midfielders between them….
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john_LFC Reply:
June 20th, 2011 at 7:35 pm
are you stupid jones and smalling were the positives of the england under 21 team, wish liverpool had them they will be the next great england partnership in cb . plus they were passing the ball more than anyone and driveing through midfield get ur head checked.they arte very skilfull and composed on the ball
pantomyme Reply:
June 20th, 2011 at 7:51 pm
i never said they were inept, but they certainly played that way….mancienne even admitted as much, saying they were getting drilled to play counterattack football instead of retaining possession. result? jones and smalling (and others, TBF) hammering long balls forward….
and i don’t care who they played for, if they carry that nonsense to their clubs united (or any club with ambition or expectation to control games) will be gutted to have them
poor on a lot of these….fielding is an example of everything that is wrong with english keepers in the modern game: adequate reflex keeper, but piss poor distribution and game intelligence. i cannot remember a single goal kick going to an england player, or even satying within the field of play….if he is the future of english goalkeeping, i weep for this nation….
and i’m not sure how anyone can, in the same article, criticize the central midfielders (bar maybe mancienne, who was clearly uncomfortable in the role he was given), and praise the central defenders for the lack of control exerted on the opposition. all smalling and jones would do is hoof the ball 70 yards, and bypass henderson, mancienne, and anyone else in the center of the pitch. how are the CMs meant to control the pace of the game when they cannot even get a simple 5-10 yard pass foorm their defenders? again, defense was a microcosm of why england fail at the top level: no cultured defenders, so they hoof when put under any pressure, which makes the midfield irrelevant and creates a difficult situation for the forwards….
this would’ve been a better piece if you had listed half of the U-17s, as many of those lads actually know how to play proper football on the pitch and not in the clouds….
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Shame you didn’t cover Henri Lansbury. In my view, without doubt, the most impressive midfielder for England and one of the most impressive performers for England.
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How can U have the entire starting line up that failed to do a job, with the exception of the defence, non of them deserve to be there especially not henderson and cleverly they could not unlock that defence. Am very disappointed with mancienne how can he say they missed Wilshere and carroll, are the others not good enough, two players can’t be expected to lift a team of eleven seriously.Finally, Lansbury will make it at Arsenal and England U can count on it
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pantomyme Reply:
June 20th, 2011 at 7:46 pm
said many times, defense were the root of the problem….henderson and cleverly couldnt unlock the defense because the defenders hoofed the ball into touch at every opportunity….wilshere would’ve struggled to do anything in that team because the passing was atrocious….carroll would’ve helped them only because he’s adept at pulling massive hoofs from the sky and bring the midfielders into the game with link-up play….
so sick of hearing about how great these defenders are, who are apparently unable to provide a simple 5-10 yard pass to a TEAMMATE….
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Whoever wrote this article needs to look at the bigger picture.
This is a Manchester United arse kissing article.
Manchester United looked half the team with either Rio Ferdinand or Nemja Vidic out. Smalling wouldn’t get into the arsenal team on curret form.
Get your head out of Manchester United’s arse.
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AlanT Reply:
June 21st, 2011 at 9:31 am
You want to get some help for that bitterness and learn about football you envious drip.
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I think Englands problem is that the game in England is obsessed with pace and power, not the abilty to actually play football.
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