Is the future of English football set for a golden-era?
England Under-17s' won the U17s World Cup at the weekend, beating Spain U17s 5-2 in Kolkata, to crown a phenomenal year for the nation’s age-group teams. And although success at younger age groups cannot guarantee success in later life, the future does look bright for the Three Lions.
Four years ago, FA chairman Greg Dyke gave the senior England team the target of winning the World Cup by Qatar 2022. He was laughed at by not only the likes of the German and Spanish media, but also the English media, and probably people within the FA.
2017 U17s World Champions England
This year, England have won the U17s World Cup, U19s Euros, and U20s World Cup. And the tournaments they didn’t win, they were beaten on penalties in the final and semi-final. That is some record.
Former Manchester United and England defender Phil Neville certainly thinks this could be the start of something special for England:
"I think history maybe tells you that if your youth teams are winning World Cups and European Championships then that group of young players can go on and hopefully win the senior equivalent. We have seen it with Germany and Spain in the past decade. That has got to be the plan and the aim for these players from the U17s through to the U21s.”
2017 U19s Euro Champions England
And surely, now having won these tournamnets, they have the belief that they can compete with the best. They have dominated age-grade international football this year, and surely now the future target must be to win the World Cup when these players bloom later in their career.
England U20s manager Paul Simpson is being optimistic and realistic:
"The players who won the U20s this summer, in five years' time they may be ready to go to a World Cup. It is still the target. We'd be delighted if we get success in 2018 - but we are looking at 2022. We have to change people's perceptions. We want to inspire a nation by being successful. The U20s and the U17s are doing that. You heard people saying that against Brazil [in the U17s semi-final] it was as if the players had swapped shirts.”
2017 U20s World Cup Champions England
To have won all these competitions and have out-skilled Brazil is testament to what England are producing. It has been the masterplan ever since England moved to their new base at St. George’s Park. At the new place, all age groups of England players train and stay there. There is a hotel there, and the facilities are second to none, and all players male and female, get to use the facilities.
The facilities at St George's Park are some of the best in the world
But England as a nation shouldn’t get carried away with the success of the age-graded teams. With the success of the Premier League, many junior players don’t actually make it into the top teams, and this is a major problem for the Three Lions. Top clubs have their own agendas and if young English players are good enough, they will break into the squads, but many players don’t flourish early in their careers and usually fall away into the lower divisions. So, the key is to have them playing regular football at any level, especially in their developing years.
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