“The game is important for us but I let the young boys leave for the under-20s before the end of the season because to play in a world championship is really good for their development” – Ronald Koeman, speaking before Everton’s final home game against Watford.
The Everton manager made headlines last week by reiterating an ultimatum to Ross Barkley but none for allowing five other English talents to miss the final fortnight of the Premier League season to prepare for the Under-20 World Cup. It reflected a significant change in the relationship between Premier League clubs and the Football Association, however, and similar decisions taken at Liverpool, Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur and Bournemouth, among others. The constraint that has often cost England youth teams on the international stage – a lack of cooperation from clubs – will not apply to Paul Simpson’s under-20s when they launch their World Cup campaign against Argentina in South Korea on Saturday.
“Our history in the competition shows it has been very, very difficult to put the strongest squad together that the FA would like,” the England Under-20s head coach says. “But this year it is absolutely brilliant that all the clubs’ management teams believe it is good for their players’ development to be involved. That is superb for us as an organisation. We believe we have travelled to South Korea with a squad strong enough to compete at a World Cup.”
Everton have five players in Simpson’s 21-man squad, three of whom – Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Ademola Lookman and Jonjoe Kenny – featured in Koeman’s match-day 18 at Swansea City before being released to England. The Liverpool pair of Sheyi Ojo and Ovie Ejaria, Spurs’ Josh Onomah, Lewis Cook of Bournemouth and Arsenal’s Ainsley Maitland-Niles have also arrived in South Korea with first-team experience.
Cooperation works both ways and the FA has agreed to Everton’s request to rest Tom Davies from the Under-19 European Championship after a breakthrough season in the Premier League and accepted Patrick Roberts, Axel Tuanzebe and Izzy Brown could not feature at the World Cup because of commitments with Celtic, Manchester United and Huddersfield Town respectively. England reached the final of the Under-17 European Championship this week, courtesy of goals from the highly rated Jadon Sancho of Manchester City and Chelsea’s Callum Hudson-Odoi – they face Spain on Friday – and Simpson believes there has been a marked shift in the relationship between clubs and the FA throughout the youth system.
Asked whether England’s poor record at the Under-20 World Cup stems from clubs refusing to make the best young talent available in the past, Simpson says: “Without a doubt. There has been dialogue between the FA and the clubs all season. Dan Ashworth [FA technical director] has gone into all the clubs to have talks and they have given us great support.
“We have very good footballers in this country and we need to have the strongest squad to give them the opportunity to reach the later stages of this competition. We don’t want to be here for three group games. We want to give them the experience of knockout games, of a penalty shootout if necessary: all of the things that have been the achilles heel for England in tournaments in recent years. If they experience that now in their development phase it has got to stand them in good stead for the future.”
England have prepared meticulously for a World Cup that also features group games against Guinea on Tuesday and the hosts, South Korea, on Friday 26 May. Simpson’s squad spent last week at a training camp on Awaji Island in Japan – where the senior team were based for the 2002 World Cup – and, at a tournament in which video assistant referees will be used in a trial for the first time at underage level, there are few excuses for an early exit.
The former Manchester City, Oxford United and Derby County winger said: “The preparations started last summer when we qualified for the finals [by reaching the last four of the Under-19 European Championship]. We organised a trip to South Korea last year so the players could experience the country in advance. We also staged a mini-tournament in Manchester, had a double-header against Brazil to test ourselves against South American opposition, played Senegal in France to experience African opposition, we played France who are the European champions and Portugal, another of the strongest teams in Europe.
“We have tried to give the players as much variation in terms of opposition and to tick every box – South American football, African football, European football, a host nation and knockout football. Now we are into the real thing. The preparations in Japan were spot-on in terms of getting the players acclimatised to the humidity, temperature and the eight-hour time difference. Then we arrived in South Korea to be greeted by all of the World Cup hype and it makes you realise what a big tournament this is.”
England – with one third-placed finish in the competition (in 1993 when it was known as the Fifa World Youth Championship) – face a daunting opener against Argentina. Diego Maradona, Lionel Messi and Sergio Agüero have played their part in helping Argentina win the tournament a record six times. If it is good enough for them …
“We are all professionals who enjoy winning and we want to win it,” Simpson says. “Our record in the competition has not been particularly good. We want to go a step better, play the style of football that England wants and we want the players to learn to manage games and have emotional control.
“We face big tests, starting with the first game. There is a great history between England and Argentina and we want to do better than previous tournaments. When you see the Fifa promotional video, with some of the great names who have won the competition, it brings home the significance of it. Our challenge has got to be getting English players on that video in years to come.”
Players to watch at Under-20 World Cup
Santiago Ascacibar, Argentina, 20, defensive midfielder, Estudiantes
Argentina’s World Cup winner Julio Olarticoechea described his compatriot as “the next Mascherano”. Ascacibar will captain his country at the tournament in South Korea.
Ibrahima Niane, Senegal, 18, forward, Génération Foot (Metz)
Will graduate from Metz’s Dakar academy to the French club’s first team in the summer. Impressed at this year’s Under-20 Africa Cup of Nations, scoring in a 2-0 win over Cameroon.
Yangel Herrera, Venezuela, 19, defensive midfielder, Manchester City (on loan at New York City)
Pep Guardiola signed the highly rated midfielder in January from Atlético Venezuela. Herrera has two full Venezuela caps, making his debut against Brazil last October.
Alban Lafont, France, 18, goalkeeper, Toulouse
The Burkina Faso-born player is vastly experienced for his age. He became the youngest goalkeeper in Ligue 1 at 16 years and 310 days in 2015 and has made more than 60 appearances for Toulouse.
Ritsu Doan, Japan, 18, midfielder/forward, Gamba Osaka
Won the Asian Football Confederation’s Under-19 Championship with Japan and its youth player of the year award in 2016. Chelsea are reportedly following him. Freddie Paxton
Cooper eyes Euro glory for under 17s
England face Spain in the Under-17 European Championship final on Friday, with the Young Lions’ style and potential making the head coach, Steve Cooper, excited about the future.
The senior team’s embarrassing 2014 World Cup exit and galling Euro 2016 loss to Iceland sticks in the craw, yet there have been signs of promise in the age-group teams.
England Under-21s last summer won the Toulon tournament for the first time since 1994, while the Under-17s could also secure continental success this week when they take on Spain in Varazdin, Croatia.
The Young Lions are bidding to become the first nation to win the competition three times and Cooper is excited by the current crop, not only in terms of talent but their style two-and-a-half years after the England DNA blueprint was launched.
“Our first idea is to carry on playing in the way we have been – not just in this tournament but we have done all year,” Cooper told Press Association Sport.
“Our approach to every game is about ourselves, very much focusing on how we play. We really believe in that. We believe it is a winning formula that will allow us to perform in a way that will get us success, so that will be no different.
“Obviously, it is a final of the European Championships and it is a big occasion but if you’re going to have a DNA and an identity that you really believe and that really works, it is one that can be used in any occasion. Our approach heading into the final will be as every other game in this tournament.
“We talked that through with the players on Wednesday and hopefully they will be in a good place when the whistle goes on Friday and they can really maximise what is hopefully going to be a wonderful opportunity for them to win a final and win a medal – but very much in the way we want our teams to play.”
England have impressed throughout the tournament and secured their place in the final by beating Turkey – a 2-1 victory five of the squad celebrated by sitting exams in Zagreb.
Chelsea’s Callum Hudson-Odoi, one of the team’s stars and a semi-final goalscorer, was brought down to earth by a GCSE biology exam, while there appears little chance of his highly rated team-mates such as Jadon Sancho and Phil Foden, both of Manchester City, getting ahead of themselves.
For all the individual talent, this is a group built on collective effort - an approach that is helping to change stereotypes.
“We are definitely playing in a way that is changing perceptions of how England teams play,” said Cooper, whose team head to the Under-17s World Cup in India this October. It has been really good that has been recognised both here and at home.
“I really believe in the talent that we have in England and the teams that we are putting together at international level.
“We are just to provide them with the best opportunities possible with the games programme to go and showcase that, really, and to maximise the opportunities in front of them.” PA
