England U-20 (Elite Squad) Discussions Thread

Jobe vs Middlesbrough. pic.twitter.com/cipJVTjHsR

— 𝙈𝙞𝙯𝙪. (@mizuravage) September 22, 2024

 

I wonder if one day him and Jude will play together for the senior England team? I’m unsure of Jobe’s ceiling but from what I’ve seen, he appears to have plenty of potential. Without directly comparing in ability terms but not only do they look so similar but also move and run the same.

 

He suits this deeper role a lot more than the advanced role he played last season. I think how far he goes is going to depend on how his frame and his running power develops. He's decent physically but I think he'll need a bit more to get to the very top, which is perfectly possible given how young he still is. He's very light on his feet which is a big advantage for someone of his size but I think he needs a little bit more explosiveness.

 

Been reading that Lino Sousa is impressing at Bristol Rovers despite the fact the team is struggling massively.

Ben Chrisene and Luke Chambers were both preferred to him in the last squad and given both seem to be playing well it might be tough for him to work his way back into the setup in the near future.

It's a tough situation because Chrisene is playing in the Championship but Sousa's potential upside is a fair bit higher imo, at least in terms of attacking ability. Haven't seen much of Chambers so can't speak on that one.

 

Darko Gyabi seems to be steadily improving for Plymouth, most fans are saying he had a very good game last night.

He's someone the FA seem to rate pretty highly as he's been shown quite a bit of loyalty in youth squads. Rooney seems to be a fan too as he's been quite persistent in selecting him despite a slow start.

 

First senior start for Will Lankshear in the Europa League against Ferencváros

 

The Squad

Goalkeepers: Luca Gunter (Tottenham Hotspur), Max Merrick (Chelsea), Tommy Simkin (Walsall, loan from Stoke City)

Defenders: Max Alleyne (Manchester City), Kaelan Casey (West Ham), Luke Chambers (Wigan Athletic, loan from Liverpool), Ben Chrisene (Norwich City), Kellen Fisher (Norwich City), Ben Nelson (Oxford United, loan from Leicester City), Ashley Phillips (Stoke City, loan from Tottenham Hotspur), Reuell Walters (Luton Town)

Midfielders: Jobe Bellingham (Sunderland), Bobby Clark (Red Bull Salzburg), Darko Gyabi (Plymouth Argyle, loan from Leeds United), Zack Nelson (Luton Town), Nico O’Reilly (Manchester City), Jacob Wright (Manchester City)

Forwards: Dominic Ballard (Blackpool, loan from Southampton), Max Dean (K.A.A Gent), George Earthy (Bristol City, loan from West Ham), Romain Esse (Millwall), Kaide Gordon (Norwich City, loan from Liverpool), William Lankshear (Tottenham Hotspur), Dane Scarlett (Oxford United, loan from Tottenham Hotspur)

 

Nice to see Max Dean there after a positive start to his time in Belgium. Those centre forward positions are very much up for grabs for the next cycle s it's a good chance to make an impression.

Heck, it wouldn't take an incredible amount to make a late surge for the under 21 squad next summer.

 

Surprised Donley and Castledine aren’t in.

 

Steve Bruce says Dom Ballard will only likely be fit for one of the matches in this call up as he has missed the last three Blackpool matches including today with injury.

Dom Ballard’s fitness status following international call-up👇#UTMP https://t.co/TzscF1xK9l

— Amos Wynn (@amos_wynn) October 4, 2024

Ben Chrisene was also absent for Norwich today due to a concussion.

 

Jobe Bellingham (Sunderland), Ben Nelson (Oxford United), Luke Chambers (Wigan Athletic) and Reuell Walters (Luton Town) withdrawn from the squad to play Italy and Czechia.

Bradley Hills (Norwich City), Elijah Campbell (Ross County) and Joshua Acheampong (Chelsea) have been called up to replace them.

 

That’s a lot of withdrawals.

 

Weird to take Acheampong out of the U19s and into a non-competitive age group. He's their best defender and they've got big qualifiers coming up.

I actually think there's a good argument for putting Acheampong into the U21s because he's so far ahead of U19 international and PL2 level football but putting him in the U20s doesn't feel worthwhile.

 

It feels like the FA run by each age group is more important than the younger one even through the U19’s should not have been weakened in what is a important year for them

 

This particular case feels like a result of that line of thinking. Usually when they move a big prospect up a year or two there's another big prospect from a younger age group coming in their place so it makes a bit more sense, but this just weakens the U19s needlessly. Would be an absolute killer to miss another U19 Euros and consequently another U20 World Cup.

 

Would be very damaging for a year group that came 5th at U17 level to not then make the U19 euros. Particularly if they don’t even make the second round of qualifying like last year.