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While the England senior team’s summer is now over following the end of the Nations League last week, and the England women’s team are only just beginning their own World Cup journey, it’s easy to forget that starting next week, the Three Lions’ U21 side are also taking part in a major tournament of their own – the 2019 European Championship.
Last time Aidy Boothroyd’s side entered the tournament, in 2017, they made it to the semi-finals only to be eliminated by eventual winners Germany after a penalty shoot-out. Despite that heartbreak, a number of the players involved – Jordan Pickford, Ben Chilwell, Nathaniel Chalobah and James Ward-Prowse – have gone on to make the Three Lions’ senior squad, to mixed successes.
Faced with France, Romania and Croatia in the group stage this time around, which players from Boothroyd’s current squad should we be looking out for as the tournament begins – and could any of them make their way into Gareth Southgate’s plans next season?
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Here are 5 England U21 players to keep an eye on during the upcoming European Championship.
#1 James Maddison
One name on everyone’s lips during the discussion about England’s midfield shortcomings in their Nations League loss to the Netherlands was Leicester’s James Maddison. An outstanding creative midfielder, many fans felt that Maddison should’ve been included in the senior squad for last week’s matches, but instead it was decided he would fare better with the U21 squad, with whom he already has 6 caps.
So why is there so much hype around the 22-year old, who began his career with Coventry City? The statistics essentially tell their own story when it comes to Maddison. Only signed by Leicester in the summer of 2018, he had an outstanding debut season in the Premier League, appearing 36 times and scoring 7 and making 7 assists too. He also established himself as a rare dead-ball expert, scoring beautiful free-kicks against Huddersfield and Burnley.
It’s his creative talents that have fans most excited, though. Incredibly, Maddison created a mouth-watering 100 goalscoring chances in 2018/19 – the most in the Premier League, two more than his nearest rival Eden Hazard. If Maddison can help England’s U21’s to glory this summer, there can be no doubt that he’ll be gaining his first senior cap soon.
#2 Tammy Abraham
One of two players in this squad (the other being Bournemouth’s Dominic Solanke) to have already been capped by the England senior team, Chelsea striker Tammy Abraham has had a fantastic season on loan at Aston Villa, scoring a tremendous 26 goals in 40 appearances to help the Villains gain promotion to the Premier League.
A natural goal poacher, Abraham is at his most dangerous from inside the box, and he’s more than capable of finishing with both feet. At 6’3” he’s also excellent in the air, scoring a number of headers this season, and his size and burgeoning strength make him a handful for opposition defenders and also make him the focal point of his team’s attacks, as he’s well adept at holding the ball up.
Despite the presence of fellow strikes Solanke and Dominic Calvert-Lewin in the U21 squad for this tournament, it’s expected that Abraham – who scored in the previous edition of this competition against Germany – will lead England’s line, and if he can find the back of the net a couple of times and acquit himself well, more senior caps could be coming his way – as could a spot as Chelsea’s top striker next season.
#3 Fikayo Tomori
With a lot of focus on the England senior team’s defence – for all the wrong reasons – following their loss to the Netherlands last week, their U21 equivalents will be hoping to keep a much tighter backline in their own tournament, and one man who will likely be at the forefront of that is Chelsea’s centre-back Fikayo Tomori.
Tomori – who won the World Cup with the England U20 side in 2017 – spent the 2018/19 season on loan at Derby County playing under former Chelsea legend Frank Lampard, and he was a huge success at Pride Park, appearing in all 46 of the Rams’ Championship games, as well as all 3 in the Playoffs. And although Derby came out on the wrong end of the playoff final against Aston Villa, Tomori did largely shackle his England teammate Tammy Abraham during that game.
A commanding defender, Tomori excels at tackling his opponents – he completed 107 successful challenges this season, more than double the amount of his experienced defensive partner Richard Keogh – but his passing range is impressive too, as he completed an average of 56.9 passes per game, with an impressive 82.9% success rate.
With question marks around a lot of England’s central defenders right now, a strong showing in this tournament for Tomori could see him break into the senior set-up sooner rather than later.
#4 Reiss Nelson
Arsenal winger Reiss Nelson was one of the success stories of 2018/19 when it came to young English players heading abroad to seek playing time, as the 19-year old moved to Bundesliga side Hoffenheim and was an almost immediate hit. Despite starting just 5 league games – making his other 18 appearances from the bench – Nelson was able to score 7 goals in just 630 minutes – essentially averaging a goal every 90 minutes.
A pacy and direct winger, Nelson can also double up as a forward, and as his goals for Hoffenheim showed, he has excellent finishing instincts when he finds himself with a sight of goal. But he’s more than just a quick runner ala Theo Walcott; Nelson is an excellent passer with a success rate of 86.2%, and he’s also got remarkably quick feet, completing 16 successful dribbles last season despite his general lack of game time.
Nelson has only made 5 appearances for Boothroyd’s U21 side thus far; he debuted last October for them in a win over Andorra, scoring with a back-heel, and in his second game he scored with a beautiful free-kick against Scotland. Whether or not he starts in this tournament, it’s likely that he’ll find a way to make an impact – and that could propel him into the plans of both Gareth Southgate and Unai Emery in 2019/20.
#5 Ryan Sessegnon
Currently the object of interest from a number of the Premier League’s biggest sides – most notably Tottenham (who he’s expected to join following this tournament), Manchester United and Liverpool, Fulham’s Ryan Sessegnon didn’t enjoy quite as good a debut Premier League season as some observers expected, but he remains one of the top prospects in English football and his attacks from the left flank could be key to any success that Aidy Boothroyd’s team might have in this tournament.
Able to play as both a left-back and as a more attacking left-sided option, Sessegnon has been compared to a younger Gareth Bale in the past, but in all honesty he’s a less explosive player than Bale but is arguably more cerebral, able to pick passes out and open opposing defences up – as we saw in his 6 assists for a struggling Fulham side last season.
Sessegnon has already seen success for England’s age group sides – he won the European Championship in 2017 with the U19 side and scored 3 goals, finishing the tournament as joint-top scorer. With 8 caps for the U21’s now under his belt, a strong showing here would not only likely net him his dream move to Tottenham, but it could also propel him into the England senior side, as left-back is potentially a place that could be up for grabs.
