The Best U21 XI in Football

The 2014-15 football season is about to kick off very soon and we have seen many youngster trying to impress their managers in pre-season to make their way into the manager’s plans. We have seen many players breaking into the first team of the major clubs around the world and so here we look at the best starting 11 comprising of players under the age of 21 as of 5th August, 2014. P.S: The team has been picked purely based on the author’s judgement.

#1 Goal Keeper - Jan Oblak (Atletico Madrid/Slovenia)

Jan Oblak is a Slovenian International who currently plays for reigning Spanish Champions Atletico Madrid. Oblak moved to Atletico Madrid from Benifica after an impressive season with the Portuguese champions. Oblak helped the club win a domestic treble and also started and finished the 2013-14 Europa League final against Benifica, where he couldn’t keep out any of the penalty kicks from Sevilla players. Oblak won the best goal keeper of the year award for his domestic performances last season after conceding just three goals in 13 games. He was picked to start regularly for Benifica midway through last season after veteran Artur Moraes was erratic in goal.

Oblak now has big boots to fill after the impressive performance of Thiabaut Courtois for Chelsea.

Narrowly missing out – Mattia Perin (Genoa/Italy) and Jack Butland (Stoke City/England)

#2 Right Back - Mattia De Sciglio (AC Milan/Italy)

This was an easy pick, De Sciglio has been a stand out performer in an otherwise mediocre AC Milan side in recent times. The Italian broke into the first team in 2011 and established himself as a regular in the 2012-13 season. Although De Sciglio is right footed, he is equally capable of playing as a left back as well. His good performances have often led to the experienced Ignazio Abate getting dropped from the squad. He was picked for the Italian national team in August 2012, but only made his debut in March 2013. He was part of the Italian side that finished third in 2013 confederations cup, where he played 4 out of 5 games.

Narrowly missing out: Calum Chambers(Arsenal/England), Serge Aurier (PSG/Ivory Coast) and De Andre Yedlin (Seattle Sounders FC/USA)

#3 Right Center Back - Raphael Varane (Real Madrid/France)

The Real Madrid man needs no introduction, he has won admirers all over the world with his performance for the Spanish giants at a very young age. He stole the lime light on his El Clasico debut back in 2012-13, where he stopped wave after wave of Barcelona attacks, including a goal line clearance from a shot by Xavi. He then ended the game with a goal to his name. His performance was so good that he kept the experienced Pepe on the bench. Varane started and ended the 2013-14 Champions League final which Real Madrid won. Varane has also established himself as a regular in the France National team and has made the experienced Laurent Koscielny and Mamadou Sakho fight for the other center back spot. Varane was impressive for France in their 2014 World Cup campaign.

Narrowly missing out: Kurt Zouma (Chelsea/France) and Mathias Ginter (Borussia Dortmund/Germany)

#4 Left Center Back Marquinhos (PSG/Brazil)

Marquinhos made his name with Roma at the age of 18 when he established himself in the team and put Nicolas Burdisso on the bench. His performance for Roma caught the eyes of PSG and they secured his services for a massive 31.4 million Euros in the summer of 2013. Marquinhos didn’t find chances easy to come by at PSG, but he still made 21 league appearances for them and scored 2 goals and helped the French club secure two back to back Ligue 1 titles. Marquinhos has represented Brazil once in a friendly and is still eligible to represent Portugal due to his dual nationality and has stated he would be open to represent them.

Narrowly missing out: Aymeric Laporte (Athletic Blbao/France) and Matija Mastasic (Manchester City/Serbia)

#5 Left Back - Lucas Digne (PSG/France)

This was a difficult choice to make. Digne is the second PSG player on the list. Digne like Marquinhos made his name with another club and the Paris club did well to capture another rising star. Digne impressed during his time at Lille where he played during his teenage years for the first team. He was then signed by PSG for a massive 15 million Euros. Digne found first team opportunities hard to come by due to the impressive performances of Maxwell, but still made 15 league appearances for PSG last season. He was surprisingly picked ahead of Gael Clichy in the France team for the World Cup, but didn’t make an appearance in Brazil as Patrice Evra played all the games.

Narrowly missing out: Luke Shaw (Manchester United/England) and Juan Bernat (Bayern Munich/Spain)

#6 Right-Wing - Lucas Moura (PSG/Brazil)

Another PSG player and another Brazilian who has made the cut. Lucas moved to PSG for 44.3 million pounds amidst massive interest from other European giants. Lucas has immense pace and dribbling skills at his disposal, which make him a very big threat for the opposition defenses. Lucas made very few starts for PSG last season after the arrival of Edinson Cavani, but is still good enough to make the list. He made his national team debut at the age of 18 and has so far represented Brazil 31 times and has scored 4 goals, he was surprisingly omitted from the Brazil team who played at the 2014 World Cup.

Narrowly missing out: Zakaria Bakkali (PSV/Belgium), Alex Oxlade Chamberlain (Arsenal/England) and Lazar Markovic (Liverpool/Serbia)

#7 Central Midfeild - Paul Pogba (Juventus/France)

Pogba joined Juventus on a free transfer after he found first team opportunities hard to come by at Manchester United after then manager Alex Ferguson preferred Tom Cleverley instead of him. This was one of the very few things that Ferguson has got wrong in his long stint as United manager. Pogba became an instant star at Juventus. His energy to go from defense to attack at ease, combined with his strength and vision has made him a superstar in the making. Pogba is also blessed with a wand of a right foot and has scored some spectacular goals in his career. He has some anger management issues which has got him sent off on some occasions. Pogba was named as the best young player at the 2014 FIFA World Cup. He is also the third French player in the list, which shows us the bright future of France National team.

Narrowly missing out: Mateo Kovacic (Internazionale/Croatia) and Geoffrey Kondogbia (AS Monaco/France)

#8 Central Midfield - Marco Verrati (PSG/Italy)

The fourth PSG player on the list. Verrati is the future of the Italian National team’s midfield with age catching up very fast on the likes of Claudio Marchisio, Danile De Rossi and Ricardo Montolivo. Verratti is just 5 ft 5 inches tall, but he has shown that size doesn’t matter. The Italian is very calm and composed on the ball even in tight areas. He was part of the Italy team that travelled to Brazil for the World Cup and impressed in the team’s opening game against England.

Narrowly missing out: Pierre Højbjerg (Bayern Munich/Denmark), Emre Can(Liverpool/Germany)

#9 Left-Wing - Raheem Sterling (Liverpool/England)

Raheem Sterling is possibly the best teenage in England at present. The 19 year old Liverpool player broke into the Liverpool first team at the age of 17 years and troubled the experienced Kolo Toure on his debut against Manchester City. Sterling matured into an even better player last season and has continued his improvement with some brilliant performances for Liverpool in preseason. Sterling is capable of playing on either wings and also behind the striker. His best attributes are his speed and dribbling skills, he leaves defenders gazing at him running away in a fraction of a second.

Narrowly missing out: Viktor Fischer (Ajax/Denmark) and Memphis Depay (PSV/Netherlands)

#10 Central Attacking Midfielder - Julian Draxler (Schalke 04/Germany)

Another talented German youngster, no surprises there. He has been a regular for Schalke from the age of 17 and a German International from the age of 18. Draxler has been subject to heavy interest from many clubs across Europe. He was part of the World Cup winning German squad and came on as a substitute for Sami Khedira in the semi-final win over Brazil.

Narrowly missing out: Max Meyer (Schalke 04/Germany), Juan Quintero (FC Porto/Colombia), Bernard (Shaktar Donetsk/Brazil) and Ross Barkley (Everton/England)

#11 Striker - Romelu Lukaku (Everton/Belgium)

Lukaku needs no introductions. He has scored more league goals at the age of 21 than players like Messi, Ronaldo, Falcao and many many more. He couldn’t make an impact at Chelsea but did very well during his loan spells at West Brom and then Everton. Everton have now purchased him permanently for a club record fee. He has been a regular in the Belgium national team. Lukaku is fast, strong and has deadly finishing making him the perfect man to lead the line for the best U21 players team.

Narrowly missing out: Stephan El Shaarawy (AC Milan/Italy), Mauro Icardi (Internazionale/Argentina)