Anyone seeking an insight beyond the Capello era had to be at Chesterfield’s B2net ÂStadium to watch England’s Class of ’93. These are the 17-year-olds who are quietly being hailed as the most Ânaturally talented group for a Âgeneration.
They lost 1-0 to a full strength Germany, a year older and rightly regarded as the world’s best Under-19 team. It was impossible to Âsuppress flashbacks of Bloemfontein, as the Germans played Âintelligently between the lines and cherished Âpossession.
The purity of age group Âfootball is its principal Âattraction.
ÂResults are not Âeverything.
This was a pivotal learning experience, involving changes in shape and personnel.
Coaches like Noel Blake have a missionary’s zeal, a teacher’s temperament. They accentuate the Âpositive, ask the fundamental question: how good do you want to be?
Blake was answered by boys like Liverpool’s Conor Coady, his captain. He has box-to-box energy, the wit to excel as one of two holding midfielders.
He’ll need strength of character to cope with Âexpectation, aroused by lazy comparisons with Steven ÂGerrard.
But one cameo, a fusion of instinct and technique, augured well. He controlled a headed clearance with a Âcushioned volley, lifted it over a covering defender, and Âfashioned a Âdipping, 25-yard volley which hit the far post.
Blake, who insists relations with clubs are “very goodâ€, was without eight players.
Some, like Everton defender Ross Barkley and Arsenal striker Benik Afobe, were injured. Others, like Chelsea’s Josh McEachran and SouthampÂton’s Alex Oxlade- Chamberlain, had been Âpromoted to the ÂUnder-21s.
In their absence, attention focused on Ipswich’s ÂConnor Wickham. £10million will buy you huge potential, a prime physical specimen.
Wickham needs time to Âperfect playing with his back to goal, while others, like Manchester United’s Will Keane, need to learn to play around him.
The agents are hovering – one parent was offered £100,000 and a house for his son’s signature – and Âpolitical problems persist.
The Premier League has made a power grab in youth football which must be resisted.
These boys must not be victims of old enmities, Ârejected like cats in a sack, hurled into a canal.
They are the future, and they matter.
