What Difference Does Age Make?
Six makes a good point over on his site about the age of the current England squad and as I pointed out in my comment there was talk after the 2002 World Cup that we should, as a nation, forget Euro 2004 and put all our eggs into the 2006 basket.
It's useful therefore to look at who was playing in the England Under-21 team in the two seasons prior to the 2002 World Cup and who has and who hasn't progressed into the national side.
The players who have progressed from the Under-21's in 2000-1 and 2001-2 to the World Cup Squad in 2006 are: Joe Cole, Ashley Cole and Owen Hargreaves (all three went to the 2002 World Cup and played in the opening game against Sweden), Michael Carrick, Peter Crouch, Paul Robinson, Jermain Defoe and John Terry.
Other players in the Under-21's during that period who have been selected for England include: Ledley King, Darius Vassell, Gareth Barry, Luke Young, Scott Parker and Alan Smith. Incidentally the Under-21 teams lost only five out of 21 games over those two seasons.
So what we have seen is fourteen players make the step from Under-21 to full international in the last 4-5 years with eight of them making the World Cup. Of those six not going, King, Young and Smith were all injured last season, Vassell and Barry played in sides at the wrong end of the table and Scott Parker gambled his England career away when he left Charlton for Chelsea instead of waiting for Tottenham or Manchester United to come in.
Looking at whose played in the Under-21's in the two seasons prior to this World Cup the possible long term candidates for the full side are:Nigel Reo-Coker, Dean Ashton, Anton Ferdinand, Darren Bent, Carlton Cole, Steven Taylor (a very underrated centre back) and Michael Dawson(who played in the B International against Belarus). Lennon and Downing have already made the grade.
It's useful therefore to look at who was playing in the England Under-21 team in the two seasons prior to the 2002 World Cup and who has and who hasn't progressed into the national side.
The players who have progressed from the Under-21's in 2000-1 and 2001-2 to the World Cup Squad in 2006 are: Joe Cole, Ashley Cole and Owen Hargreaves (all three went to the 2002 World Cup and played in the opening game against Sweden), Michael Carrick, Peter Crouch, Paul Robinson, Jermain Defoe and John Terry.
Other players in the Under-21's during that period who have been selected for England include: Ledley King, Darius Vassell, Gareth Barry, Luke Young, Scott Parker and Alan Smith. Incidentally the Under-21 teams lost only five out of 21 games over those two seasons.
So what we have seen is fourteen players make the step from Under-21 to full international in the last 4-5 years with eight of them making the World Cup. Of those six not going, King, Young and Smith were all injured last season, Vassell and Barry played in sides at the wrong end of the table and Scott Parker gambled his England career away when he left Charlton for Chelsea instead of waiting for Tottenham or Manchester United to come in.
Looking at whose played in the Under-21's in the two seasons prior to this World Cup the possible long term candidates for the full side are:Nigel Reo-Coker, Dean Ashton, Anton Ferdinand, Darren Bent, Carlton Cole, Steven Taylor (a very underrated centre back) and Michael Dawson(who played in the B International against Belarus). Lennon and Downing have already made the grade.
posted by Paul at
1:23 pm
1 Comments:
You're absolutely spot on about Parker. I really hope the Chelsea experience doesn't taint his whole career. He really is a very talented player, althugh along with Wright Phillips, it may be that he was a big fish in a medium sized pond and that's where he'll stay. I remember a time when Luke Chadwick seemed to be destined for gretaness. Lol.
By
Crispin Heath, at 1:44 pm
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