Latest news with #U21s
Scottish Sun
8 hours ago
- Sport
- Scottish Sun
‘There's always someone watching' – Samuel Iling-Junior out to gatecrash England's World Cup squad by starring for U21s
His CV is already pretty impressive when it comes to silverware SAM'S PLAN 'There's always someone watching' – Samuel Iling-Junior out to gatecrash England's World Cup squad by starring for U21s Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) SAMUEL ILING-JUNIOR hopes a successful European Championship can springboard him into Aston Villa's first-team - and World Cup contention. The versatile wing-back, 21, arrived at Villa Park from Juventus last summer as part of the deal that took Douglas Luiz in the opposite direction. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 3 Samuel Iling-Junior hopes a big Euros will lead to a breakthrough with both Villa and England Credit: Getty 3 The starlet left Juventus to join Unai Emery's Villa last year Credit: EPA However, he stayed put in Italy to spend the first half of the campaign on loan at Bologna in Serie A and even scored for them in the Champions League. Weeks later Iling-Junior, who originally departed Chelsea for Juve in 2020, was back in England and heading to Middlesbrough. And it was while playing for the Championship club that he decided he wants his future to be at left-back. Iling-Junior, who is battling with Tino Livramento to start there for England U21s in Thursday's Euros opening against Czech Republic, said: 'I definitely settled into the left-back role and going up and down the pitch [at Boro]. I enjoyed that, bringing my parts into the team with assists, tricks and being creative. 'It's an honour to be one of the players that the manager has chosen and I want to repay that on the pitch. 'Tino has obviously had that great season with Newcastle. The competition is always healthy. If I can bring out the best of him and he brings out the best of me and we go and win the tournament then it's happy days.' Iling-Junior has represented England at every level bar the seniors and has seen several of his team-mates graduate into the Three Lions first-team. And he knows this month's tournament in Slovakia could lead to a huge season ahead for him at both club and international level as he revealed his ambitions for the coming 12 months. BEST FREE BETS AND BETTING SIGN UP OFFERS He said: 'You have to put the World Cup in your sights and knock on that door or at least put myself in a position to be knocking on that door. 'There's a pathway and there's always someone watching. All the boys that have made their debut from the U21s and are now in that squad, that just goes to show that if you keep putting your mind to it and work with the coaches then you'll get repaid for your hard work. England's biggest divers of the season crowned... as shocking record revealed 'And definitely get back into Villa after this tournament and have some conversations and make an impact there as well. 'Unai Emery has always had conversations with me, so that helps. and he's kept track of my loans. So that's definitely a good relationship and once we get back after the tournament then we'll have those conversations. 'But, for now, it's definitely just focusing on the Euros and we'll see when I get back to Villa.' Iling-Junior has already tasted Euro joy with England at U19 level and was part of the Juventus side alongside the likes of Dusan Vlahovic and Adrien Rabiot that beat Atalanta to lift the Coppa Italia last season. 3 He added: 'Winning the Coppa Italia, winning a trophy, is one of the best feelings I've had. 'Juventus is a big, big club and I learned what winning actually meant there, and not just winning, dominating and that's a really nice feeling knowing that you're part of history. 'I enjoyed the pressure there. That gave me motivation each game to go out with a bit of pressure and do what I enjoy. Winning the Euros would definitely be up there with that.' England kick-off their Euro campaign against the Czech Republic on Thursday. They then face Slovenia three days later and finish the group stage against Germany on Wednesday 18 June with all of the Young Lions' matches being broadcast on Channel 4.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
German FA confirms Nick Woltemade will remain with senior team through Sunday
Bundesliga striking sensational Nick Woltemade will be remaining with Julian Nagelsmann's national team this weekend for the UEFA Nations League third-place playoff. This despite statements to the contrary by Nagelsmann himself. The VfB Stuttgart man – pulling double duty with the senior team and German U21s this summer – won't be reporting to Germany U21 head coach Antonio di Salvo's camp. Nagelsmann specifically stated that – after the defeat to Portugal in Wednesday's semi-final fixture – Woltemade would 'go straight to the U21s' . The German FA confirmed that this would not be the case one day later. Woltemade started in his first DFB-senior appearance on Wednesday and came close to scoring in the 19th minute. Advertisement Nagelsmann had positive things to say about the 23-year-old's hour-long-shift. Woltemade's initial cap for the seniors should be followed up by a second in Sunday's match. Clearly, the German FA wants one of Germany's most-watched talents to log more minutes at the highest level. Woltemade will now travel to di Salvo on Sunday evening,. 'He made good use of his first 60 minutes as a senior international,' Nagelsmann said of Woltemade on Wednesday night. 'I wasn't expecting miracles. A young player has a lot to deal with.' GGFN | Peter Weis
The 42
25-05-2025
- Sport
- The 42
Irish U21s boss Jim Crawford on working with Heimir, academy investment, and how to retain talents like Zefi
I GESTURE TO the newly-released Irish U21s squad displayed on the TV screen above us and ask Jim Crawford whom he is most excited about. 'All of them', he says diplomatically, before rattling through each player, giving at least one line on their characteristics. This is Crawford's third full cycle in charge of the U21s, having come agonisingly close to qualifying Ireland for a first tournament at that age group across each of the two previous campaigns. For the 2023 tournament they were beaten on penalties in a play-off against Israel, while for this summer's tournament Ireland were unfortunate to finish third in their group and miss out on the play-offs on goal difference. The next edition of the championships will be held in Albania and Serbia in the summer of 2027, and Ireland's preparations for qualifying begin with a pair of June friendlies against Croatia and Qatar's U23 side. Ireland will likely be fighting for another play-off in qualifying, having been drawn with Lee Carsley's England. Slovakia, Moldova, Kazakhstan, and Andorra complete the group line-up. The best runner-up qualifies automatically, with the rest of the second-placed sides going to a play-off. During those near-misses, Crawford has consistently blooded players who have gone on to be capped at senior level. There are 11 in total: Andrew Omobamidele, Will Smallbone, Evan Ferguson, Festy Ebosele, Andrew Moran, Sinclair Armstrong, Tom Cannon, Mark McGuinness, Jake O'Brien, Finn Azaz and Rocco Vata. Additionally, James Abankwah, David Harrington, Josh Keeley, Joe Hodge, Killian Phillips, Bosun Lawal, and Brian Maher are U21s who have been called up to the senior squad without yet getting capped. (Josh Honohan and John Patrick Finn also feature in the latest senior squad: both have been in Crawford's squad without playing.) The flow of talent to the senior team occasionally caused some frustration, most notably when Stephen Kenny plucked Moran for a senior debut to play in a friendly against New Zealand, ruling him out of U21 qualifiers against Italy and Norway. Crawford says works closely with Heimir Hallgrimsson, who has built a database of players into which Crawford can lean if he so wishes. 'He logs everything about every player', says Crawford of the new senior boss. 'I could ask, 'How is Joe Hodge getting on, how's Andy Moran getting on?', and he has the answer right there. 'He will take up players from the U21s, which is fine, but he is open to saying, they are our players, so if they are not going to play meaningful minutes with the senior team, they can represent Ireland at 21s level too. That mindset of Heimir's is appealing for a 21s manager.' Advertisement Crawford with Hallgrimsson at Dalymount Park last year. James Crombie / INPHO James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO Asked whether he sees qualification or player development as his primary job, Crawford says they go 'hand in hand.' 'Our job is to develop players, get them to understand what's required at international football', he says. 'We want to get to finals. It would be nice to measure the development that would come from that experience. Qualifying for a tournament puts you on a stage, and God knows where your career can go from there. I would love the players to be given that opportunity.' Part of that player development role is acknowledging that any player's progress is not linear. Evan Ferguson has been the latest to learn that brutal fact, as his total minutes played in this season's Premier League has fallen by more than two-thirds on last year. Crawford says he and his staff give additional attention to any players who are struggling at club level, running through clips of their international games on what they can improve but, crucially, what they already do well. Crawford sees his job as equipping his players with the tools to deal with 'chaos' on the pitch, and this is another version of that, albeit a kind of chaos with a longer arc. He is unsurprisingly on message as to the importance of academy investment in Irish football, repeating the need to create a 'football industry' in this country. The FAI are hoping to get a government commitment to funding LOI academies in October's budget, and Crawford talks of 'when' the money comes, not if. 'I'm a positive thinker in that respect', he replies when I point that out. 'I have the luxury of working with Paul McShane and Rene Gilmartin, who are on the grass with Manchester United and Ipswich', he says. 'The game is evolving all the time and they are coming back with ideas that are circulating there. We need that over here. That comes from working and thinking about the game every day, as there's an industry there. 'We certainly need to get money into our academies. It's the foundation of everything. 'There's raw talent there, but can we get more quality contact hours with the players, led by full-time staff? Long-term, you're asking, Can we get a really competitive games programme, as opposed to teams winning too comfortably every week. 'Will you learn from winning 5-0 or 6-0? You'll learn a little bit. But when you go to an academy in England, for example Aston Villa, you have West Brom and other local teams where it's a challenge every week. Things you've worked on, say it's types of crosses out wide, that is being challenged every week. If you're an academy team winning comfortably here every week, are you being challenged defensively?' The flipside of this is these academies can become stagnating environments, and it at U21 level that the drawbacks of wallowing for too long outside of the cut-throat professional world become apparent. 'There's no one-size fits all', says Crawford. 'I'm certainly not against academies in England, they are great. Some players need it. But how long is that shelf life? I'm not going to name players, but I've seen players still playing U21 football who need to get out, they've become stale. 'That next challenge, where you need points, you need to win; there's jobs at stake and your contract is at stake: they need to tase that, they need to smell that. They need to get in a first-team dressing room where it is about results.' Crawford looks to the squad list in front of him and picks out the names of Warren Davis and Cathal O'Sullivan, who are among those already doing this in the League of Ireland. Not included in this latest squad is Kevin Zefi, the Shamrock Rovers academy talent who left for Inter Milan and is now at Roma. Zefi is also eligible to play for Albania, for whom he was called up last year to play an underage friendly match. Zefi wasn't eligible to play as he has not requested a transfer from the FAI, and Crawford says Zefi still hasn't told him he intends to switch. Crawford spoke to Zefi before announcing this squad, again stressing he needed to play regular football to deserve his place. Managing flight risks is another integral part of Crawford's role. The fight for talent among international teams is more intense than it has ever been, and where the English FA's astonishing laxity on the matter played to Ireland's glorious advantage in the Jack Charlton years, they have long-since changed tack. Their aggression in this area is summed up by the fact Gary Brazil left a role at Nottingham Forest two years ago to become the FA's head of recruitment and retention. (The FAI belatedly followed suit by hiring Aidan Price as their head of talent ID and recruitment in March.) When players eligible to represent another country report for U21s duty, Crawford and his staff sit down with the player to talk about what it means to be an Irish footballer. He swerves the history books, instead focusing on the football. They talk about the player's Irish heritage, and to which country their ancestors belong to, in Crawford's words, 'connect them to their bloodline and make them feel as Irish as they can.' 'Retaining is huge', says Crawford. 'All we can do is to first of all be organised, that when the player comes in that they enjoy it. That they feel Irish. We make them aware of their heritage, and what it means to be an Ireland player. 'So for example when Jacob [Devaney of Manchester United] comes in, we will talk to him about Dublin – his mum's side are from Foxrock – and his Dad's from Mayo. We'll ask him what he does, does he visit his grandparents there often? 'We ask them, how do you view being Irish? And how do opposition view us? They all say 'hard work', but often miss out on the technical quality. I say, 'Hold on, we have technical players here. Let's not forget that.'' Crawford says the sweetest part of any qualification would be the validation and joy it would give to his staff, but he is deserving of the largest slice of credit. Perhaps it's going to be third time lucky.
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Evening Standard
23-05-2025
- Sport
- Evening Standard
England: Thomas Tuchel explains Dominic Solanke and Adam Wharton snubs for latest squad
'It is the last chance for most of them to be picked in the U21s. From September, they fight for a place in the national team and they fight against big, big players. I think they will embrace it, to now play a Euros with the U21s, and that's what we want for them: to take responsibility. This will play a big part in their development; I am absolutely convinced.'
BBC News
05-05-2025
- Business
- BBC News
'We couldn't wait 10 years to bring players through'
Brentford made headlines when scrapping their academy and instead created a new, innovative B team model in 2016. In part, due to the new Premier League rules, Brentford have re-started an academy in what might, on first look, seem like a u-turn. However, the B team remains and this is a club in a very different position to where it was 10 years ago, as director of football Phil Giles, explained: "We had an academy but closed it in 2016. The reason for that was that we were a very small Championship club with low revenue and the spend on the academy wasn't meteoric but still big enough and we felt if we wanted promotion we had to spend every penny on that target."We couldn't wait 10 years to bring players through, we wanted promotion to establish some revenues. "That's why we focused on our first team and B team. The idea with the B team was these are players closer to the first team, capable of making a genuine impact -players like Mads Roerslev and Marcus Forss came through that for our promotion team. "When we got promoted, we reviewed it and considered re-opening the academy because our revenues improved. Brexit had an impact because it limits overseas player availability but also increases demand on British players from all other clubs across the Football League. "We, for example, sold Fin Stevens to St Pauli from our B team, so that has changed. We also need more youth teams to get our Uefa license if we end up playing in Europe, and the final thing was the Premier League mandate changed the rules to tell us to open an academy so that was the final thing tipping us over the edge to do it."He added at the launch of the new academy building: "The B team still exists and will do what it has been doing but will now have a pipeline from Under-9s to the B team, which also plays in Premier League 2, as Under-21s, but also play the same bespoke games as they always have done. The B team is still the link to the first team."Academy director Stephen Torpey, formerly a coach at Liverpool and Manchester City, further explained: "We treat it like a private school for footballers. "There are more coaches available, about five-to-one with combined age groups at younger levels, which allows us to give more tailored, bespoke programmes and give an opportunity to grow. "We also encourage kids to continue playing grassroots sport to aid their friendships away from Brentford and take some of the pressure off. We've recruited 114 players and hired 54 full-time staff members with around 30 part-time staff on top to build out that team. "We are the first club ever to go from a Category 4 academy to Category 2 and the next step will be adding an indoor pitch, a dome, to get to Category 1. "Our Under-18s were the first men's team to have a female coach in Lydia Bedford. Our B team, which fulfil the U21s programme could get in the play-offs, we're in the final of Premier League Cup, competing against Monaco and Nice in the Atlantic Cup."As a dad of four myself - I know it is about caring first and we want to be the most caring, progressive academy, which fits the ethos of the rest of the club."You can read more from Giles as part of a wider interview below.
