England boss Roy Hodgson has revealed his plans to help the under 21 team excelled at the upcoming European championships.
England under 21 manager Gareth Southgate will be given the opportunity to pick as much as four senior players who will be eligible to represent the under 21 team. Players like Raheem Sterling and Jack Wilshere have made it straight to the senior team without a long spell in the youth teams. However, they will still be capable of representing the under 21 team as they are only 19 and 22 respectively.
Hodgson has worked extremely hard in order to reduce the average age of the team. He took only a handful of experienced players for the World Cup 2014. Even though the results in Brazil were not good, it was a great learning curve for the likes of Wilshere.
It appears to have made an impact on the team as they have been doing impressively well in the early part of the Euro 2016 qualifying campaign. Southgate has recently explored the possibility of naming players like Luke Shaw, Calum Chambers, Sterling, and Wilshere as part of the under 21 team. Since England are not going to be involved much – apart from a few qualification matches – in the summer, Hodgson is ready to allow young players join up with the under 21 team.
“My policy is this: after Gareth Southgate has picked his squad I will pick my squad.I will take whatever is left. Can it be simpler than that? He can pick any Under-21s who are available and I will take the rest. He will speak to me, tell me what he wants to do, and I can’t be fairer than to say it is his choice. He will be under no pressure from me,” said the former Liverpool boss.