 England won the under-17 European Championships in May
Sir Trevor Brooking says issues over clubs releasing players for England's Under-19 squad at July's European Championships have been resolved. Reports suggested England were struggling to call up four players from Tottenham and Blackburn's Phil Jones. But Brooking, the FA director of development, has spoken to the clubs and ironed out any problems. Brooking said: "It's the best against the best and that has got to be better than a few pre-season games." Brooking told BBC Sport he had spoken to Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp about releasing Steven Caulker, Andros Townsend, John Bostock and Dean Parrett, and the Spurs boss was happy to make them available.  | It's a great honour to play for your country and we wouldn't want to stop them from playing |
Blackburn's Jones will not join the squad as England Under-21 boss Stuart Pearce wants the defender available to step up an age group along with Everton's Jack Rodwell and Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshere. England's Under-19 squad meet up on 12 July and travel to Normandy three days later for games against Austria, the Netherlands and France, while Spain, Portugal, Italy and Croatia are in the other group. Brooking said: "To be fair to the clubs, the timing of the tournament is a bit tricky but it really is the only slot available to Uefa. "Any later in the season and the player-release issue would be just as hard. I think the clubs appreciate that now." Meanwhile, Redknapp confirmed his stance, telling Sky Sports: "I had a word with the chairman and the kids were released. "It's a great honour to play for your country and we wouldn't want to stop them from playing. "It's important, whatever age group, whatever level, it's something you strive for." | MATT SLATER'S BLOG |
There have been concerns about the timing of international tournaments and Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger previously criticised England's decision to take forward Theo Walcott to last year's under-21 European Championship. Wenger felt Walcott should have been given a longer rest period and the former Southampton man subsequently struggled with injuries and a loss of form throughout the season and missed out on the full England squad for the World Cup. Clubs are also concerned with the tournament taking place two weeks into pre-season training as players will miss two weeks of intensive training. However, after England's disappointing showing at the World Cup, where a 4-1 defeat by Germany saw them eliminated in the last 16, the debate over the development of young players has been an ongoing debate. Germany have won the European Championships at every age level over recent years with teams containing players such as Mesut Ozil and Thomas Mueller, who are now starring for the senior side in South Africa. And Brooking believes England can benefit by concentrating on youth tournaments in a similar way: "These tournaments are the only way to really benchmark our players. "There really is no substitute for tournament football. "If you look at the recent winners of this tournament you will see that Spain, France, Portugal and Germany are the big four, so there is a link to what happens in the seniors." For England there are already signs of progress at all youth levels with the under-19 side reaching the final of the European Championships last year before being beaten by Ukraine. The under-21 side also reached the final of the European Championships last year before being beaten 4-0 by Germany, while the U-17 team won the European Championships in May this year.
England Under-19 squad for the European Championships in Normandy, France, July 18-30: Declan Rudd (Norwich City), James Severn (Derby County); Nathan Baker (Aston Villa), Stephen Caulker (Tottenham), Matthew Briggs (Fulham), Reece Brown (Manchester United), Nathaniel Clyne (Crystal Palace), Thomas Cruise (Arsenal), Josh Thompson (Celtic); John Bostock, Dean Parrett, Andros Townsend (all Tottenham), Matthew James (Manchester United), Jacob Mellis (Chelsea), Matthew Phillips (Wycombe); Nathan Delfouneso (Aston Villa), Ryan Donaldson (Newcastle United), Frank Nouble (West Ham).
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