Future is looking brighter for England national team

Last night Arsenal starlet Alex-Oxlade Chamberlain scored a hat-trick for the England under-21’s against Iceland.

The midfielder is just one of a new breed of England youngsters who look like they could have bright futures in the game.

Emergence

The last year or so has seen the emergence of a promising generation of players who look equip to have a good international career. Here are just some of those hoping to make the grade at full international level in the near future:

Phil Jones (Manchester United)

Its crazy to think that United defender Phil Jones is just 19. He made a good start to his Premier League career with Blackburn and he has moved up a notch with the champions. Jones has emerged as one of the best prospects in English football for years.

The fact that most of the top English clubs were competing for his signature this summer suggests that he is a truly special talent. The former-Blackburn star has been compared to England captain John Terry but I believe he has the potential to be far better than the Chelsea star.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (Arsenal)

Chamberlain was player who was tracked from a very early age by the Premier League’s elite clubs. He moved to Arsenal from Southampton this summer for a potential fee of £15million. Chamberlain has been compared to fellow Gunner Theo Walcott but he is a different sort of player to Walcott.

The 18 year-old seems to possess more skill and composure than the England winger and England boss Fabio Capello is believed to be monitoring his progress. His Arsenal career hasn’t taken off yet. However he is likely to be given more time on the pitch by Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger  this season with the Gunners being short of numbers in midfield.

Ross Barkley (Everton)

The 17 year-old midfielder is rated as the best youngster since Wayne Rooney to come out of the Everton youth setup. He has shown in flashes what he can do with a ball already and is part of Stuart Pearce’s under-21 squad.

Barkley has shown confidence beyond his years and in Everton’s first few games was one of the few bright spots. Although he is still young his range of passing and vision is superb. The youngster is already attracting attention from Manchester United.

Danny Welbeck (Manchester United)

The 20 year-old striker has made fantastic progress in the last year of his career. Welbeck clearly benefited from spending last season on-loan at Sunderland and this season has started the season in superb form.

Welbeck’s form has been that good that he has kept last season’s top Premier League goalscorer Dimitar Berbatov out of the team. The youngster has all the attributes to become a top Premier League striker.

Welbeck is in the England squad that has travelled to Podgorica to face Montenegro in the European Championship qualifiers. England under-21 boss Stuart Pearce has revealed that if he doesn’t play for the senior since he would like to have him back in his squad for their game early next week.

Josh McEachran (Chelsea)

The midfielder broke into the Chelsea first team last season and will be hoping for more games in the first team this season. He is one of the few Chelsea youth products to have made the Blues first team and hopes are high that he could be a regular for years to come.

The 18 year-old has made appearances for the England under-21’s and if he gets the chance at Chelsea then a future in international football is likely.

Chance

England need just a point from tonight’s European Championship qualifier in Montenegro to qualify for next years tournament. Some of these youngsters could have a chance of making the squad for that tournament.

If not then they have plenty of years and tournaments left in them. Whoever the next England manager may be will know that he has a bright young crop of players to choose from and the transition from the so called ‘Golden generation’ won’t be a hard one.

Who is the most promising England youngster?