Ambitious young United ace Tom Cleverley has a message for the City stars hogging the England limelight: “We are after your places.”
The up-and-coming Old Trafford midfielder – back at the club after a successful season-long loan at Wigan – is hoping the current England Under-21s can copy their German counterpart’s blueprint and become the core of the senior side.
And he wants the Red contingent at the junior level to step up and contest City’s domination of the senior England team.
In the early 2000s Sven-Goran Eriksson had Gary Neville, David Beckham, Nicky Butt and Paul Scholes as the heartbeat of his England side.
Last September Fabio Capello’s 3-1 victory in Switzerland in an early Euro 2012 qualifier was fashioned with four Eastlands starters in the Italian’s XI.
And Joe Hart, Joleon Lescott, Gareth Barry and James Milner were later joined on the pitch by Adam Johnson and Shaun Wright-Phillips.
Today Cleverley and Old Trafford colleagues Chris Smalling and Danny Welbeck flew to Denmark with Stuart Pearce’s Under-21s for the European Championships.
Their bid for silverware kicks off on Sunday against Spain and continues with group games against Ukraine and Czech Republic.
“I can’t wait,” said Cleverley. “This is a promising squad full of talent and team spirit.
“It is the best international group I have been involved with. This is special not only because of the quality but also because of the spirit and togetherness.”
Two summers ago in Sweden Pearce’s England finalists were given a tough lesson against Germany’s youngsters in Malmo when they lost 4-0.
Twelve months later four of those German youngsters – Manuel Neuer, Mesut Ozil, Jerome Boateng and Sami Khedira – were in the World Cup side that humiliated England’s seniors 4-1 in Bloemfontein.
Only City’s James Milner had made it to Capello’s seniors for that crushing blow in South Africa.
The up-and-coming Old Trafford midfielder – back at the club after a successful season-long loan at Wigan – is hoping the current England Under-21s can copy their German counterpart’s blueprint and become the core of the senior side.
And he wants the Red contingent at the junior level to step up and contest City’s domination of the senior England team.
In the early 2000s Sven-Goran Eriksson had Gary Neville, David Beckham, Nicky Butt and Paul Scholes as the heartbeat of his England side.
Last September Fabio Capello’s 3-1 victory in Switzerland in an early Euro 2012 qualifier was fashioned with four Eastlands starters in the Italian’s XI.
And Joe Hart, Joleon Lescott, Gareth Barry and James Milner were later joined on the pitch by Adam Johnson and Shaun Wright-Phillips.
Today Cleverley and Old Trafford colleagues Chris Smalling and Danny Welbeck flew to Denmark with Stuart Pearce’s Under-21s for the European Championships.
Their bid for silverware kicks off on Sunday against Spain and continues with group games against Ukraine and Czech Republic.
“I can’t wait,” said Cleverley. “This is a promising squad full of talent and team spirit.
“It is the best international group I have been involved with. This is special not only because of the quality but also because of the spirit and togetherness.”
Two summers ago in Sweden Pearce’s England finalists were given a tough lesson against Germany’s youngsters in Malmo when they lost 4-0.
Twelve months later four of those German youngsters – Manuel Neuer, Mesut Ozil, Jerome Boateng and Sami Khedira – were in the World Cup side that humiliated England’s seniors 4-1 in Bloemfontein.
Only City’s James Milner had made it to Capello’s seniors for that crushing blow in South Africa.
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