Everton players excel in England Under 21s Euro championship win

Last night England Under 21’s won the European Championships for the first time since 1984 and several young Everton players contributed significantly to the success.

The young Lions held on to a one nil lead after scoring from a free-kick and then had goalkeeper James Trafford to thank for saving an extra-time penalty to secure victory over Spain.

There were several Everton players in ex-Blues player Lee Carsley’s squad, as both James Garner and Jarrad Branthwaite featured for the side while recent Toffees youngster Anthony Gordon was a key figure up front.

Garner started for Carsley at right-back and excelled in what is not his usual role, something he did for Everton too at the end of last season.

He also played his part in helping England go through the whole tournament without conceding a single goal, which is a new record.

I have written before about how Garner could prove a pivitol player for Everton boss Sean Dyche next season, perhaps filling in at right-back as well.

As for Branthwaite there is still some question marks about his future after he enjoyed a fine campaign with PSV Eindhoven in Holland.

Rumours have circulated that he could leave Goodison Park this summer, so it remains to be seen if he is still on Merseyside when the new season kicks off.

But, apart from these individual players and there futures, there are wider points perhaps to take from this win.

The first is the importance of continuing to develop young talented players who can then go on to represent their countries at various levels and gain vital tournament experince.

Everton have in fact just sold several of such players with the departure of Issac Price and Ishe Samuels-Smith.

While there is a case for cashing in on top young talent when money is desperately needed to strengthen immediately, long-term it makes sense to try and bring youngsters through as much as possible as it can save millions in transfer fees.

Secondly, very few current Blues players have ever won anything in their career’s, whether that is a club or international level.

Now, two of the Toffees current first-team have experienced trophy-winning success this summer and maybe they can build on that and help to create a winning mentality within the rest of the squad. That is certainly needed.

There is also another aspect to this and that is the superb job that Carsley has done managing the Under-21s.

The former Everton midfield enforcer wouldn’t perhaps have been an obvious choice to take over as coach of a modern youth team in the 21st Century St Georges Park era.

In his playing days Carsley was a traditional strong, hard-working ball-winner who very much suited the type of football still commonly seen at the start of the Premier League and under David Moyes stewardship.

However, his England Under-21s side played excellent and progressive attacking football as well as being very solid and consistent defensively. The balance was just about perfect.

So, the question is could he be a possible option if Everton are looking for a new manager anytime soon?

I’m not saying the Blues should be getting rid of Dyche now, but Toffees managers haven’t lasted long over the last four or five years and Carsley is almost certain to be on the radar of Premier League clubs after the success he has masterminded.

Given his connection to the club could he be tempted if the job became available?

Finally, the last time England won this Under-21 Euros was followed by Everton’s best ever campaign as the Toffees won the 1984-85 league championship and European Cup-Winners-Cup.

Of course, I’m not suggesting anything like that is going to happen next season!

But, the Blues had also then been in the doldrums for several years, and maybe this team can take inspiration and make some genuine progress on the pitch after two truly miserable campaigns.