Roberto Martínez has questioned the need for Gareth Southgate to call Ross Barkley and other young players with senior England caps into his Under-21 squad for next summer’s European Championship.
Southgate’s Under-21s secured their place with a 10th successive win, a 4-2 aggregate victory over Croatia completed on Tuesday. Yet despite the evident ability within the present squad there have already been suggestions that Barkley, along with others such as Calum Chambers and Phil Jones, could be drafted in to bolster England’s chances of winning the competition in the Czech Republic.
“I don’t really understand why anyone would want to do that,” the Everton manager said. “If the Under-21s have qualified as a group why do you need to look at names outside that group if the object of the exercise is to produce players for the senior side? You might do better in the tournament, but what are you going to learn from it, and what is going to be the knock-on effect on the Under-21 players who have to make way? The development of players is supposed to be the priority. We should not always be focusing on the names in this case, we should be looking to develop a way of playing.
“Gareth Southgate is already doing that quite effectively with the players at his disposal. Bringing in big names might not work any way, because it doesn’t follow that England would play as well as a team after making changes, but it could also have a negative effect on players who have already graduated to the senior side.What is the point of going backwards? It defeats the object of the whole thing.”
Martínez would not necessarily stand in Barkley’s way should he receive a call from the Under-21s but he suspects Southgate agrees with him about prioritising player development. “I get the impression Gareth sees the bigger picture and knows exactly what he wants to do,” he said. “It would be easy for me to say Ross should not go to the Under-21s, but if they feel he is needed for some specific reason I would not have a problem.
“Maybe if a player has missed a lot of the season through injury and needs some game time it might not be a bad idea either, but in general what we need to keep in mind is that the objective of the Under-21s is to provide players for the senior team.
“Once you have reached the senior team, and grown mentally as a result, I don’t think it is healthy to be sent back to the Under-21s, not for the player or for the rest of the squad. It would be like me asking Ross to play for Everton Under-21s because they have an important game to finish top of their league. It might produce a result but what would he get from it? It’s not the aim of the exercise.
“This debate comes along every couple of years and it is about time we had some clarity on the subject. At present someone always ends up being the bad guy, be it the player, the club or the Under-21s manager.
“I would like it to be acknowledged that once players reach the senior squad they don’t go back. Then everyone knows where they stand. That would be much better than the situation we have now, because it is unfair to put young players in a position where they feel they have done something wrong.”
The Arsenal manager, Arsène Wenger, would similarly prefer that Jack Wilshere, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Calum Chambers do not feature for the Under-21s at Euro 2015.
The attitude of Martínez and Wenger was criticised by the former England striker Gary Lineker, who tweeted: “Won’t happen, but I wish PL managers would support their young players’ international careers, not hinder them. All our star under 21 players should go to the finals next summer if fit. Wonderful tournament experience. Other countries insist on it.
“I get managers me, me, me attitude, but wouldn’t it be refreshing if, for once, they thought about the good of the national game?”
Barkley, 20, returned to full training following his pre-season knee injury on Monday and the midfielder could play against Aston Villa on Saturday. “He is really close. He came back on Monday and has reacted extremely well,” said Martínez.
“Sometimes you forget what a sensational footballer he is and when you see him at full flow you realise he is infectious around the place. He is desperate to play.”
