Last night, in the European U21 Championships, the England U21 side were in action against France.
With high hopes that the U21 side could do well in this competition, the England side slipped to a defeat against France, a side that are tipped to go all the way.
England had led, 1-0, courtesy of a fine individual goal by the Manchester City midfielder, Phil Foden, before a calamitous six-minute spell, late-on, left England with it all to do in the remainder of the competition.
In the 89th minute, France equalised through Ikone and then snatched an unlikely victory, five minutes into stoppage time, when Wan-Bissaka scored an own goal.
However, despite the defeat, the make-up of the England U21 side augurs well for Chelsea’s future.
The side that finished the game had no less than five Chelsea youngsters in it, with the roll of honour being:
• Jay Dasilva
• Fikayo Tomori
• Jake Clarke-Salter
• Mason Mount
• Tammy Abraham
All 5 were, incidentally, out on loan last season, but with a two-window transfer ban to see out, a golden chance exists for any of those five to make the breakthrough at Chelsea Football Club and reverse the worrying trend whereby youth doesn’t bridge the enormous gap that exists between the two levels of football.
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