England U19s boss John Peacock is relishing the opportunity to send his young charges out against Germany in Oberhausen on Monday afternoon.
The Germans are the reigning European U19 champions but with Peacock having supplemented his already talented squad with three of the players who won the U17 Euros in May there’s a real buzz around the Young Lions.
Germany v England
U19 International
5pm GMT Monday 8 September 2014
Stadion Niederrhein
Oberhausen, Germany
And Peacock believes this fixture is the best possible preparation for this season’s Euro qualifiers which begin in October.
He said: “A game against Germany is always a key game so I’m looking forward to it.
“They are the current U19 champions with last year’s age group and we are the U17 champions so in that sense there’s a bit of extra spice to it, but more importantly it’s about what this age group can do in the coming year.
“This is good preparation for October.”
Peacock is pleased by the amount of first-team football a number of his young players have received in the past few weeks.
Demarai Gray, Dele Alli, Jack Whatmaugh and Patrick Roberts have become familiar names on their club’s teamsheets this season, while other members of the U19s squad have enjoyed first-team outings in the early rounds of the League Cup.
Peacock believes that kind of exposure to senior football can only assist players in their progression.
He added: “I think the game-time some of these players are getting for their clubs is important.
“Sometimes we say that it can be difficult to get the pathway going into first-team football but there’s quite a lot here that have got that experience.
“For example, Deli Alli has around 50 first-team appearances and that’s quite a lot to have at such a young age.
“I think the experience of playing first-team football can have a lot of benefits.”
“A game against Germany is always a key game so I’m looking forward to it.”
John Peacock U19s Head Coach
Following Monday’s game in Germany, Peacock will hand over the U19s reigns to Sean O’Driscoll and the man who led the U17s to European glory in the summer feels The FA have made a shrewd move.
“Sean’s a good appointment and he’s got a lot of experience as a manager,” said Peacock.
“This will be his first experience as an international manager so it was felt that it would be nice for him to tag along with me this week to get a flavour for it.
“I think he will do really well and I know he’s relishing the challenge.”
