England boss Gareth Southgate has challenged the World Cup winning U20s players not to become complacent and make the most of any first-team opportunities they get next term.
Of the starting XI that beat Venezuela, eight have accumulated less than 90 minutes of Premier League football.
Southgate though, believes for that tally to increase it is not just the managers of the players’ respective clubs who must take accountability.
“A lot of these lads have dipped their toes in the water at first-team level,” he said.
“Part of the responsibility is now over to them: what are they going to do next?
“You can never stand still as a young player – there is always another challenge for you.
“But when you win a tournament like that it shows everybody we’ve got good young players and without an opportunity to go and show that at first-team level then it is very difficult for them to progress.”
England were impressive in Korea from day one, dealing with all that was thrown at them against opposition from five different continents.
And Southgate believes the players have benefited from playing against such varied opposition all year round as they progress through the England ranks.
“A couple of years ago we made the decision to improve the games programme to give our younger teams better experience of playing teams from around the world,” he added.
