Former England midfielder Kieron Dyer admits he enjoyed an eye-opening few days with the Young Lions last month.
Now part of the academy coaching staff with Ipswich Town, where he began his own playing career in the late 1990s, Dyer joined Paul Simpson’s squad for their games with Italy and Czech Republic in October.
The ex-Newcastle United, West Ham and QPR man, currently studying for his coaching A Licence, is in charge of Ipswich’s U18s this season following a spell with their U16s last term.
And he admits seeing how Simpson and his staff work both on and off the pitch at St. George’s Park has given him plenty of inspiration as he pursues his own coaching journey.
"I was blown away. The quality of the training was just...wow," said Dyer.
"I’m really excited. I cannot wait to get back to Ipswich and experiment with some of things I picked up.
"In those four or five days, I learnt so much and now I can see why England are winning all the youth tournaments and why the seniors are doing well because the attention to detail is mind blowing.
"They study the opposition like you wouldn’t believe. They have games plans A, B, C, D, E, F - my brain was frazzled by the amount of meetings and information.
"I thought I was doing alright in terms of the level of preparations, detail and player management, but now I’ve seen what England do I realise I’m nowhere near. What they are doing is on another planet."
Dyer won 33 senior caps for the Three Lions and also represented England at U21, U20 and U18 level during his own career.
With a natural progression into coaching since his playing days came to an end in 2013, he’s now putting in the hours with his hometown club and explains how his involvement with the Young Lions came about.
"When Bryan (Klug, Ipswich Town’s academy manager) was caretaker, he called me up ahead of the Aston Villa game [in April] and said: ‘Can you come to the ground early for a chat?’
"When I turned up he put me in a room with England U18 coach Neil Dewsnip. He told me how keen the FA were keen to help me achieve my coaching badges as quickly as possible and how they would like me to be involved with one of the England teams next season.
"In the end it turned out I couldn’t be appointed officially as a coach as I was still in the process of getting my A Licence, but they said they’d still like me to be involved and come along to training camps.
"I think the FA realise that some of the players from my era have a lot of knowledge to pass on to the next generation. They are worried that so many of them are retiring straight into well-paid, comfortable media jobs so they are keen to make coaching worthwhile for us.
"I’m three quarters of my way through the A Licence now. That would qualify me to coach in the Championship and below, but I’d need to get my Pro Licence to work in the Premier League.
"I want to work through them all as quickly as possible because you never know what’s around the corner."
England U20s are back in action when they play Germany in Colchester on Monday 19 November. Tickets cost just £3 for adults and £1 for juniors.
Dyer was speaking to the East Anglian Daily Times.
