England U21s beat Poland 3-0 at the Euros

Defensively he has been fine; it's just crossing once he gets forward that has been bloody awful! We've already seen that for ourselves...

Right backs need to be able to deliver that service these days, so maybe this lad needs to be back up to the central defenders and let Kenny step up as back-up to Coleman. I suspect Koeman will plug the right-back gap with a signing.

Ah, didn't really mean for this to turn into an attack on Holgate. Sorry.

Either way, it still looks like we're going to need a right-back, and fast... the Lord alone knows when Coleman will be back, Holgate won't cut it as a full back, and Kenny has not been tested properly in a competitive environment.

Last game, the kid who came on for him was good going forward and provided the service Holgate couldn't, but was soon found out defensively and was targeted the last part of the game and was hopelessly out of position/outplayed in the defensive part, so neither one nor the other was perfect.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vl22C4rsbpE

Gray has just given England the lead.

Commentators Tyler and Smith failed to acknowledge the pass by Pickford!!!!

Where do they get these England Junior team coaches from?! Southgate included.

Like the coach that just won the U20 World Cup?

Paul Simpson, England Under-20 manager in Poland for 5 live; Posted at 19:52

What a great finish. Great ball out from Pickford as well. He played it out to Chilwell, unbelievable first touch and after that it was all about Gray. That caps off a good start and now we have to stay on the front foot.

Murphy has now scored a second so it's 2-0 England.

Holgate was solid but suffers at right back. He just isn't an attacking right back and the Sky commentators are quick to put the knife in. He's a good centre back, and I hope he gets game time in that position – he looks a class act to me.

There are pundits that acknowledge Everton out there.

This was quickly followed by a terrible clearance – under no pressure, he passed the ball straight to a Polish player who was outside of the box. Again, the Pole fluffed it. I think we've been sold a dummy.

Mason was very solid, couple of nice smooth takeaways. Crossing still woeful, playing him ahead of Kenny would questionable.

All for seeing him at centre-back in the Europa League.

Perhaps the best signing would be the youth team centre-back's coach from there!

Dunno about your call on Holgate, Dave.

First, very few of us have really seen him play at centre-back. He has primarily been used by Koeman with the first team at right-back, and only fleetingly as one of a back three playing a wide right centre-back, rather than down the middle.

I can understand why – like many other managers – Koeman is doing this. Holgate will, in all likelihood, end up as a centre-back, but he still shows a tendency to switch off a tad defensively and players get a run on him or time their jump better than him. Best not to expose him too early to the centre-back position until he improves this aspect of his game.

I don't agree at all with your call that he lacks aggression and is too nice. He has shown plenty of edge to his game and is not fazed by reputation.

I recall one game – maybe against Man City and their 'super-stars'? – Davies was taken out and Holgate (and Davies himself) were right in the face of the opposition player. It was really good to see because Everton has had too many 'nice' players down the years, so I liked to see the young 'uns standing their ground.

I'm confident he can make a career for himself at the highest level.

And of course, you and I are both smitten by Jonjoe Kenny and have high hopes that he can come in and do a job in Coleman's absence.

Don't forget, Seamus wasn't a barnburner in his early days at Goodison and was sent out on loan.

If he fills out more, he could be a central defender but, with the game changing regarding defensive line-ups, he could still do an effective job for Everton.

I have seen him quite a few times at centre-back in the U23 teams and he is a lot more comfortable bringing the ball out of defence there than either Jagielka or Williams who patently don't want the ball to bring it out of defence; they are good stoppers but not footballers.

The way the absurd transfer market is today, Kenny and Holgate could both go upwards of £5M each.

I also like what you mention about Holgate. He looks very tidy and composed on the ball, even in tight situations in the Premier League.

He seems to have a better 'balance' to his game when to show that composure and when to simply welly it away than, say, John Stones (who remains a great talent in my eyes) who overplayed the 'ole' moments in defence.

Hopefully, both Holgate and Kenny (and others) continue to develop and we can add a digit or two either side of that £5m number you quote!

Agree with you about Galloway, too. Another not given to backing down. However, his development seemingly stalled even in Roberto's last season with us and last season was rather a wasted one for him with the loan to WBA simply not working out.

Got some ground to catch up has the lad.

To add to the spicy, spiky young bucks currently at Everton, I think you can add Kenny and Liam Walsh to that number as well. Battlers, not bottlers, the pair of 'em.

Along with others, I've been saying for ages we needs more 'narks' in the side who hate losing.

Eds, any reason why he is being airbrushed from history like Leon Trotsky?

I know it was off topic but considering some of the meanderings on other threads, hardly out of the question. Just curious if the policy is as arbitrary as it seems.

Threads do wander and flap about a bit, but sometimes off-topic posts will be on another valid topic; as in this case, we create a new thread and move them over, albeit after the fact. Not the perfect solution, but that's how we do it.

Looking forward to seeing him at centre-back rather than right-back.