Every weekend we pick out one under-23 player from around Europe and analyse their performance to provide you with an in-depth scouting report.
This week, we focus on England’s 0-0 draw with Germany in an international friendly as Crystal Palace midfielder Ruben Loftus-Cheek, on loan from Chelsea, was handed his Three Lions debut.
Shots – 0
Touches – 67
Passes – 52
Key passes – 2
Pass Accuracy – 96.2&
Aerials Won – 1
Dribbles – 4
Dispossessed – 1
Tackles – 0
Loftus-Cheek with double nutmeg tho #ENGGER pic.twitter.com/WVdiWrUXgG
— FN (@Footballuno) November 10, 2017
It may have been Loftus-Cheek’s first game in an England shirt but you wouldn’t think it based on his performance. The midfielder oozed confidence and was composed and certain in everything he did.
Eric Dier may have made the most passes for England but it was Loftus-Cheek who ran the show in midfield. His pace, dribbling, vision and passing all came to the fore and virtually every promising attack from the hosts went through him.
Playing in behind the two strikers, he dropped into pockets of space brilliantly and picked out some sublime passes with unerring ease. Early on in the game, he even made a couple of German players look a bit silly with some outrageous skill before eventually winning a free-kick.
He orchestrated England’s play in the final third but was excellent at dropping deep and spraying passes forward from a withdrawn position as well.
However, while he looked likely to create something every time he found the all at his feet, he didn’t offer too much in winning possession back, failing to register any tackles or interceptions and didn’t trouble the goal either with no shots.
Having said that, his decision-making and effectiveness on the ball was near-perfect.
10th min PASS: Loftus-Cheek has time on the ball and sprays a pass forward for Tammy Abraham’s run but the striker can’t quite keep it from going out for a goal-kick.
18th min SKILL: In a tight space on the right wing, Loftus-Cheek gets away from Leroy Sane with some quick feet before nutmegging Halstenberg and then drawing the foul from Rudiger.
45th min PASS: Loftus-Cheek plays a sublime ball over the top of the German defence for Jamie Vardy but the striker’s attempt to poke it past the keeper is miscued and nearly falls for Abraham who is beaten to it by Kimmich.
59th min PASS: Another lobbed pass from Loftus-Cheek pierces the heart of the German defence and finds Eric Dier whose ball across the face of goal is turned behind for a corner.
62nd min PASS: More clever play from Loftus-Cheek in midfield sees him drive forward with the ball before setting Marcus Rashford off on the left but the Manchester United man eventually runs it out of play.
Ruben Loftus-Cheek (L)
Dele Alli has been a mainstay in England’s starting line-up for a while now without any real competition given Wayne Rooney’s decline, but he’ll be looking over his shoulder if Loftus-Cheek’s debut is anything to go by.
The midfielder bossed the game against Germany, showed plenty of athleticism, vision and composure. The only thing missing from his performance was a goal. He proved that he’s ready to play on the big stage and will be gunning for a starting berth. England have found themselves a more than able back up for the Spurs attacking midfielder.
