The crop of young lions continue to impress....

Seeing an England team playing in a final of a major tournament seems to be a regular echo over the last few months, and it was the Under 17's turn to make their own history after they WON the under 17's World Cup in India yesterday.

England beat Spain 5 -2 in the final, ironically the same team that beat them in the Under 17's European Championships back in May. After impressing throughout the tournament, which included 2 4-0 wins in the group stage against Iraq and Mexico, it was the 4-1 win against the USA and a 3-1 win against Brazil which really made the nation take notice in the knock out stages. Rhian Brewster, who scored back to back hat tricks in the knock out stages took a lot of the headlines after he took home the golden boot with 8 goals. The young forward; who left Chelsea at the age of 14 to join Liverpool spoke out about how a prep talk by his dad on the phone prompted the sudden bucket load of goals.

After the success of the under 20's, 21's and under 18's the future looks bright for England at international level after a string of frustrating senior team major tournament performances. It does beg the question, will the foreign player dominated Premier League affect these young players development and chances to break into the first teams?

Former England midfielder and multiple trophy winner Frank Lampard sent a powerful message to the players, simply saying " well done, but the hard work starts now!".

It is certainly a year to look back on in pride for the English FA, and a winning mentality that we hope continues until next Summer in Russia!

Who can move Scotland forward at the departure of Gordon Strachan?

With Scotland's failure to qualify for the World Cup next year, manager Gordon Strachan made the decision to step down from his position. Scotland have failed to qualify for 2 major tournaments under Strachan, with the last time they qualified coming back in 1998 in France. Scotland will be looking to put together a serious attempt at qualifying for Euro 2020, and looking be looking to bring in a manager to put together the plans. A few names have been touted, such as David Moyes, current Northen Ireland manager Michael O'Neil, Derek McInnes and even former England boss Sam Allardyce being mentioned.

After being the only country in the British Isles not to qualify for the Euros last Summer, and the latest World Cup qualifying failure, it is a big job for whoever takes the reigns!

Heartbreak for Wales and Scotland, while Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland seal playoff spot!

Just last Summer, Wales were in the final 4 of Euro 2016 however this Summer sees Wales crash out of World Cup qualification after they lost 1 - 0 to Republic of Ireland. Wales, who were without superstar Gareth Bale will not have to chance to replicate their heroics last Summer at a major tournament after West Brom's James McClean scored the winner. The win sees Republic of Ireland secure a place in the playoff, while Northern Ireland, despite losing 1 - 0 to Norway face a tough game as they will be seeded against one of the best winners.

It will be another major tournament without Scotland, after they only managed a draw against Slovenia. Gordon Strachan, who's future is up in the air as his contract runs out was unable to steer his side to Russia despite winning 5 games.

England qualify, but not many are impressed!

So England's place in Russia 2018 for the World Cup is confirmed, after Harry Kane scored his 11th goal for the senior national team in the dying embers of the game against Slovenia on Tursday night. With a lot of nations still working towards the qualification, England in typical fashion have qualified for the World Cup with minimal fuss and an undefeated record.

Despite qualifying, the vast majority of Football fans are less than impressed with the national team after a string of average performances. The 1-0 win against Slovenia certainly won't sell any highlight DVDs, with former International Chris Waddle calling the performance the worst he has seen from an England side. England do have some exciting players at their disposal, such as Raheem Sterling, Harry Kane and Deli Ali to name a few. Harry Kane, who's goals have been huge in this latest campaign and is currently the hot prospect in Europe after scoring goals at will for his club side Tottenham. Despite these players in the team, performances are sluggish and the players just don't seem to use their creative edge over inferior sides.

For manager Gareth Southgate, it seems to be a bit of a thankless task trying to put together a effective plan for, what seems to be a mismatch of players.England take on Litunia today at 4pm, so we may see a few fringe players thrown in to see what they can do and maybe even give England fans something to cheer about!

City and Chelsea with striker headaches..

Your free scoring Centre Forward is pivotal to a successful season in Football; and title contenders Chelsea and Manchester City have both been handed huge blows. After attending a concert in Amsterdam, Sergio Aguero was involved in a car crash while in a taxi. Thankfully the injuries weren't too severe, however some broken ribs means the star striker is ruled out for at least 1 month. Chelsea's new star striker Morata pulled his hamstring against Manchester City on Saturday keeping him ruled out for also at least a month!

Manchester United will be looking to take full advantage of their rivals missing their top strikers!