U21 Spotlight: Marvin Sordell

Watford, thus far, have managed to set a very impressive record with their goalscoring ways.  All 21 goals scored by Watford have been by English players, and with them sitting in an unexpected 4th place, they'll hope the goals keep coming.  Marvin Sordell has played a big part in this record, scoring 5 of the goals (plus another goal in the League Cup), just one goal behind top scorer Danny Graham.

The Hornets are starting to develop a name for themselves with developing young talent.  It was at Watford where Ashley Young, before he moved to Aston Villa in 2007 for a club record fee, started to showcase what he has to offer.  More recently such talents like Scott Loach, first-team England U21 goalkeeper, and Sordell are still playing their trade at Vicarage Road.  And we can't forget where David James started his career before he made a name for himself with Liverpool.

Sordell's career, however, started at neighbouring London club Fulham where he played as a schoolboy.  Then he moved onto Watford and signed up for a two-year scholarship in 2007.  In 2008, he was loaned out to non-league side Wealdstone for a work experience placement (yes, even professional footballers have these).  He scored 2 goals during his short stint there where he made 5 appearances.

[caption id="attachment_224" align="aligncenter" width="320" caption="Instant impact: Sordell didn't hang around to showcase his talents for Watford"][/caption]

After impressing during his scholarship, Sordell signed a professional contract with the Hornets in 2009.  He made his professional debut only 2 games into the new season, replacing experienced striker Nathan Ellington in a 2-0 away defeat against Sheffield United.  Only 10 days later he managed his first senior goal too, forcing an eventual 2-1 loss to Leeds in the League Cup to extra time.

Manager Malky Mackay saw the player as a prospect, so during the January 2010 transfer window he was sent out on loan to League One Tranmere Rovers to gain more first-team experience.  The loan deal was initially for one-month but was later extended.  In total, Sordell managed 1 goal for the Merseyside team in 8 appearances.

As the tail-end of the 2009/10 season approached, Mackay opted to put his faith in Sordell and give the youngster some playing time, despite Watford having a potentially nervy end to the season.  He repaid the manager's faith by scoring a fantastic goal against Coventry, tipping off a 4-0 victory to regain the air of confidence in the squad.

[caption id="attachment_225" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Eye for goal: Sordell has managed 5 league goals already this season (Getty Images)."][/caption]

Fast forward to the 2010/11 season and Sordell has proved his worth.  As mentioned above, the young striker has managed 5 league goals in 10 games (achieving the desired 1 in 2 ratio so far) and they don't seem to be stopping quite yet.

As a reward for this fine form, in late September, Marvin was offered a new contract to hold him down at Vicarage Road.  A fine plan by the team as he seems to be following in the footsteps of previous youth successes.  It's not just the board and backroom staff who have noticed his talents either - Sordell was also nominated for Championship Player of the Month for September.

However, in signing a new contract with the club, he has shown good values and a level head in terms of the future.  Sordell was quoted in saying "...there is a long way to go before I can feel established...I can't afford to get carried away just because I have scored a few goals".  For a young player to have such modesty is a great thing to see, and will no doubt help him along his development.

[caption id="attachment_226" align="aligncenter" width="320" caption="Pace: Sordell uses his pace to his advantage in the final third."][/caption]

With the future of English football being heavily under the public eye in light of the disappointing World Cup campaign, players like Sordell are many years away from achieving such accolades, but will no doubt be one of the many players under the watchful eye of whoever will be England manager come the 2014 World Cup.  The first step for the player will be U21 caps, and if his form continues, Stuart Pearce would be a fool to pass up his talents.

U21 Spotlight: Neil Taylor

In the first of many, we're setting the spotlight on an up and coming prospect outside of the Premier League.  This week all eyes will be on new Swansea City signing; Neil Taylor.

Taylor was signed from Wrexham in this years Summer transfer window for a fee, only recently settled, of £150,000.  The Swans were in dire need of a left-back after losing previous full-back Federico Bessone from a free transfer to Leeds United and mainly relying on the, near enough, Libero Alan Tate to play in the position last season.

The signing of Taylor was met with mixed feelings by the Swansea fans.  Whether he would make the step up comfortably from Blue Square Premier level to promotion-chasing Championship level was to be seen but he was seen as a good prospect to the future and added another Welsh player into the ranks of the South Wales side.

Taylor started his footballing career at a young age, joining the academy at Manchester City at the age of 9 where he spent six years with the Manchester club.  However, his City career was brought to a halt after suffering an injury which prompted him to move on, where he opted to move closer to home with Wrexham.

[caption id="attachment_150" align="aligncenter" width="460" caption="Dragon: Taylor returned to his home country to showcase his bright future."][/caption]

He joined the Wrexham academy at age 16 in 2007 and did not take long to sign a professional contract.  Taylor made his debut for the Dragons in a Round 2 League Cup match against Villa, coming on as a substitute in the final 10 minutes.  Unfortunately for him, Villa were 5-0 up at the time.  He made his full debut for Wrexham a month later in a League Two match against Stockport.  From there he became a regular figure in the back 4 for the Wrexham which lead to Brian Flynn calling up Taylor to the Welsh U21 squad.

Following his success with Wrexham, earning 13 caps at U21 level, Swansea City were reported to be interested in the left-back.  The reported interest came at a high when the Welshman declined a new contract offer from the Dragons in April 2010.

[caption id="attachment_151" align="aligncenter" width="320" caption="White Is the New Red: Swansea confirmed the signing of Neil Taylor for their 2010/11 campaign."][/caption]

After 75 appearances and 3 goals for Wrexham, the eventual signing was confirmed at the end of June 2010,where the Swans swooped for Taylor with a to be confirmed compensation fee (agreed to be £150,000 plus 10% of any future profit earlier this month) due to the player being under-24 and out of contract with his club.

Neil secured his debut for Swansea coming on as a half-time substitute for Albert Serran.  Since then, Taylor has come in to solve the left-back problem for the South Wales club, making six appearences so far and even with the return to fitness of the regular back four of Tate, Monk, Williams and Rangel - Taylor seems bullish to keep his place in the starting eleven.

There has even been reported Premier League interest for the highly-rated Welshman already, but for the meantime, Taylor will be determined to help the Swans become the first Welsh Premier League team.  However, this reported interest can only be good for the player, and a good sign for the national team with a barrage of promising youth players coming through - most of whom have started their full international careers already.