Youth players in the EPL

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Cantera

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Was flipping through Chelsea tv, United tv and Liverpool tv this morning. United had an interesting phone in session, their normal Wednesday show.

Lou Macari was there to answer all the calls and he started raising his concern about the youth academy just not being good enough.

He said that the EPL just cannot produce quality youngsters, and he said when was the last time Liverpool produced quality players, the only ones are Carra and Stevie G.

He said in United there are no young players that meet the grade. He said when Scholes, Giggs, Becks were young they were good enough for regular first team football, the manager thought they were ready and played them.

The manager doesnt have faith in the youngsters at the club today.

Is this not a concern for EPL clubs that they are not producing enough young players through their ranks?
 
Cantera said:
Was flipping through Chelsea tv, United tv and Liverpool tv this morning. United had an interesting phone in session, their normal Wednesday show.

Lou Macari was there to answer all the calls and he started raising his concern about the youth academy just not being good enough.

He said that the EPL just cannot produce quality youngsters, and he said when was the last time Liverpool produced quality players, the only ones are Carra and Stevie G.

He said in United there are no young players that meet the grade. He said when Scholes, Giggs, Becks were young they were good enough for regular first team football, the manager thought they were ready and played them.

The manager doesnt have faith in the youngsters at the club today.

Is this not a concern for EPL clubs that they are not producing enough young players through their ranks?
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Ya, look at Foster from United... was so capable until he was thrusted into the limelight... some people just crack under pressure.

Frazier Campbell was capable yet he couldn't match the players currently at United, Welbeck was also capable but he's got a screw loose. Richardson when he was trying to break into United's starting XI but I guess he was way too short and would never displace Giggs from that position on the left.

United is still producing the youth but for Liverpool, arsenal I can definately say there is NO talent coming from there...

@ united SAF is banking on Gibson...
 
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Another interesting to call...

A caller asked the question, could Ronaldo be making his move back to Old Trafford this season? He said he looks unhappy at Real Madrid and he hasnt won anything and maybe he wants to come back to SAF.

He also mentioned maybe their was a buy back clause in his contract - LoL
 
Cantera said:
Another interesting to call...

A caller asked the question, could Ronaldo be making his move back to Old Trafford this season? He said he looks unhappy at Real Madrid and he hasnt won anything and maybe he wants to come back to SAF.

He also mentioned maybe their was a buy back clause in his contract - LoL
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Lol what do you expect? SAF is one of the all time great coaches and SAF is like a father to Ronaldo.

RM doesn't have a decent enough coach to see them win trophies, I mean come on lose to a second division team in the cup? Definately tells you something about the coach :D
 
To be honest, Pellegrini is a brilliant coach. It will be daft to suggest that he isnt good.

He did very well at Real Madrid this season, if it wasnt for Barca playing better than last season, Real Madrid would have won the La Liga.

Getting to 96 points in a single season is no easy task.
 
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Cantera said:
To be honesy, Pellegrini is a brilliant coach. It will be daft to suggest that he isnt good.

He did very well at Real Madrid this season, if it wasnt for Barca playing better than last season, Real Madrid would have won the La Liga.

Getting to 96 points in a single season is no easy task.
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Not trophy winning, good. Definately gotta commend on him reaching 96 points in the league but at the expense of the CL and the cup?
With such a big squad shouldn't he at least try winning all 3?

Perhaps he should have stayed on for another season, seems a bit immature to fire his ass after 1 season, where's the continuity?
 
I think if you look at Clubs like Man Utd, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool, with the amount of investment (Arsenal included as they invest in younger talent as opposed to the finished article, but still spend quite a bit), the younger British kids find it increasingly difficult to break through into the 1st team.

If you look at most of the teams, Chelsea have had one real star player come out of their academy in the last 10 years - John Terry. Is that good enough for the champions of England? I don't think so. Before that they had the likes of Craig Burley, John Harley and Jody Morris, all of whom were in the 1st team for many years until Chelsea's bigger investments started to flood through to take their place.

Same with Arsenal - David Hillier, Parlour, Merson, Stephen Hughes, Scott Marshall, Adrian Clarke, Jermaine Pennant, David Bentley, Jay Bothroyd, James Harper, Matt Connolly, Paul Shaw, Paul Dickov, Niall Quinn, Ian Selley, Graham Barret, Andy Cole, Matthew Upson, John Hartson - 100s more who all played for Arsenal in the first team only to be sold, and replaced by foreigners (who were cheaper and technically better), but they forged good, solid careers elsewhere. Couple that with the likes of Adams and Keown and perhaps Ashley Cole and you will find many internationals in that list who have come through the Arsenal youth team and reserves.

Edit: how could I forget the great Martin Hayes (LOL) and Steve Sidwell!

But, since Wenger has been at Arsenal just as many foreign players have come and gone through the youth ranks as well - the likes of Moritz Volz, Seb Larsson, Luis Boa Morte etc. Man Utd too have started to invest heavily in foreign young players and the Liverpool and Chelsea also have quite a bit.

I don't know how bad it is for the British national teams, but I feel in the end, the best 11 should play, irrespective of nationality. I think it is a benefit to the youth system to have a certain number of talented foreign kids in their for competition sake, and the best players will always rise to the top, irrespective of who is ahead of them. I think the answer is in the quality and not the quantity of the players coming through.

If a player like Jack Wilshere manages one day to push out a player like Nasri or Arshavin or even Cesc himself from the team and claim their place, or Craig Eastmond taking over Diaby or Denilson's place or Gibbs pushing out Clichy, then the policy is a success. If you produce ONE Wayne Rooney or S. Gerrard or Xavi in your bunch, it should be seen as a success.
 
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Cantera said:
To be honesy, Pellegrini is a brilliant coach. It will be daft to suggest that he isnt good.

He did very well at Real Madrid this season, if it wasnt for Barca playing better than last season, Real Madrid would have won the La Liga.

Getting to 96 points in a single season is no easy task.
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Sensible comment - have to agree.

See?! It is not beyond you! :D
 
fishfly said:
Not trophy winning, good. Definately gotta commend on him reaching 96 points in the league but at the expense of the CL and the cup?
With such a big squad shouldn't he at least try winning all 3?

Perhaps he should have stayed on for another season, seems a bit immature to fire his ass after 1 season, where's the continuity?
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Thats Real Madrid for you. Fire Cappelo after winning the La Liga, Fire Del Bosque after winning the La Liga. All because they didnt play a certain brand of football.

If MoAnorinho doesnt win La Liga first time, expect him to get the boot.
 
Cantera said:
Thats Real Madrid for you. Fire Cappelo after winning the La Liga, Fire Del Bosque after winning the La Liga. All because they didnt play a certain brand of football.

If MoAnorinho doesnt win La Liga first time, expect him to get the boot.
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He'll probable get the boot even if he wins the treble :D
 
I honestly can't believe that people are still talking about the English youth system... I mean think about the restrictions in place...

You are not allowed to recruit players that live outside your "zone", or x miles outside your physical location. This was done to stop he big clubs from hoarding the best talent and to try and put the smaller clubs on a level footing. This was done (in part) due to Liverpool, Arsenal and United getting the best youth from around the country. It stinks, it means that young British talent is left out to dry.
 
So you are blaming the restrictions, that is why there is no youth coming through the ranks?
 
Cantera said:
So you are blaming the restrictions, that is why there is no youth coming through the ranks?
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It's the reason no talent is coming through the bigger clubs. They can't get the best talent because the best talent is too far away. Imagine if these restrictions were in place prior to Becks signing for Man United. He would have been at a London club (not Arsenal/Tottenham) and his career and development would have been totally different. It's had a huge impact on the establishment of English players - make no mistake.
 
But still it doesnt explain the fact there is absolutey no talent coming through the clubs youth system.

If one John Terry could be found and developed by the Chelsea youth system, then surely there are other John Terry's out there?
 
Even if there are - and I'm sure there are - then the smaller clubs are getting them and their talent is being squashed. I wouldn't expect you to understand anything, thinking must be difficult at this time of the day for you...
 
smokey said:
Even if there are - and I'm sure there are - then the smaller clubs are getting them and their talent is being squashed. I wouldn't expect you to understand anything, thinking must be difficult at this time of the day for you...
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Typical, having a decent chat and then you start the insults.

I give up, you are truely PATHETIC!
 
smokey said:
Even if there are - and I'm sure there are - then the smaller clubs are getting them and their talent is being squashed. I wouldn't expect you to understand anything, thinking must be difficult at this time of the day for you...
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:p
 
smokey said:
It's the reason no talent is coming through the bigger clubs. They can't get the best talent because the best talent is too far away. Imagine if these restrictions were in place prior to Becks signing for Man United. He would have been at a London club (not Arsenal/Tottenham) and his career and development would have been totally different. It's had a huge impact on the establishment of English players - make no mistake.
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I agree somewhat here.

I think it's more a combination of things that result in the youth system deficiencies. I think that with the amount of money being pumped into the game, there is less patience in developing the talent or more focus on the results and how well you do over in a season, for the fans - for the revenue. There is pressure to go out and buy the finished article than wait, 3-4 years to get a decent squad of youth team players coming through into the first team - it is definitely the case with the top teams in England.

Then with the smaller teams, you have the bigger clubs from all over buying their talent - Smalling from Fulham to Man Utd is one high profile example as was Ramsey a year before. It's getting harder and harder to compete financially, so the smaller teams have no option but to sell their best talent, who go to bigger clubs and warm the bench for 2-3 seasons cos of the established players holding down the positions, it's a vicious cycle and the game is definately suffering in most quarters.
 
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