Premier League clubs have to change the youth system
Premier League Clubs Have To Change The Youth System
The insular minds of football clubs in this country is amazing and quite frankly, fans are no better.
Youngsters are leaving these shores because clubs do not give them a chance in the Premier League. Under 23 games are watched by a mass of scouts now, even though it isn't proper football, there is hardly any tackling or contact.
We should never have got rid of 2nd XI football where youngsters would play against men and learn.
I suggested 5 years ago that Tottenham should get a tie-up with a LaLiga side so our youth could not only learn the right way but get top-level experience.
What is best, lose your players to Germany and other countries will get involved with taking our youth or getting tie-ups with clubs in Italy, Spain, Germany, and France so they can be loaned out to get experience and come back.
Chelsea do it, but they do it at too low a level, in Belgium and these players don't get outings in the Premier League. What is the point of a youngster staying at Man City or Chelsea, they are not going to play Premier League football for them, three points are more important.
Man City were miles clear in the Premier League last season and had the opportunity to play a youngster, not loads, just one and take a look at him at that level. It wasn't going to stop them winning the league, but no, they didn't take the opportunity.
That tells me it's pointless being there. Learn your trade and go elsewhere to play, no point staying for non-existant oppotunities.
Mauricio Pochettino throws them in. Remember Winks getting a season of cameo appearances as understudy to Mousa Dembélé.
This season Juan Foyth and Oliver Skipp are getting chances and with Harry Kane's injury, we might see Kazaiah Sterling on the bench, he hasn't played in the U-23 team today and has trained with the first team squad.
Why can't more clubs do this, especially with the exorbitant transfer market and fees demanded for Championship players?
I would be working with clubs abroad to develop players, not against them. They have less money and Financial Fair Play still to keep within. They can't run at a loss and the loan system and playing youth is a way out.
Premier League clubs should embrace it, at least until we have meaningful 2nd XI games. If you don't want to incorporate them into the Football League as they are in Spain, then set up a 2nd XI league system with no age limitations (you can only play 3 over 23 players in Premier League 2 - which is U23 football).
What we have now doesn't work, you have to have youth players playing experienced adults in proper football, or as proper as it can be in today's virtually non-contact sport.
I feel UEFA needs to scrap the homegrown rule and replace it with perhaps the same numbers but foreign or English players and make it irrelevant where they have learned their football. That may help to stop clubs poaching youngsters from abroad and putting them through an academy to qualify them as homegrown.
Plenty to consider in there and discuss the implications of. Not enough people think ahead, too many react to situations when with foresight you'd see them coming. I saw the problems and raised the issue, I raised the issue of how we should develop Tottenham and low and behold we are and in the manner I suggested.
What would your solution be to give youth a greater chance.
COYS
If you haven't read the previous article you can read it now: No Ceilings For Pochettino's Spurs
1 comment
If they have the opportunity to go and get more realistic experience abroad then that's great. I do wonder though, if experience abroad would ever be considered enough. We often discuss bringing people in from abroad and the recurring question is always "Can they repeat such form in the Premiership?".
I certainly feel this issue requires looking at though. We are creating a divide between our own youngsters and our full professionals. Not so much at Spurs, as you say, but very much so generally.
COYS!!