Guest pogue mahone Posted December 3, 2003 Report Share Posted December 3, 2003 As you may know, the England team has been thrashed and completely outplayed in the World youth (U20)champs. The usual excuses have been trotted out, players missing, foreigners using over-age players, Les Read not having enough time to prepare the team etc....... I for one do not buy this, it has now been 10 years since England were dumped out of the WC94 Qualifyers which led to the overhaul of the youth system, the disbandment of the FA school of excellence and the setup of the club academy system. Still England churn out big centre-halves who lack balance and the ability to bring down the ball and pass it, midfielders who may have the stamina of Paula radcliffe and the tackling ability of Martin Johnson, yet cannot control the ball with both feet nor pass accurately further than 10 yards. Strikers who cannot beat their marker with skill and who play with fear? In my opinion, although Charles Hughes is no more, his legacy remains. Much of the people who are in charge of the youth development of 11-15 year olds (a crucial time in a players development) are still old school with old school ideas. Despite the lip service to technique, there is still an ethos of turning out "determination footballers". In addition to this, there needs to be a culture change in the country including the coaches, press and even the supporters that appreciates that genuinely gifted players should be given the oppotunity and the encouragements to succeed. Until then, you will never see players as good as Zidane, Okocha, Ronaldo, Blanc (pre-2000), Baresi, Totti in an England shirt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest WillsbridgeRed Posted December 4, 2003 Report Share Posted December 4, 2003 I remember getting ready for school one morning, around 94 and they had a article on BBC breakfast news highlighting the Ajax youth system, and how the FA wanted to bring such youth systems to this country. It seemed an exciting prospect, and now we are seeing the results through Academys I have to say the results are pleasing. You have to take into account a HUGE overhaul of football culture is not going to happen in one generation. Why the current older coaches retire they will be replaced by people with fresh ideas, and more willing to encourage skill and flair Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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