At least Wilshere is comparable to Fabregas. Fabregas would likely be in Spain's team if Busquets, Iniesta and Xavi didn't all play for Barcelona and link almost telepathically. By England standards, Wilshere is very good (not saying much I know) but he seems to be the exception that is proving the rule regarding football development in this country. I sincerely hope that McEachrane and others can prove me wrong. He is quite a small lad so he's obviously got to where he is on technical merit, which is promising. Youth football is often dominated by the meatheads and very quick players who use their athleticism to get a big advantage over the weedier, but more technically gifted players.
Alot of sense in that Matt. Technical develpment isour biggest problem. I know someone who worked at a League one club until recently, and he sadi all they looked for was size and strength. I'm off to start another thread about quality technical players this country have wasted..... /reaches for soapbox
The dutch have an interesting idea. In youth football, instead of having say an u14 team, they have four teams for that year, one for players born in autumn, and for players born in winter etc. Means that its not just players born in September that get into the team cos they are bigger, and also helps stop teams becoming too dominant at youth level. And if you think it doesn't make a difference, look at the birthdays of the current England squad. IIRC, most are born in September, October or November.
Not Saints I presume. Interesting idea WS. Our Alex seems to have bucked the trend by being a summer baby! Has the Dutch system been designed by Johann Cruyff by any chance? He is certainly an expert in technical ability and has really done a lot for the Barca setup. Could the FA offer him a nice big wedge to redesign our youth system?
I think the dutch have had that system since the 50's and it ain't done badly. I mean, their population is about a third of Englands, but since 1970 they have consistently achieved more at major tournaments.
