The controversial Elite Player Performance Plan was voted through today which will radically change youth football in England. The plan is outlined in the link below. http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/paulfletcher/2011/02/football_league_fears_over_pla.html Personally, I have mixed feelings over this one. What it will do is help the national team develop the better prospects to the best of their abilities so it will definitely help England long term. But at what cost? The plans mean that young players can be signed by 'grade one' clubs from small teams for absolute peanuts. There are clubs who need successful and profitable academies just to survive and this might just kill them. I can't help thinking that this is the fat cats of the Premier League looking after themselves and not thinking about the game as a whole. There must be a way to do improve the quality of elite youth development without potentially destroying those in the lower leagues. So yes, while it does benefit the national team and the players themselves, is it worth harming the lower league clubs to do it?
Believe me when I say we are in the process of building classrooms to become L1 status, all part of the training ground re-structure how do you feel now!
Will academies still be releasing youths because they are too small or not strong enough though? If they do then this is all bullshit, you can spend 1 billion hours with a coach but if he hasn't got a clue about what makes a good footballer then you're still scuppered. For me, this is why we do not compete with the top countries at international level, we value pace and strength in a player as much as, and in fact more than technical ability. This why we hold players like Ashley Cole in high esteem when he probably wouldn't make the bench for Spain, Brazil, Germany or Argentina. Players from these countries are taught skill first and are built up physically later. If a player is gifted they aren't let go because they are too short, they are taught how to overcome it, and go through a health regime until they are strong enough to compete. If a player isn't lightining quick it isn't the be all and end all, but not being able to pass it certainly is. This is the menatlity we need to adopt. For the reasons you have said this looks a bad thing to me at first glance.
But the investment required to be and to stay as a category 1 academy (17 full-time academy staff + £2.5 million per year) is a hell of a lot of money and when the PL did a provisional inspection in April, none of the Premier League teams (Chelsea, Man U, Arsenal, Man C, Liverpool all included) were meeting the category 1 standards so that shows the level of sustained investment needed. The only way I could see us getting there would be to get promoted this season (which has now become even more important) and then using the extra cash and some of the owners own pocket but that would mean less on a team to stay in the PL and so we'll have to cut those academy costs pretty quickly again or write off the next 10 years or so. I can see it becoming like Spain where we have a strong national side but not a very competitive league so would that be a good thing?
University of football opens next summer at St Georges park, near Burton, this will be the re-birth of English football. There are plans to educate tens of thousands of extra coaches to be out in the grassroots to refelct what the other countries in Europe have. At present we are light years behind, it will take at least ten years to catch up, we are getting there! the move from 7 aside to 9 aside then to 11 aside in the next year or two will be a massive improvement. i start coaching kids at 3 years old, this gives them 3 years head start on the kids that they come up against at the current U7 group stages and it shows. We coach basic ball skills and incorporate the 4 corner FA model, this includes all the balance and agility works. We don ot play games until 6 years old then only 4v4 in training.
I think the rise of Barcelona and Spain has made everyone realise that more technically skilled players are the way forward and hopefully the days of prioritizing 6ft warriors are gone. Even now in England we have more technical players like Wilshere, McEachran coming through so the landscape in football is definitely changing. I think Southgate's plan to higher the 11 a side age will help and get players playing more 5 and 7 a side where they can get more touches of the ball and develop their skills more. All the development chiefs (Southgate, Brooking etc.) have all stated that they will prioritise technical ability and the new center at St George's Park in Burton is an opportunity to develop better players with the right coaching. The number of qualified coaches in this country is concerning though.
Like the FFP rules, this will only serve to keep the big clubs at the top and squash any hope of a league 2 team doing a Hull or Swansea and battling their way to the premier league. Without the revenue from selling talented youngsters these clubs will be crippled. Watch the standard of league 1 and 2 drop off whilst the fans will still pay to watch it. Ridiculous
