Some stats: -Last season there were 480 players under-21 with Premier League contracts but only 77 appearances were made -That equates to 7% of all Premier League appearances -The percentage drops to 4% when only British under-21s are considered A breakdown of the plan: -Elite Player Performance Plan (EPPP) -A new four-tier academy system -Set tariffs to replace the tribunal system for the sale of home-grown players -End of the 90-minute rule -Increased payments to all clubs for youth development -Will be introduced from the 2012-2013 season
Starting to feel sorry for you and this thread so I thought I'd comment... Any incentive to encourage the development of youngsters is good IMO. Enforced development doesn't work, the individual clubs needs to be interested and committed to youth development. It also means to big clubs won't benefit from poaching but smaller clubs will: - financial benefit as a result of youth development incentive - quality youngsters - free players in first team - fee received when the bigger club inevitably comes knocking Plus, hopefully the national teams will benfit too
"only 34% of the top flight's players are homegrown compared to 52% in Germany and 72% in Spain." Shocking stat. The prem booms years made sure this was the outcome. Trying to say chelsea and. Youth system in the same sentence but cant. Look at the costs of these players also, they seem to be far far more expensive. Home grown in Spain and Germany is right. Why would you pay triple for a player probably of less technical ability from England when you have shedloads for a 3rd of the price right at home.
Gotta love the sympathy vote. Barcelona have a club rule where the starting 11 has to contain 7 home grown/Spanish players. Is this a common thing in Spain because that could make up most of that 72%? We are currentlyy for good for home grown/British talent. We have Gerrard, Carragher, Johnson, Allen, Henderson, Kelly, Shelvey, Sterling, Wisdom, Flanagan, Robinson, Wilson, Cole and Downing who have all played first team football in the Premier League, as we as Suso and Pacheco as foreign talent we have developed. Though I don't think Pacheco has ever played in the league. Out of those 14 British players, 6 came through our youth system, and three signed for us as teenagers to join our youth setup. Under Rafa we only had Gerrard and Carragher as senior British players playing in the League.
The strength of the Spanish national team is largely down to Barca and Real Madrid who invest in youth. They also have their B teams playing in the lower leagues which allows the youth to play the same style as the first team (i.e. they dont have to be loaned out, learn different methods etc) and play against tougher opposition. Personally, I think our national game would be better if the top clubs were allowed to have their reserves play in the lower leagues. It's not popular and I can understand the arguments against it (particularly from lower league fans) but I think this is the best way to improve the national side.
Johnson - signed by Rafa to heavy criticism "he can't defend." Widely considered England's best defender at the Euros. Kelly - first start under Rafa. Shelvey - signed by Rafa. Sterling - signed by Rafa. Wisdom - signed by Rafa. Robinson - first start under Rafa. Wilson - Rafa target signed just after Rafa's exit. There was also Bellamy, Keane (not English but I think counts as homegrown) and the attempts to sign Barry. I think we can see a pattern developing under Rafa there, in conjunction with the massive improvement in the academy, the results of which we are now seeing the media salivate over and which Pep Guardiola called second only to Barca. So yeah, what did Rafa ever do for us?
Do you have to use virtually every thread for a pro-Rafa rant? Personally I loved the guy because I know he genuinely loves us and the city, but we have to move on. What's happened has happened, and the clock can't be turned back. Rodgers deserves a chance.
I think we have some slick names. Raheem Sterling Jonjo Shelvey Suarez Suso Lucas Wisdom is a great name.
That's why it was such a big deal for them to get to the Europa league final really playing such good football. And why its quite sad to see them having lost Javi Martinez and on the verge of losing Fernando Llorente. As they have little chance of replacing them unless they get lucky with another world class striker coming through the youth system.
