I see Greg Dyke has been raising the issue of home grown talent. Here is my idea of one way to help develop talented youngsters in readiness for the full international team. The under 21 competitions and matches were intended to blood younger players before they made the transition to the full international stage. Currently, under 21 means that they must be under 21 at the start of the completion, meaning that by the time the finals arrive many are 23. How about making the age limit to be 21 at the time of the finals instead? This will mean that players will be 19 or under during the qualification and group stages. Hopefully, the experience gained by these youngsters would enable them to step up to the full international team in a better stage of preparedness. Clubs would benefit too as their talented youngsters would be getting a better football education. Just an idea ...
I love watching football, always have. I spend a good deal of time in the States and am amazed by the young talent. Some brilliant prospects who will drift into other sports. I was was watching a match recently and stood next to an Arsenal scout who agreed with me and has already recruited a number of lads from the Columbus area. As a long standing Hull City supporter ( a season ticket holder who can only see 2/3 matches a season) I wonder why we don't cast our net further to find jewels for the future. We seem to be very insular and rarely get any young lad to progress to our first team. Any views?
