I remember when I was a kid playing for a u10's team we played a the u11's on a full size pitch and got battered 17-5 or something ridiculas because they where so much bigger and faster. We then played a few weeks later in a 6 a side Cup and beat them 6-2. To much is put on being big and strong and not enough time spent on learning to technical skills. IMO kids shouldn't be aloud near full size until there at least 16.
Start again. Restructure the entire English game right from the very bottom. Employ more coaches and train them. I read somewhere that Spain, Italy and Germany all have over 10 times as many trained grass root coaches than us. Don't teach kids to tackle hard and 'get stuck in' and generally get bogged down in the nitty gritty. Teach them to play with flair to express themselves. The physical side of the game should come with age. Kids of 10-15 shouldn't be worried about getting bigger. I remember when I played as a young lad and if the other team had someone who already had a moustache at 13 you knew you were ****ed. That shouldn't be the case. Get rid of the ****ing suits that sit at Wembley taking thousands and thousands to do sod all. Bring the game back to the fans. Fill stadiums, promote a friendly but exciting atmosphere, bring back standing, eliminate violence with tougher sentences and drinking control within grounds (everyone likes a pint or two but nobody should be able to go to a football match totally pissed and, to be honest, you're a **** if you do). Make football interesting for a kid again. I remember when I was a young lad sat in Filbert street at a packed stadium for 90 minutes of pure adrenaline. It was ****ing brilliant. I bet kids go to the game nowadays and don't feel anything like that and that keeps them away from the sport. I really hate the way we, as the inventors of the sport, go about our business. It really needs a right good shake up. Even if it takes 20 years to see the good work show off, it'll be worth it.
Which nepotism ? Other than Sir Alex loaning lads to Peterborough, I'm struggling to think of any? Edit: Dur, and Alex Bruce....
How so? Do you mean off-the-pitch, or are you talking about a restructuring of the league system? I don't think there's any other country in Europe that has as many full-time/professional clubs as us, nor four professional leagues. All of the sides are reasonably well supported too. A few years back a midweek Conference game between Oxford and Luton had an attendance of 11,000. I'm not sure many clubs' fans would be supportive of that. I too have read that, and it's embarrassing. But 'they' don't care, because supporting investment in getting people into coaching won't earn them money. They'll moan about the lack of black managers (itself a myth), though, because it makes them look good and gives them the opportunity to milk a few quid. Easier said than done. £50 for tickets at Chelsea? £40 for tickets at Man City? You'd love Guzzler I started going to City 18 months before we left Boothferry Park. I don't think I'd be a football fan today if my first match had been at the KC.
Managers are too fearful of losing that they go with what they know rather than blooding youth. Look at the U21s on Tv now. Only Redmond and Shaw feature in the Prem. Carroll has had to move to QPR to get a game. Zaha will be used infrequently. Chabaloah will be loaned again. I could repeat with the others. Baring injuries these are the cream of our youth yet they can't get a game. How can we expect them to develop to their potential?
It's also down to poor guidance and greed... if a promising English player from the lower leagues gets an offer from several clubs, they'll always go with the chelseas, liverpools etc... when really if they signed for one of the lower clubs where they maybe wouldnt earn as much money or be living in one of the big cities.. but they would be playing every game and developing at a good rate. Id personally love to see the FA put some harsh rules for all divisions. a large amount of english players need be in the 25 (or whatever it is) man squad and a small amount be in the starting 11. This would then force clubs to scout hard for the top english youngsters, and once signing them, they would have to play them instead of letting them rot in the reserves and eventually selling them years later when the club buys a better foreign player..
Fixing the grass roots is the most important but action really needs to be taken in the Premier League. A quota would be great. We'd be doing quite well for english born players in our team: Chester, Davies, Rosenior, Livermore, Huddlestone, Graham, Aluko with six of those being regulars.... Can any other PL team beat that?
Let's buck that trend next season! Make Livermore a permanent and then look for good quality signings in the Huddlestone/Livermore mode. Follow that up with winning the PL and then having all the other teams copy our model so that in 10 years time England win the world cup containing 8 Tigers, City are Champions League winners and the club (with all the champions league riches) demolishes the new housing on Boothferry Park and rebuilds a modern version of Fer Ark on the site. I have a dream........
Let's see... Clyne, Shaw, Cork, Lambert, Rodriguez, Lallana, Kelvin Davis, Fox, Chambers, Ward-Prowse. 6 would normally start. EDIT: That doesn't include the rest of our latest Academy crop, who should start putting in appearances this season.
