I made the post above in 'Rivals' thread to draw attention to Monaco's model. I've been monitoring them with interest. Then today, I read this on BBC Sports - http://www.bbc.com/sport/football/40763916 I am first of all astounded at how successful Monaco has been on the pitch in recent years. But I am more at awe at how they are able to sustain that success with a very strange model of selling their top players year in, year out. The answer is obviously in 'Youth' and hyper-effective 'Scouting System'. Let me quickly declare that I'm not a fan of modern rat race of spending. It's a league of who has spent the most rather than who is running the most effective system of spending wisely, blending in youth and consistently delivering on the pitch. We rarely see this in the top 6 clubs. It is now spend, spend, and spend even more. Creativity with youth is almost lost on all the clubs. How many top clubs in Europe would make an 18 year old their main striker? We generally hear words that keep young players boxed into a category of "unknown" until it's too late. Words such as "he needs protection", "don't forget that he is only 18", etc. Rarely do we embrace these talented young players and unleash them to the world then judge them accordingly without excuses. I would love Manchester United be brave enough to unleash the talents that we have from youth and blend it into experienced first team. But I guess those days are somewhat gone given clubs now demand guaranteed success year in, year out. I just hope the likes of Rashford, Fosu, and Angel Gomez (still young) go on to fulfill their true potentials and do so at the club by getting good playing times. Now, back to Monaco; I am in no doubt that there is something odd about the way their players are valued. I would even go as far as suggesting that there is an illicit marketing campaign to prop up their value (perhaps through YouTube campaign). There is no way in hell anyone can justifiably conclude that Mbappe is worth £160m after one season. This is a team that plays in an almost empty stadium week in, week out. Yet this magic number is now constantly promoted in the media because of his "potential". You would think that such high evaluation is based on what has been proven and achieved. It's almost as though we live in "WTF" reality. Another case in point, Monaco paid £10m for Mendy twelve months ago, yet he is now somehow worth £52m and these transfer fees seem to exchange hands with bragging rights. Another example, Martial was bought for £5m twelves months before we broke the bank for him. Personally, I think football has now gone amok whereby player's value is judged by beauty of YouTube videos and repeated replays of flashy moments that generally lack context. That lack of context is where the risk lies after these mega money deals are done and dusted. However, I would conclude this on positive note; which is - what Monaco is showing us is that football has become lazy. But a club that is willing to put in a sustainable program can still compete at the highest level without chasing after superstars but by taking pride in finding and developing their own talents.
Good point, and well made. The problem with comparing the likes of Monaco to the PL is that Ligue 1 is nowhere near as competitive with PSG and Monaco pretty much taking the title in alternate years. The remaining clubs are crap - for example Lyon finished 4th, but were 28 points off the leaders. With such dominance in their domestic league it is extremely easy for the top clubs in France to cherry-pick the best youth talent from the entire country and also their dependent territories. Compare that to the likes of Chelsea who pretty much hoover up young talent and then lend it out to other clubs on a wholesale basis and then recall the brightest prospects for development in their academy Even our own academy is fighting an impossible battle - football is a global business with massive rewards for success, but equally, punishing financial penalties for failure. Even an established and successful academy like ours cannot be expected to churn out talent after talent and watch as they seamlessly make the move into the first team. That might have been the case, but not any longer - more likely only one or two top talents will make it from the academy every couple of years - clubs like ours can no longer wait for talent to develop in the first team, they pretty much have to be the finished article (in youth terms) such as Rashford. TV money and commercial imperatives have changed the transfer landscape forever. I sit year reading the (Spanish) sports pages where transfers in the order of €6m and €11m seem quite the norm in mid-table (La Liga transfers) - contrast that with transfers in the PL and the world has gone mad. Going back to Monaco, don't forget they can afford to pay much the same wages to their players as the rest of Ligue 1 but there is no tax to pay. Try getting that deal in Manchester.
Tottenham is probably the closest thing to Monaco in England. And perhaps Southampton. If success is gauged in terms of winning the league, then Monaco is not that successful. In fact, Monaco only just won the league for the first time in 17 years this past season. However, if we look at the term success from a broader perspective, then there's no arguing that their method works. Same with Tottenham, one would be forced to admit that they have been relatively successful over the past few years yet their expenditure has remained measured compared to the rest of the big guns. With regards to PSG, they are as bad as they come when it comes to football running amok. For example, the bid they are reportedly putting together for Neymar is about half their total annual revenue. Yet they are listed as having no debt. How is that even possible? But hey, this is a game ran by the most corrupt organization in FIFA. So, what do we expect?! Until accountability either through wage cap or transfer cap of some kind is enforced, fans will always bear the brunt of this madness. I would predict that the next downtown in the capital markets might have dramatic effects on some the most high profiled clubs of today.
http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/...ris-saint-germain-latest-update-a7875071.html And Wenger, who has previously accused clubs who bend the rules around FFP of “financial doping”, believes the transfer has made it “impossible to respect” Uefa’s regulations. “It is because of the ownerships,” he said ahead of the Community Shield against Chelsea at Wembley on Sunday. “The whole landscape of football has changed completely. Once a country controls a club, everything is possible. “It becomes impossible to respect financial fair play. That’s why I always did plead for football to live on its own resources. I completely agree with Wenger here. Football will eventually become so unsustainable that each league would have no more than two possible winners. Not even billionaires can afford throwing out this kind of money every year. In due time, something would have to give.
