Do the youngens play on eleven-a-side pitches in England? My friend had a son who went in to an academy from a young age, I went to see him play when he was either 7 or 8 and they played on a pitch which was smaller than a five-a-side pitch. I don't know the ins and outs of the processes in academy nor what they look for and what they implement. Our coaches are not stupid, I'm sure they're not sitting there telling young kids to hoof it up the pitch. But with that said, I do think there is to much focus on athleticism. I watched almost every U20 and U18 for Liverpool last season and something you'll notice with all the British lads is that they're extremely fit, and much more durable than say the Spanish lads. For me it's all about culture, look at somewhere like Uruguay, they have a very low population and mostly in poverty, but they nurture their youth. Over here it seems like we play the numbers, we ear mark the best young talent but tend to accept players who perhaps aren't up to standard but they're athletic. For me what goes unnoticed is the amount of talent that gets wasted, and not even scouted. These days if you're not in a footballing set-up early on in your life you don't really stand a chance. There has to be more availability to young kids to get involved, and more options for there parents in terms of funding and opportunity's to get there kids in some sort of set-up or even tournaments.
