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International & non-international football

Whatever you think of it - personally I'm not a huge fan - the International game is beautifully reflecting the financial issues in the top level club game.

Firstly, lets take the two top dogs in International football at the moment, Spain & Germany.

Both have very different approaches to financial regulation.

Spain is pretty much a free-for-all, as most will know their TV money isn't shared remotely evenly, it's based on each clubs marketing value. This has led to a huge gulf in class/wealth between the top sides and those with very limited TV funding. What it has led to is an investment and more often than not a reliance on nurturing youth. Yes, Spain's first 11 is largely based on players coming through the Barca and Madrid academy's but their strength in depth stems from all across Spain.

Football in Germany is almost Spain's polar opposite. Highly regulated to keep things even, geared to providing the very best and cheapest experience for the supporters of all clubs. There is no shortcut to success, clubs must be owned (51% of it) by the fans with only a few exceptions. Once again there is a necessary need for focus on youth development, this time not out of desperation but because the clubs know there are no shortcuts in German football. You build on what you have, fans are treated to the cheapest tickets in top class European football and they know that the people making the decisions at boardroom level have the interests of the club at heart.


Then you have England:

Current Squad:
Goalkeepers Hart, Foster, McCarthy
Defenders Jagielka,Lescott, Baines, Johnson, Cahill, Walker, Cole, Jones
Midfielders Milner, Lampard, Carrick, Walcott, Cleverley. Oxlade-Chamberlain
Forwards Defoe, Rooney, Carroll, Sturridge, Welbeck

Under 21's:
Goalkeepers Butland, Steele, Rudd
Defenders Caulker, Clyne, Dawson, Lees, Rose, Shaw, Smith, Wisdom.
Midfielders Chalobah, Henderson, Ince, Lansbury, Lowe, McEachran, McManaman,Shelvey, Townsend
Forwards Zaha, Marvin Sordell, Connor Wickham.

The above is almost tragic, nothing more needs to be said about those squads.

In England there are very few top clubs that focus properly on youth, buying in imports for instant success & money itself really is the only thing that matters. Would you ever see a top English club lowering ticket prices far beyond what they know they could sell for? Not to attract fans but purely to give their supporters the best possible experience. Would you ever see the second best club in the land even consider offering a season ticket for €190 (£154)? Of course you wouldn't.

This neglect for long term sustainable success is only getting worse and although the Prem may well be the richest League in the World it's by far the most shallow. Very few clubs have regard for the bigger picture and because of this the divide between the true supporters, the standard of the national team and that of the top clubs will only continue to increase.

posted on 25/5/13

KPPR, that is very true. The pool of English talent is very small.

People may disagree but a lot of that is to do with the fact most of the players in the league are foreign. It makes the league better, so I don't have a problem with that, but when the majority of the English players are not playing in the top league or at the top clubs it's going to severely limit the options of the international manager.

Hodgson and Neville have even said this.

posted on 25/5/13

The coaches shouting at the kids to 'get rid of it' and the parents screaming at them 'tackle him'. I even heard one father shout at his kid to 'break his legs' after he got nutmeged by another player
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He was a Stoke City scout

posted on 25/5/13

Young English players, especially at top teams, are likely to improve if there's more chance of first team football.
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i used to believe that myself, but i've changed my mind in the last few years.

a few years ago, we at arsenal had wenger saying that signing established talent would 'kill' a youngster's career. he does practice what he preaches, and as far as i recall he's never dropped a youngster for a new signing.

but the result is that it's bred a culture of complacency. there's no incentive for those players to prove themselves, and even if they don't mean to, they subconsciously take their foot off the gas.

i think the biggest example is clichy - for the first two years of his arsenal career, we had high hopes and there was no reason to doubt that clichy could handle himself. but he was twenty when cole left for chelsea, and he was the only senior left-back in the squad for five years after that - and in that time, there was a distinct drop in his performances, and a rise in the high-profile mistakes he was making.

again, i look at aaron ramsey, and i wonder how he's managed 90 games in the last two years - it certainly wasn't on merit, because his performances have been lacklustre at best.

posted on 25/5/13

Darren

While I agree the pool of talent is small surely that in itself isn't the reason England do badly in tournaments?

The pool of talent was surely higher than ever in the 70's yet England didn't even qualify for a single world cup.

I'd say it's more to do with a style of football that doesn't translate well to the international stage, not least over a small set of games in a summer tournament.

Add to that the high number of injuries that England often get around tournament time and the fact that there is no winter break and England or at least the FA don't make it easy for their national side in the way the Spanish and German FA's do.

posted on 25/5/13

Rob, I want saying that's why we've not been good at tournaments, just talking about the pool of talent in general.

KPPR, I guess that's just particular to your club rather than young players.

There's plenty of examples of young played at other clubs being given a chance and not getting complacent.

Ronaldo didn't have any competition for his spot but didn't get complacent. Now I know he's a special case. But young players will relish the opportunity and will become better players from playing more games.

posted on 25/5/13

there's also something else to consider - how much the fa pander to sky.

in other countries, you find that big fixtures are rearranged if there are international games coming up.

but in this country, you could have england playing on the wednesday, preceded by two top four teams playing each other on the sunday - surely this is detrimental to the players' fitness?

the only reason it happens here is because sky want to pull in viewers for their 'ford super sunday' and the fa are too weak to fight their own corner.

comment by I (U4566)

posted on 25/5/13

Welcome to the essence of capitalism.

Funny how people accept it's presence in virtually every other aspect of our lives, and yet when it comes to football it suddenly makes people seek the moral highground

comment by I (U4566)

posted on 25/5/13

and by the way, international football has been rubbish since about 1982.

posted on 25/5/13

KPPR, I guess that's just particular to your club rather than young players.

There's plenty of examples of young played at other clubs being given a chance and not getting complacent.

Ronaldo didn't have any competition for his spot but didn't get complacent. Now I know he's a special case. But young players will relish the opportunity and will become better players from playing more games.
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fair point, but if you'll recall, ronaldo was criticised early on for being too flashy and over-doing the stepovers. not long after that, ferguson began a system where he started playing ronaldo every other game and rotating him - the result was that ronaldo became more direct and efficient, likely because he was now making the most of his playing time.

i think the point i'm making is that football, by nature, is brutally cut-throat - only the strongest thrive and learning that lesson is a crucial part of being a footballer. if you look at bayern, for example, players like lahm and schweinsteiger were home-grown and are now immoveable from the side. but to get there, they had a hell of a fight on their hands, despite bayern's inconsistency throughout the 2000's. schweinsteiger, when he first broke through, played on the wing, as a second striker, in defensive midfield and even at left-back, even though he was already established for germany. even lahm, who captains the side, is forced to alternate between flanks. those are the sort of tests young players really need to go through to reach the top.

posted on 25/5/13

Yeah when i was a kid i got chucked onto the wing because i was fast and fairly skinny, even though the manager said i was the best passer in the team

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