Ze french

The coaching structures, systems and practices in England have been busted for decades. Granted SOME of the better, more adaptive, of the club 'academies' produce genuine groups of talented players - west ham, Everton etc, but it's inconsistent to say the least. Most of then are reactive rather than pro-active, follow rather than lead.

There was a period not so long ago, in the EPL, when there were more teams coached from coachs managers from the city of Glasgow than there were from the country of England.

There is a "poor management" problem in England that transcends football, and is present in virtually every employment sector. English Football, like the rest of our society, needs to drop the superiority complex - we will all benefit.

If that was England instead of France there would be people saying "We needed an own goal to beat a terrible Germany. We're going to get destroyed by a decent team"

Don't a large number of the best French players in recent years come from the estates on the outer edge of Paris. Maybe these poorer areas are a breeding ground for kids to hone their talents, similarly to the favelas in Brazil or any other poor areas
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Are you comparing Paris suburb to the Favelas in Brazil?

comment by We got our Arsenal back (U10012)
posted 25 minutes ago
Don't a large number of the best French players in recent years come from the estates on the outer edge of Paris. Maybe these poorer areas are a breeding ground for kids to hone their talents, similarly to the favelas in Brazil or any other poor areas
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Are you comparing Paris suburb to the Favelas in Brazil?
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I had a good chortle at that one

The Paris suburbs aren’t quite as bad as the Favelas but there are some very very deprived areas there that I think some people would be shocked if they knew how bad it was. Certainly the type of dog eat dog environment that can throw up the type of football player that has the drive that perhaps someone from a more well off area may lack.

comment by Robb - Legacy Fan and proud (U22311)
posted 37 minutes ago
The Paris suburbs aren’t quite as bad as the Favelas but there are some very very deprived areas there that I think some people would be shocked if they knew how bad it was. Certainly the type of dog eat dog environment that can throw up the type of football player that has the drive that perhaps someone from a more well off area may lack.
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I'm sorry Robb but if you believe this, you have either never been to a Paris' suburb or never been to a Favelas. Or both.

comment by Robb - Legacy Fan and proud (U22311)
posted 1 hour, 8 minutes ago
Management has probably been the biggest issue.

Southgate's an interesting one - more time needed to really judge but what I'd say in his favour is that he seems to pick teams rather than individuals. Past managers have certainly been guilty of shoehorning the best individuals into the side at the expense of collective balance and identity.
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I agree with this - think how many fans and pundits were calling for Southgate to essentially play 5 attacking midfielders and Kane up top just because we've got so many exciting players in those positions. Instead he sticks to his guns and we see England put in a solid defensive performance against an ageing but very talented Croatia side, and Philips and Mings put in performances that justified their selections. As good as our young attacking players are, scoring international goals is hard and only having to score once or twice to win a game is much easier than having to get three or four to compensate for defensive lapses.

England under Southgate feel like a proper football team, rather than a collection of individuals trying to compensate for a lack of understanding and positional discipline. Having got the all important win in the first game he now has licence to try out some more attacking football and build the team's confidence.

I’m clearly not suggesting the favelas are the same. But poor areas where land to pay is hard to find and football gives an opportunity for someone to get out of poverty will always produce an abundance of players. I mentioned the favelas because they have famously produced many great Brazilians, while what is happening in Paris is relatively new as stated in the article I also posted about the situation.

But those "poorer" areas in most of western Europe are to similar level. There are suburd and council houses in London, Manchester and all over the UK.
What the like of Mbappe, Kante or Pogba went through as youngsters is not any different to what the like of Sterling, Rashford or Ian Wright went through if you were to believe theirs stories.
So to go back to the original point, that can not explain the talents difference between the two countries.

You're right there are 'poorer' areas all over Europe and the number of quality players that are produced on the outskirts of Paris is far greater than anywhere else on the planet right now and I was pointing that out. I also linked to an article that tries to explain why that is, saying that it's only been a relatively recent thing because the area is scouted far more now than before. I never claimed these suburbs are the same as the favelas but like the favelas these areas are poor (relative to their surroundings) and that has a direct effect on producing so many top players.