The Metro are reporting that Chelsea have agreed a deal to sign Islam Feruz – dubbed the ‘Scottish Wayne Rooney’ – from Celtic.
Boss Andre Villas-Boas has moved swiftly to bring the 16-year-old to Stamford Bridge. Feruz has joined on a scholarship deal, although it’s expected that he will sign a professional contract when he turns 17.
Celtic are now prepared to fight for compensation after nurturing Feruz’s talents for 10 years and also helping his family avoid deportation back to his native Somalia and settle down in Scotland.
His agent Rui Alves revealed a number of clubs from across Europe expressed an interest in the teenage forward but Feruz chose to join Chelsea as he felt they could match his lofty ambitions.
‘The possibility of training with [John] Terry, [Didier] Drogba and [Frank] Lampard will be fantastic for him.” Alves said.
“The structure at youth level at Chelsea is great. It would be a gift from God to see him playing in the English Premier League.”
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It’s yet another step in the youthful direction for Villas-Boas who has moved to freshen up his ageing squad with some fresh faced talent. Romelu Lukaku, Juan Mata and Ulises Davila have already joined – although it may be a few years before Feruz joins them in the first team.
Newcastle host Wigan on Saturday in their second consecutive home fixture looking to preserve their unbeaten start to the season that has catapulted them into fourth.
The Magpies have been this seasons surprise package so far gatecrashing the top four and have yet to taste defeat in their eight Premier League games. As many have pointed out they have yet to be fully tested with the fixture list being kind to Alan Pardew and his side as they yet to face any of the top-flights big guns. They came away unscathed from their first real examination against Tottenham last weekend with Shola Ameobi further enhancing the Geordies love for him with a late leveller at St James’ Park to secure a 2-2 draw. Pardew’s side more than held their own against Spurs and could have won the game had Fabricio Coloccini converted a late chance. The skipper along with the Steven Taylor, his namesake Ryan and keeper Tim Krul have been impenetrable and have contributed no about to their 11 match unbeaten run – their best sequence since 1997. One aspect of Pardew’s reign on Tyneside that has been a problem for the club in recent years is consistency. Eight players have started every league games this season with the rapport built up amongst the squad a key factor in their success so far. Only Leon Best, Gabriel Obertan and Demba Ba aren’t ever presents but have certainly made some telling contributions with the latter scoring five goals in the last three games including the Toon’s first goal against Spurs. The omens are good for Newcastle, who have been strong on home soil this season, with Wigan yet to win on their six visits to the North East.
Roberto Martinez’s side are stuck in a rut having lost their last five games in a row slipping into the relegation zone which will be familiar territory for them. Their start to the campaign raised the optimism levels at the DW Stadium but they have fallen back into their old habits and will need to pick up if they are to pull themselves away from another desperate relegation battle. Improving on the road is something that needs to be addressed with only eight wins away from home in the two years since Martinez took charge. They’ll need to be more ambitious in attack if they are to break down a tough Newcastle defence after they managed only get only two of their 16 shots on target against Bolton last week. The return of Hugo Rodallega from injury will certainly add some much needed fire power in the final third but they’ll need more than just the efforts of the Colombian to beat the Magpies. Tightening up at the back is also something Martinez needs to address after they gifted the Trotters their goals last week and Maynor Figueroa’s return will give the back line some much needed steel and experience.
Key Players
Demba Ba – Five goals in three games have changed the Geordies opinions of the Senegal international after a series of lifeless displays at the start of the season. His performances since then have been superb with his pace, strength and prowess winning over supporters he’ll be a handful for the Latics defence this week.
Ben Watson – Despite Wigan’s poor form Watson has been a shining light with his all action midfield performances adding some much needed grit to the side. His defensive work and ability to break up attacks has been vital for the Latics at time and he’ll need to be on top of his game against a swashbuckling Newcastle side.
Prediction: 2-0
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Demba Ba continued his brilliant run with his 5th goal in three games. His run is reflected in his move up the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index table. He is now ranked 34th. Ba has hit 64% of his 14 shots on target this season Wigan midfielder Ben Watson will also give Newcastle a tough time, and is 4th in the tackling table having won 25 tackles this season 93% of those attempted. Watson has also made 20 interceptions. Mohamed Diame completes a Wigan hat trick of player in the top ten tacklers having won 24 tackles (83% of those attempted)
Twente defeated PSV Eindhoven 2-0 to take the lead in the Eredivisie, while bottom side Willem II lost 5-4 at home to Roda.Theo Janssen opened the scoring from the penalty spot for hosts Twente in the 64th minute at De Grolsch Veste.
And the midfielder claimed a brace and wrapped up the win with his second goal six minutes from time.
The victory sees Twente replace PSV at the top of the table.
The defending champions are now two points clear with five matches left until the playoffs.
Elsewhere, Willem II led Roda 1-0 at half-time through a penalty from Andreas Lasnik.
Norwegian Pa-Modou Kah equalised for the visitors before Bart Biemans restored the hosts’ advantage.
Goals from Morten Skoubo, Ruud Vormer and Davy De Fauw then gave Roda a 4-2 lead.
Lasnik made it 4-3 with his second, before Vormer netted to restore Roda’s two goal cushion, and give the visitors a 5-3 lead with seven minutes to go.
There was still time for Willem II to go down to 10 men with the sending off of Arjan Swinkels.
Maceo Rigters struck the ninth goal of the game three minutes into injury time to make it 5-4, but Roda hung on for a topsy-turvy victory.
NAC Breda won 3-1 away to De Graafschap, who finished with nine men after Rogier Meijer and Leon Broekhof both saw red in the last 10 minutes.
Heerenveen led 2-0 by half-time in their match at home to Excelsior, but Geert Arend Roorda equalised with a five-minute double, before Nayib Lagouireh snatched all three points for the visitors with a goal two minutes into added time.
In the late kick-off, Charlison Benshop’s 44th minute effort helped AZ Alkmaar beat Feyenoord 1-0 away from home.
As we approach the end of the Premier League season, many footballers, especially those at clubs who have little to play for, will now be looking forward to their summer holidays and be deciding on the destination for their extended break. Most players can’t get away fast enough and as a result the final few games of the season are often played by footballers whose brain is already on the plane, so to speak. Anyway, this got me thinking, what would be the ideal holiday destination for some of the Premier League’s top players?
What better player to start with than Ashley Cole? The Chelsea left back was of course in trouble earlier on in the season for shooting an intern at training. So the left sided defender in the PFA Premier League 2010/11 Team of the Year could do with a bit of practice on the trigger. That means there’s only one place for him to go – America! There he would be allowed to own a gun and could get his eye in, so that when he’s back in England there aren’t any more ‘accidents’. Cheryl might well be judging on the US version of X Factor, so Ashley might bump into his ex-WAG in the States too!
While America might be perfect for Cole, his England teammate Wayne Rooney would do well to steer clear of Dubai. While Wayne and Coleen took a trip to Dubai year, given Rooney’s recent misdemeanours it might be better to cross the popular resort off their list of possible destinations. The Manchester United has of course recently been banned for swearing directly at the camera against West Ham, and given that the United Arab Emirates has strict rules that outlaw swearing in public, a four letter tirade by Wazza in the UAE could result in a six month jail sentence. Fergie wouldn’t be very happy about that.
Arsenal fans will be hoping that Cesc Fabregas doesn’t head to Barcelona in the summer. The Arsenal captain has been linked with a move to his hometown club for years and while rumours may have died down recently, they are sure to appear in the papers again in the close season. If the Spaniard were to take a trip to Barcelona there would be fears from the Emirates Stadium faithful that he might never come back, and that Carles Puyol, Andres Iniesta, Xavi and co would persuade him to stay at the Nou Camp for good.
If any Premier League players are struggling to choose a holiday destination there’s no need for them to worry as help is at hand. There’s a really rather clever holiday matchmaker application on Facebook brought to you by Halifax Travel Money, which does all the hard work for you. Simply go to the Halifax Holiday Matchmaker app and it analyses content from your Facebook profile to give you your perfect getaway destination, which is my case was Las Vegas, so it’s pretty good if you ask me!
As well as choosing a destination for you, all the information you need about the city is provided for you. Everything from the ideal hotel to stay in to where the best places to eat and drink are listed, in addition to how much a tenner will get you thanks to Halifax Travel Money. You’re even told how much a stamp, taxi and other necessities are, although Ashley and Wayne will have to find out how much bullets and a swear filter are respectively themselves! So whether you’re a Premier League footballer or just a regular fan, check out the Halifax Holiday Matchmaker app on Facebook to get a tailor made destination for your summer holiday.
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Visit the Halifax Holiday Matchmaker app on Facebook now and while you’re there become a fan of the Football FanCast Facebook Fan Page too!
Sir Alex Ferguson has stated that he does not want to retire for another two to three years, but admitted that his eventual successor at Manchester United needs to be someone with a wealth of experience.
The Scottish coach recently completed 25 years in charge at Old Trafford, but has revealed that he is not planning to walk away from the game just yet.
“I think you always want to go out on a winning note,” Ferguson told Sky Sports.
“Hopefully we can do that. I don’t know how long I can last now, but if my health stays up I don’t think another two or three years would harm me,” he admitted.
Ferguson also stated that whenever he does leave the Premier League champions his replacement must be someone who has a track record of success.
“I think United need to have someone experienced. If I was coming into United today I would struggle because of the beast it is.
“When I came in we were in a valley because Liverpool were the dominant team and United were well adrift from that so we had to rebuild the club and it wasn’t easy, it took time.
“But the experience I had was the success from Aberdeen and that gave me a chance in terms of respect from the dressing room and gave me self-confidence I could do the job.
“If I was taken from the job in Aberdeen today it would be a much more difficult task even though I was successful,” he continued.
Finally, despite all the success that Ferguson has seen during his tenure with The Red Devils, he admits that he has made a mistake or two.
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“I could have bought Joe Hart for £100,000 [in 2005] so we all make mistakes,” he concluded.
A series of early international tournament exits in the last year have placed question marks over the quality of English footballers. Unsurprisingly, the finger of blame has yet again been pointed at the system responsible for developing young players. Zarif Rasul investigates the English youth development system.
THE diminutive young Nigerian Olarenwaju Kayode skips down the left-hand side of England’s box, and whips a superb ball across the face of Jack Butland’s goal. The ball eludes almost everyone and lands at the grateful feet of Edafe Egbedi, who duly smashes home. Fifty-two minutes gone, and Nigeria lead England 1-0 at the Centenario de Armenia stadium in their FIFA Under-20 World Cup 2011 last-sixteen clash.
Despite the valiant attempts of Blackpool winger Matt Phillips, Nigeria hold onto their advantage for the remaining 38 minutes and dump England out of the tournament. England coach Brian Eastick bemoans the failure of clubs to release eligible players, but admits that his side’s performances in Colombia, which failed to see them score a single goal in four outings, are indicative of failure.
The Under-20s were not the only group of young Lions to follow in the underwhelming footsteps of the senior side. Seven weeks earlier, and less than a year after England’s 4-1 humbling at the hands of Germany in South Africa, Stuart Pearce’s highly-touted Under-21 side left Denmark having failed to make it out of the group stage of the European Under-21 Championship.
This recent run of ignominious international tournament exits has sparked another witch-hunt to find the scapegoat responsible for England’s failures. And yet again, critics have been quick to point to the perceived technical inadequacies of English players and flaws within the youth development system.
Overplayed and under-coached
The current system, which has been in place since 1998, is drawn from Howard Wilkinson’s landmark 1997 report Charter for Quality. As Technical Director at the FA, Wilkinson was commissioned to undertake a comprehensive review of the existing youth development structure at the time. This review laid the foundations for the Charter.
During the 1990s, concerns had developed over the amount of coaching contact time and playing time young footballers were engaged in. Wilkinson says that dealing with these problems was a key priority.
“Youth development in professional clubs was confined to the then Centres of Excellence. Some of them would be very lucky to get to a Centre of Excellence [for coaching] for about an hour and a half a week.
“The best players at 15 years old, would be playing over 100 games a season because as well as being registered with, say, Tranmere Rovers’ Centre of Excellence, or Liverpool’s Centre of Excellence, they would also be playing for their school, their district, their county and the national team.”
Playing too many competitive matches was seen to be detrimental to the development of young footballers.
Ben Marskell, an ex-professional footballer who enjoyed spells with Brentford and Luton in the 1990s, was forced into early retirement due to a series of recurring injuries. As a youth player Ben trained with Chelsea and Aston Villa, and was considered one of the best defenders in the country. Now running his own soccer school in West London, he describes the rigorous playing schedule that elite youth players often had to adhere to.
“Sometimes, I would have to play three matches a day. I’d go from one pitch to the next – because when you’re a good player, everyone wants a piece of you, and you just get stretched and pulled each way,” he explained.
He believes that overplaying as a teenager eventually caught up with him and forced him to retire early.
“Overuse injuries made me stop. It wasn’t one injury that finished me, it was an accumulation of injuries. I would probably be playing at the top level now if I hadn’t had those injuries.”
A Charter for Quality
Wilkinson’s report, which he wrote soon after he joined the FA, revolutionised the youth development landscape and gave birth to Academies.
“The Charter for Quality was about creating more and more effective coaching time, and more quality practice and quality playing time,” he said.
“And to do that we had to get rid of the FA rule that allowed schools priority over talented footballers. Academies were the vehicle to deliver those principles.”
Having looked at several continental models, including successful methods employed by Dutch giants Ajax, Wilkinson also sought to lower the age at which clubs worked with players.
“Ajax were churning out hundreds of great players. They’d be finishing school early, being bussed in and bussed home three, four, five times a week,” he said.
“In Holland they believed in boys staying at home and being bussed in, and therefore the Dutch were effectively looking at a much earlier age. They were bussing kids into Ajax at 11.”
After being appointed manager at Leeds United in 1988, Wilkinson introduced changes to the way in which young players were developed at Elland Road, changes which influenced his later work with the FA.
“When I joined Leeds they were typical of other clubs, so I outlined my ideas to the chairman to develop what I called a ‘training centre’. The idea was to increase practice time by having boys living near, and we did that at Leeds.
“By the time I left Leeds and joined the FA [in 1996], I’d seen my ideas on youth development start to take shape. Consequently, my ideas had not just been a hypothesis.”
Wilkinson’s changes at Leeds resulted in a string of high quality players, such as Ian Harte, Alan Smith and Harry Kewell, making Leeds’ first team. All three players featured in the club’s memorable run to the semi-final of the Champions League in 2001.
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Academies and Centres of Excellence
Under the Charter, the Premier League and the Football League are authorised to award licences for Centres of Excellence or Academies to clubs. All but three Premier League clubs (Queens Park Rangers, Swansea City and Wigan Athletic) run an Academy, and 23 Football League clubs also do the same, whilst an additional 51 Premier League and Football League clubs run Centres. League Two side Hereford United were recently granted a licence to run a Centre and began their youth operation this season.
Clubs with an Academy or a Centre of Excellence can coach boys from the age of nine; before the Charter, clubs first engaged with young footballers at 14. The switch which allowed professional clubs to coach boys at younger age was key, and a point highlighted by several notable figures.
Speaking to BBC Radio Five Live, ex-England manager Glenn Hoddle described the period between the ages of six and ten as “the most important time in a child’s technical development”. Former Arsenal and Holland forward Dennis Bergkamp famously labelled the eight years to twelve years phase as “the golden period of learning”.
As the flagship product of the Charter, Academies must meet more stringent criteria than Centres. Academies are required to operate at all age levels from under nine to under 21, as well as providing a minimum amount of weekly coaching time. Those under the age of 11 must receive a minimum of three hours of coaching over two sessions, boys between 12 and 16 must receive at least five hours over the course of three sessions, whilst full-time scholars aged 16 and over must be coached for at least 12 hours per week.
On the other hand, Centres are permitted to operate at any age level, as well as being allowed to set their own weekly coaching hours. Differences also exist in the standard and quantity of facilities and staffing required, and Academies, as such, require far greater investment.
Upon reflection, Wilkinson admits that the implementation of the Charter hasn’t turned out quite as he had planned.
“I only envisaged 12 to 14 academies, but we finished up with 40, which in my humble opinion was always too many. I didn’t think the country had enough talent to support 40 high-level development centres,” he said.
“A lot of clubs and a lot of clubs’ directors would ask ‘Where’s our Rooney? Where’s our Joe Cole?’ That’s how they actually judged it. The notion that 40 academies can unearth 40 Rooneys every season is unreal – it won’t happen.
“The second thing was that there has to be adherence to rules. It’s fair to say that there wasn’t. The high standards set out in the Charter were not adhered to in some cases, in terms of numbers of coaches, the number of medical staff and education provisions and so on.”
Although the Charter successfully facilitated increased contact time, the amount of coaching time English youngsters receive still pales in comparison to the amounts received by their continental counterparts.
According to the Telegraph, young footballers in Spain enjoy 4,880 hours contact time between the ages of nine and 21, whilst this figure increases to 5,740 hours and 5,940 hours in Holland and France respectively. English players, on the other hand, receive a meagre 3,760 hours.
Coaching
Domestic resistance to the idea of coaching as a serious profession is an oft-cited failing of English football. In continental countries such as Holland, a suitable coaching qualification is an essential prerequisite to coaching players at any level, including grassroots.
Wilkinson says that this mentality developed due to the way physical education was taught.
“In the 1990s I recognised that culturally there was a different attitude in England, a fundamentally different culture to that what existed on the continent, in particular France, Italy and Spain.
“Physical education was performed by a teacher, who was supposed to be skilled in a multiplicity of disciplines. On the continent, however, you had education at school, and where there was physical education or sport at school it was theory.
“[Playing] sport was left to clubs, so all towns, all villages, had some form of sports club. Barcelona is a prime example of a sports club that’s become huge. In those clubs, professional coaches were part of a profession, so on the continent, training and education of coaches was recognised as wholly legitimate and essential to the sport.”
The Guardian reports that there are 2,769 English coaches holding UEFA’s three highest coaching badges (B, A and Pro), whilst Spain (23,995), Italy (29,420), Germany (34,970) and France (17,588) have significantly higher numbers.
Although England has fewer UEFA-qualified coaches than these countries, Nick Levett, the FA’s National Development Manager for Youth Football, says there is a perfectly good explanation for this.
“When we joined the UEFA coaching system and our courses fell in line with B licences and A licences, the other European countries had been running their systems along that model for a number of years before us. They’ve probably been doing it ten years longer than us. If you look now, the amount of coaches we train at A licence and B licence level is comparable every year with the other European countries,” he said.
However, Levett, who also coaches at Fulham’s Academy, feels that the coaching pathway is not necessarily tailored towards the best interests of young, developing footballers.
“I think it’s a bit of a paradox to be honest, because in this country we put our beginner coaches with our beginner players, and you could argue that you should put your best coaches with your beginner players. If we could raise the professionalism and respect of younger age appropriate coaches, I think it would be a good thing for the development of young players in this country,” he says.
Another issue, one that is particularly prevalent at grassroots level, is ensuring that coaches have age-appropriate knowledge suited to the children that they are coaching. Stuart Allen, County Development Manager at Middlesex FA, illustrates from his own experiences how beneficial and important coaching qualifications can be.
“I got involved with an under-11s club through a friend. He said his son’s club were losing ten-nil every weekend and I offered to help. I went down and said ‘we’re here for an hour and a half, we’ll do half an hour of physical work, half an hour of technical work and half an hour of a game.’ I thought that was right,” he said.
“Totally wrong. We did shuttle runs with these kids, I used to say ‘faster, faster, I used to do this as a kid.’ But shuttle runs aren’t appropriate for a ten-year-old, because their lungs can’t take in the amount of oxygen needed to keep it going. So my knowledge was completely flawed, and I couldn’t see that until I did my coaching course.”
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Role of the FA
The role of the FA within youth development has also been scrutinised. Sir Trevor Brooking, speaking in Chris Green’s book Every Boy’s Dream, opines that the FA is the “only governing body that doesn’t have power over its academy system”. Its influence extends as far as permitting the Premier League and the Football League to award clubs licences for Academies and Centres, and providing coach education courses. Howard Wilkinson explains the role of the FA.
“The FA is mandated by UEFA. The role of the FA is player development and coach education. It’s a different matter with the Rugby Football Union (RFU), and in the case of cricket and so on, where the governing bodies have a much stronger hold over the clubs then the FA does,” he says.
Wilkinson’s reference to the RFU highlights an interesting comparison. With one World Cup triumph and another appearance as beaten finalists in the last 10 years, it could be said that the English rugby team has enjoyed something akin to a golden period over the last decade. The current Six Nations title holders will enter September’s World Cup in New Zealand ranked fourth favourites by most bookmakers and with genuine aspirations of reclaiming the crown they won in 2003.
Gary Henderson, Head of Coach and Player Development at the RFU, believes that the role of the RFU and its relationship with professional clubs has been a key contributor to the quality and depth of elite young players coming through on the English conveyor belt, as well as ensuring that the nation’s best players perform for their country.
The clubs and the RFU signed an eight-year agreement in 2007 which ended long-running club v country disputes. Henderson believes that this deal was essential in order to ensure harmony between the two groups in the long run.
“Basically it’s just a legally-binding contract which says, ‘this is how we’re going to operate, this is the framework we’re going to operate.’ It’s given certainty for how the game’s going to be run for eight years – it almost traverses three World Cup spans.
“What we want them do is get [players] to play for England and for the professional rugby club too.”
As well as smoothing relations with clubs over the availability and use of players, the agreement also sought to encourage the continued development of young English players.
“A lot of the funding for the Championship and Premiership clubs’ players is now based on England-qualified players. The more England-qualified players you have in your Academy, or your starting 15 or matchday squad, the more money you will get. So there’s an incentive [for clubs] to develop English players.”
Arsene Wenger’s reluctance towards the idea of Jack Wilshere featuring for the Under-21 side earlier this summer mirrored the stance of several Premier League managers over the last twenty years. After being beaten by Nigeria earlier this month, England Under-20 coach Brian Eastick pointed to the clubs which refused to release up to 30 players for last month’s U-20 World Cup. If clubs are not willing to support English national teams by releasing their best players, how can we possibly expect the national sides to achieve success?
“In rugby the interests of both (the professional clubs and the RFU) are entwined with each other – they have to work together. I just don’t think that there is a joined-up approach to the development of players [in football] – the clubs basically do pretty much what they want despite what the governing body is doing,” said Henderson.
High hopes
Incredibly, Fifa’s latest set of international rankings place England at fourth place. Whilst there would be very few who believe the national side are amongst the top four teams in the world, there tends to be a heightened sense of belief amongst fans and large parts of the media that they can succeed in international tournaments. Inevitably, this leads to disappointment, accusations of underachievement and calls for a root and branch overhaul of the youth development system when it all goes wrong.
“Define underachievement? Because if achieve means winning, I’m not sure that should be our benchmark. If you look at Brazil for example, they’ve got 200 million people in the country, and statistically they’ve got a hell of a lot more people to pick from than us. So potentially we overachieve based on population,” says Nick Levett.
“I think the weight of pressure from the national media and their expectations, we always seem to have a golden generation of players that underachieve. I think under Sven, when we got to two quarter-finals, I think that is probably where we’re at, because if we make the semi-final or final we’ve done well. Therefore if we don’t make the quarter-final then I think we’ve underachieved.”
With this admission, is there anything really wrong with the way young English players are developed? Although Wilkinson believes that there is “an expectation far in excess of where England are placed in the ranking”, he says that two main issues may be preventing young English players from achieving their full potential.
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“Firstly, I would say that talented boys now find it more difficult to play top-level football, opportunities to play with the best and against the best,” he says.
“Secondly, we have to focus on the development of individual skills, and that has to be a top priority, from an early age. The boys have to play the sort of development football that encourages creativity – we’ve got a long way to go when you see some of the youth football that gets played.”
The diminution of opportunities for young English players is an increasingly worrying threat. Chris Lightbown states in his 2007 report Meltdown that “the number of overseas players making Premier League debuts every season is running at three times that of English players coming into the game through the Academy system”.
Although Premier League clubs have been criticised for overloading their squads with foreign talent, Levett sympathises with them.
“It is tougher for Manchester United and Chelsea to produce players from their Academy, than it is for Darlington or Stockport, because they have to produce players for the top nought percent in world football. And the likelihood of the best right-back in the world coming from within an hour and a half of Old Trafford is unlikely.”
Lack of technical ability amongst English footballers is frequently used as an excuse for the national team’s shortcomings. This explanation has curried more favour since the recent rise of Spanish football and the virtues of their style of play, but few would suggest that the likes of Rooney, Gerrard and Lampard are not as technically gifted as Xavi, Iniesta and Villa.
The view from outside – France
Matthew Spiro, writer and broadcaster specialising in French and African football, discusses youth development in France and perceptions of English football.
ZR: Could you outline the youth development system in France?
MS: There are 14 elite academies run and financed by Fédération Française de Football (French Football Federation). These take around twenty 12-13 year-olds every year, and train them for three years.
Clairefontaine houses one of the academies, and is the administrative centre. Clubs have recently been given permission to run their own academies for 12-15 year-olds. After finishing their pre-training, the players, aged 15/16 are integrated into clubs’ ‘centre de formations’ (youth academies).
ZR: What sort of impact did Clairefontaine (the national football centre that was opened in 1988) have on the French national team successes in 1998 and 2000?
MS: Clairefontaine was a great base for the national team at 1998. But the academy system cannot be said to have had a major impact. Henry was the only Clairefontaine graduate in the World Cup 1998 squad.
Clairefontaine’s centralised training programme for players and coaches had a broader impact on the French game as a whole than the elite academy at Clairefontaine itself. The talented generation of intelligent, tough players was a more significant outcome.
ZR: What is the perception of English football and the English ‘style’ in France?
MS: The perception is that the Premier League is great to watch but that it has sold its soul to foreign investors and no longer provides opportunities for English players. The French watching games on TV regret this as they love the all-action styles of players like Gerrard and Rooney.
In terms of style and coaching, some of the French look down their noses at England. They feel the English still like to play kick-and-rush with a big striker and a terrible goalkeeper. Of course, these comments are generalisations!
The view from outside – Holland
Ernst Bouwes, columnist for ESPN Soccernet and expert on Dutch football, discusses youth development in Holland and perceptions of English football.
ZR: Could you outline the youth development system in Holland?
EB: Most professional clubs have a youth academy. All amateur clubs have youth teams in competition in age categories, starting at age six. Anyone can join in.
ZR: How is the Koninklijke Nederlandse Voetbalbond (Royal Dutch Football Association) involved in youth development?
EB: They demand that coaches need KNVB certificates to coach at any level. They provide referees, organise the leagues, provide advice on club structure and regional selection teams.
ZR: What is the perception of English football and the English ‘style’ in Holland?
EB: That it is very physical and tough. Players are not able to change positions. A lot of emphasis on the result, less emphasis on the gameplay.
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Upon signing Javier Hernandez I’m sure Sir Alex Ferguson thought he had uncovered a diamond for the future, with the expectation that Little Pea would start to show his potential in the following years. I doubt though even the great man himself could have anticipated Hernandez exploding onto the scene with the verve he has shown. The former Chivas man has made his transition from Mexican Primera División to the Premier League so effortlessly. Well it seems Fergie isn’t satisfied with just one Mexican starlet and United are rumoured to be sniffing round Chicharito’s old club Chivas de Guadalajara again, this time eyeing his replacement at Chivas Erick Torres. Surely United can’t delve into the Mexican market again to find another hidden gem, can they?
Torres is only eighteen years old but he has already established himself in the Chivas side scoring six goals in nineteen games for the club. United are not the first big European club to have tabs on the highly rated youngster though, PSV Eindhoven have already scouted the player and are likely to be the main competition for his signature at present. If United do manage to snare the Mexico U-20 star this summer, surely hoping he will blossom in the same way Hernandez has is wishful thinking?
Torres has not long broken into the Chivas first team from their reserves so any move to Europe could be too soon for him at this early stage in his career. He is already being hyped up as the next Chicharito due to his similar size and predatory instinct in the box, but with little experience under his belt a move to England could be detrimental at this stage in his progression. Being dubbed the next Chicharito already is only setting him up for failure as far as I’m concerned, players are all different and need to create their own reputation. Often when players are called the next Zinedine Zidane or Diego Maradona they never realise their potential and fade into obscurity.
There is clearly potential in Torres that has alerted the Manchester United scouts and if they watch him and see what he is about, it may become clear that he is a player they should look to sign. However, being inexperienced and a lot younger than Chicharito suggests to me that if United do sign Torres over the summer, he is unlikely to feature for United and be the instant hit that Hernandez was. I think Torres would probably benefit from being loaned back to Chivas if any deal is struck up between the two clubs so he can develop in Mexico before taking on the Premier League.
Personally, I see Chicharito as a one off and no matter how good Torres turns out to be, he is a different player to Chicharito and deserves to forge his own legacy rather than being compared to his compatriot. It’s not every day that finds like Chicharito come along and we only have to look how Bebe has turned out so far to confirm we shouldn’t always believe the hype generated around young players. So while lightningmay well strike twice at Old Trafford in terms of signing another Chivas youngster, I’d rather wait to be proved wrong than to say Torres will go on to be an instant hit like Hernandez.
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Federico Macheda ’s return from Italy and recent statement of his determination to ‘prove his worth to Fergie’ should have been exactly what most United fans wanted to hear.
A young striker with bags of potential, who’s already proven he has the raw ability to be a future star, declaring his eagerness to fight for his place would be welcomed with open arms at most clubs.
Manchester United isn’t most clubs and the simple facts are that Macheda could well find himself number six in the Old Trafford striking pecking order. Danny Welbeck ’s recent brace at the European Under 21 Championships in Denmark showed that he’s put his injury problems behind him and is now back to full fitness.
Despite all the rumours and conjecture surrounding Dimitar Berbatov the Bulgarian still remains a United player and after finishing last season with the Premier League Golden Boot, who’s to say that he won’t be at Old Trafford come the start of the next campaign.
Michael Owen took time off winning me money at Ascot to put pen to paper on a new one year deal and it’s pretty safe to assume that Wayne Rooney will be flexing his new barnet at United come August.
Oh and let’s not forget about Mame Biram Diouf who managed six goals in just under 30 appearances for Blackburn last season and is still a Manchester United player.
That just leaves Chicharito who’s taken time off from scoring a ridiculous amount of goals for United to score a ridiculous amount of goals for Mexico in the Gold Cup.
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That makes seven strikers at Sir Alex’s disposal next season, all with a reason to expect some form of consideration for the first team.
Admittedly with no goals in his 14 Sampdoria loan spell, Macheda may have a bit of hope rather than any expectation but with a good pre-season he may just gatecrash the striker party.
The question is “how can Sir Alex realistically expect to juggle so many attackers without either losing any form of continuity or upsetting certain players to the degree it has a negative affect on the team?”
Last season United were lucky in the fact that Dimitar Berbatov’s purple patch coincided with Wayne Rooney’s cabbage one, plus there was still a degree of uncertainty as to exactly how awesome Chicharito was.
Then there was Owen’s injury problems coupled with the fact he was more than willing to play practically any role asked of him, regardless of minimal it was.
Last season United’s most effective strike force- at least towards the business end was Chicharito up top with Rooney playing a deeper role.
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If Sir Alex was to use this partnership for the big games then that would still leave five strikers with only cameo roles to keep them happy. Of course it’s a long season and let’s not forget in 1999 Andy Cole Dwight Yorke, Teddy Sheringham and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer all played their part.
Then there’s the likelihood that Macheda will be loaned out again at some point, probably to a Premier League side, ditto Diouf if he’s not sold on a permanent deal.
Even if Macheda and Diouf are sold/loaned Fergie will still have a job keeping everyone happy, but when it comes to a problem facing the United boss, it’s a better one than worrying about how to accommodate a £50 million flop.
Read more of Justin’s articles at Red Flag Flying High
Roma boss Vincenzo Montella said his players can defy a long injury list for their Coppa Italia semi-final second leg against Inter Milan.Francesco Totti, Philippe Mexes, Matteo Brighi and Rodrigo Taddei are all out of Wednesday’s clash at the Stadio Olimpcio, but Montella believes his side still has the ability to overturn a 1-0 deficit at the San Siro.
“We’ll try. Of course this is a difficult match taking into consideration all unavailable players: Mexes, Brighi, Totti, Taddei, who would give us a huge boost,” Montella said.
“Therefore it’s going to be a difficult match, but we’ll do our best because we have the ability to and we’ll do it till the end.”
Montella also praised his squad for turning around their disappointing start to the Serie A season, to leave them fifth with two games remaining and almost assured of a European spot for next term.
“The team should have been able to finish second or third in the table. I think that these players are committed and have given their all for me. It is also thanks to them that our form has changed,” he said.
“Of course everyone was expecting more from this team, but it isn’t simple to get out of a rut. There has been an improvement and it has been achieved especially thanks to the players.”
Football has many sayings but some resonate more than others. Most notably Roberto Mancini and Jupp Heynckes have commented that ‘strikers win you matches but defenders win you championships.’
The latter part of this can be extended to goalkeepers – ask any Arsenal aficionado about Lukasz Fabianski. Newcastle’s Tim Krul and Swansea’s Michel Vorm may not be challenging for titles but they are nevertheless at the crux of their sides recent fortunes.
Until November, Newcastle were unbeaten in the Premier League whilst Swansea still have the best defensive record at home. To attain this though, both stoppers have certainly had to be Flying Dutchmen during the campaign.
Krul, 23, has turned in a string of impressive performances, none more so than at Old Trafford as the Magpies picked up a point. However, it was overshadowed slightly by a controversial penalty awarded to Newcastle which received the lion share of newspaper columns in the days after the encounter.
Vorm meanwhile has received plaudits for similar consistency and continuing to grow his reputation as the “Penalty Killer,” a title the 28-year-old picked up in his time at FC Utrecht in the Eredivisie. It’s worth noting how his old club’s fortunes have taken a turn for the worse defensively since his departure. They have conceded 35 goals in the first half of the season – something they never did when Vorm was between the sticks for the club.
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Utrecht sit in 14th place at the winter break although the departure of star striker Ricky van Wolfswinkel is another contributing factor to their poor performance so far this season.
It demonstrates how a strong defence provides a platform for any attacking flamboyance. This comes in the sense that as an attacker, you know that should you lose the ball, you don’t have to worry about your mistake costing the team. This is perhaps something players wouldn’t think about openly and is more applicable on a subconscious level.
The Netherlands will forever be associated with Total Football and talented goalkeepers such as Krul and Vorm do give their teams a licence to thrill. Vorm’s Swansea has come closer to emulating the likes of Johan Cruyff. Their passing at times is mesmerising but Roberto Martinez must take credit for bringing a stylish brand of football to South Wales during his two years at Swansea.
That was before he moved onto Wigan in an effort to further his career, something Krul and Vorm will both appreciate. However, there’s an interesting comparison to be made here. Many of the best Dutch players usually originate from or play for Ajax at some point in their careers.
Both played for their home town clubs; ADO Den Haag in the case of Tim Krul and Utrecht for Michel Vorm. The latter actually turned down the Amsterdam club’s advances when he was 13, something many would have been perplexed by when you consider Ajax’s standing in world football, let alone Holland. Instead Vorm left for Swansea City some 14 years later for £1.5 million, a price which looks astoundingly good considering how he’s played thus far.
Krul jumped slightly earlier at the opportunity to move to the bigger stage from Den Haag in 2005 before he signed his first senior contract in 2006. As understudy to Shay Given and Steve Harper, Krul had to bide his time before being handed a place in the starting eleven. This season, Pardew decided to make the Dutchman his first choice keeper and it’s a decision that looks to be paying dividends.
Any gap left in the Dutch goalkeeping stakes by Edwin Van der Sar’s retirement last season has been filled firmly in the Premier League at least by Krul and Vorm. It was perhaps no surprise when they came up against each other for the first time in the Premier League that the game finished 0-0. What’s more the first time they met each other was earlier this summer in the Dutch International squad as Krul received his first call up. Vorm subsequently called Krul before deciding on a move to Swansea in the summer.
Maarten Stekelenburg is the current first choice for Holland. Should he pick up an injury ahead of the European Championships, Bert van Maarwijk should have no concerns about selecting Krul or Vorm. The situation wouldn’t be unfamiliar to the pair either. They’ve been patient waiting for their opportunity for a long time. Now they’ve been given their chance in the Premier League, Tim Krul and Michel Vorm are certainly grasping the opportunity with both hands.
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How do you rate Vorm and Krul’s performances this season? Tweet me @arhindtutt or comment below!