28 Jan 2019 20:36:31
There is loads of factors why England is a poor breeding ground for young talent. The competitive nature of the league leaves the top teams unwilling to spend time blooding youth in. It doesn't seem to be a mandate for clubs as a priority to bring through youth.
And can you blame a manager for not doing it? If you were guaranteed a few season you could plan the transition of youth players into the first team squad, but why would you when you could be sacked after 15 games?
Me personally, I would always have at least one academy player on the bench for every game. For the games you're winning comfortably and if you're trailing and just need a spark.
Another problem is that the reserve league is a load of pony. Nothing stagnates a players progress more than too many season's playing in the Premier League 2 or whatever name it has at the moment. Players need a chance. Look at Rashford. Not even first choice in the reserves and a few years later because of faith and him grabbing his opportunity, he's now one of the brightest prospects in football.
Back to your point about Germany being a beacon of hope for young English players. Money has kept the youth in England. I have no doubt that City offered Sancho more money than Dortmund did but he chose the regular football over more money. You have to remember too that he wasn't an instant success. His start in Germany wad a bit hit and miss, but minutes on the pitch for a young footballer is invaluable.
Footballers aren't the brightest bunch but maybe the penny has dropped that it's better for your career to go in search of regular football instead of whichever team is willing to pay you more.
Spanish and Italian teams let their youth prospect's go to their rivals all the time. English teams tend to hoard decent players until they've reached the age and their fans no longer care about them.
Sancho moves to Dortmund. Gets in the team ahead of Pulisic. Pulisic now wants to leave. Joins Chelsea for 50 million. Hudson-Odoi now has his path blocked and will move Bayern. It's a really weird one but until it becomes more financially viable for clubs to produce youth players, sadly it isn't going to happen that regularly.
Haven't said all that, we have a few awesome prospects and a manager that has the support of the fans and hopefully soon the full backing of the board. So maybe we'll see 2 or 3 of them get more game time over the next year.
28 Jan 2019 21:57:40
Sorry, this was supposed to be a reply to Shappys post down the page.