Stars of the Future - Part 1

In this series of articles, we take a closer look at some of the players that have the potential to be top quality players in the future. I have tried to avoid the more commonly mentioned players as everybody already knows about them. The likes of Jack Wilshere, Romelu Lukaku and Josh McEachran have already been discussed to death in the press, whereas hopefully some of the following players will be new to people.

Chuks Aneke


Chuks Aneke is considerd to be one of the best players in the Arsenal youth academy. Neil Banfield, the head of Arsenal reserves, claimed that he had already reached technical perfection at the age of only 14. He provides the creative spark in the reserve side that scored at will last season and at 1.91m tall, he is an imposing presence in the midfield.

He has already played for England at U16, U17 and U18 level, and it would be no real surprise to see him continue to progress through the levels and one would expect to see him maybe making his full debut in the Carling Cup next season.

Kenneth Zohore


The Danish striker made his debut at only 16 years and 35 days old, making him the youngest player in the history of the Danish top flight. With trials at both Chelsea and Inter Milan already, he looks to have a promising future in the game.

Aged only 17, he is already over six foot tall and a strong physical presence. With nine goals in 13 matches for the Danish U17 side, he has already shown that he has a knack of scoring goals and he plays well in the target man role, creating space and chance for others.

He scored his first senior goal recently against Lyngby Boldklub, making him the second youngster scorer in the Danish top flight and his appearance against Barcelona in the Champions League made him the third youngest player in that tournament.

He has admitted that his dream is to play for Chelsea and if he continues his current progress, it would hardly be surprising if he ultimately reaches his goal.

Luc Castaignos


Already described as the next Thierry Henry, the young Dutchman has been on the rise for a couple of years. Joint top-scorer at the European U17 Championships in 2009, he made his debut for Feyernoord this season and has already grabbed nine goals in his first 24 games to add to his 22 goals in 31 games at U17 and U19 level for the Netherlands.

Despite being over six foot tall, he has electric pace and is a natural finisher meaning that he has all the attributes to become a world class striker. Already linked with most of the big European clubs, he has announced that he will move to Inter Milan in the summer, where he will hope to continue his development.

Eric Lamela


Eric Lamela is one of the most promising players to have come through the famous River Plate youth academy in recent years. Despite only being 18-years old, it was six years ago that River Plate had to fend off approaches from Spanish giants, Barcelona. They reportedly offered to pay Lamela’s family over €100k per year to move the 12-year old to Spain.

He made his debut for River Plate late last year, but the Argentinean club have already had to reject a €12m offer from AC Milan, demanding at least €25m for the youngster. He usually plays as an attacking midfielder or winger and has drawn great praise for his dribbling skills as well as his ability to score from distance. Furthermore, he is the first choice set piece taker, despite being only 18-years old. As far as weaknesses go, he lacks that extra yard of pace and needs to work on his aerial ability, but these will come with age and further training.

Despite his tender age, he is already one of the most talented players in South America, and despite his pledge to remain at River Plate until he has won a major trophy, his resolve will undoubtedly be tested as the giants of European football come knocking.

Thiago Alcantara


The young midfielder is considered to be the best player at Barcelona’s famous La Masia youth academy, and the natural heir to Xavi. Still only 19 years old, he has made eight appearances for the Barcelona first team and scored his first goal last season against Racing Santander. He has been described as Spain’s biggest talent by Fernando Hierro.

He has all the attributes that you would expect from a Brazilian at Barcelona – great vision, a wonderful range of passing and an eye for a goal. If he lives up to the hype, he will become one of the world’s very top midfielders and will slot perfectly into the centre of the Barcelona midfield.

Edwin Cardona


The young Colombian midfielder has proved that he is a real talent with seven goals in seven games at the South American U17 Championships in 2009. He has also impressed in this season’s U20 Sudamericano for his club where he has notched up four goals in six games – an impressive tally for a midfielder.

Like many South Americans, he enjoys running at players with the ball, but also has an excellent eye for a pass and is the set piece expert for both club and country. In an underperforming international side at U20 level, he is proving the standout star, even in the match against the impressive Brazilians. It would be no surprise to see him promoted to the full international side before long, and a move to Europe may not be much further away.

Gary Gardner


The younger brother of Birmingham midfielder, Craig Gardner, Gary was the star of the Aston Villa academy until his development suffered a setback when he tore his ACL last year. He has recently returned and played a starring role in the 10-1 victory against Arsenal reserves. It was also revealed that Rafa Benitez tried to take him to Inter Milan over the summer.

Closely compared in style and ability to Jack Wilshere, the two have played together at the heart of the midfield through all the youth ranks for England and it is surely only a matter of time until they link up again at senior level. He is expected to make his debut for Villa next season once he has fully recovered from his injury and is certainly a player to watch closely.

Lucas


The young attacking midfielder only made his debut for Sao Paulo last season, but by the end of the year, he had established himself as one of the first names on the team sheet. He picked up four goals and four assists in his 22 matches last season and was one of the star players at the South American U20 Championships earlier this year.

He loves to have the ball at his feet and run at defenders, whilst he also has great composure in front of goal. He has already caught the attention of Europe’s elite and it would be no real surprise to see him making the move to one of the big clubs in the coming years.

Juan Manuel Iturbe


The young Argentinean has already been compared to both Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo at the age of only 17. He has made seven appearances for Paraguayan club, Cerro Porteno, but has already agreed a deal to move to Porto on his 18th birthday in June with rumours that it may be a stepping stone on the path to replacing Ryan Giggs at Manchester United.

The winger was one of the stars of the South American U20 Championships earlier this year and appears to be very comfortable with the ball at his feet and has an eye for a pass. Whether he can live up to the high expectations remains to be seen, but the move to Portugal should be the first step on his rise to the top.

Jean-Marie Dongou


The young Cameroon striker has been rapidly progressing through the Barcelona youth system. At only 15-years old, he has become the first player since Lionel Messi to represent Barcelona in three different age groups this season and is regularly playing against players three years older than himself.

He is lightning fast, powerful and a natural finisher and looks to be the next great hope of Cameroonian football. He has already scored well over 100 goals in the past couple of years at youth level and hit a stunning 20 goals in 14 days last month in the matches that he played in.

Whether he can continue his progression remains to be seen, but he has an excellent opportunity at one of the best clubs on the planet.

DW

Youth Revolution at Aston Villa

There is a saying that every cloud has a silver lining. Sometimes it can be difficult to find, but it is generally always there. As the injury list at Aston Villa continues to mount, fans could be forgiven for worrying about the upcoming fixtures. However, there is a refreshing air of optimism around the club thanks to the emergence of a new generation of stars.


As of this moment, Aston Villa are without 14 players who could realistically be considered for a place in the squad of 18. In the midfield, they are missing club captain, Stiliyan Petrov, who is set to miss at least three months with a knee ligament injury. In addition, vice-captain Nigel Reo-Coker is out for around three weeks, Steve Sidwell has recently undergone surgery on a troublesome achilles tendon, Fabian Delph is still missing after tearing his cruciate ligament last season, as is promising youngster Gary Gardner.

In attack, Emile Heskey and John Carew are both missing, whilst Gabriel Agbonlahor made his return last weekend against Manchester United, but has withdrawn from the England squad through injury. Hopefully this is just a precaution, but it remains to be seen. Finally, Andreas Weimann, who made his Premiership debut in the season-opener against West Ham has been missing since August with ankle ligament damage.

In defence, Carlos Cuellar, Habib Beye, Richard Dunne and Ciaran Clark are all suffering from various injuries, whilst their likely replacement from the reserve team, Nathan Baker, is also struggling from an unknown injury.

Any club would struggle without 14 first team squad players. However, it has forced Gerard Houllier to give some of the younger players an opportunity to shine. And they have impressed. Most recently, they were magnificent against Manchester United and were unfortunate to lose concentration late on and concede two late goals. However, they will learn from this.


Marc Albrighton has been one of the revelations of the season in the Premiership, and has already been tipped as a future England international. Barry Bannan has come into the centre of the midfield and received high praise from all around, culminating in a first international call after only three Premiership starts.

Ciaran Clark, a central defender by trade, has been deployed in a holding midfield role and has not looked out of place. Comfortable on the ball, good in the air and tough in the tackle, he has a promising future. Having captained England at all levels up to U21, he has the potential to continue his impressive rise.

Nathan Delfouneso was given his first Premiership start against Fulham and scored his first goal of the season against Blackpool to give Villa a 2-1 lead. Jonathan Hogg made his Premiership debut against Manchester United and had a solid game in the centre of the midfield. Fullback Eric Lichaj and midfielder Chris Herd have also made their Premiership debuts in recent weeks.


We may see further debutants in the coming game against Blackburn. With the injury to Richard Dunne, we may see young Australian defender Shane Lowry making his Premiership debut after a spell on loan at Leeds last season.

This first team experience can only benefit these young players. So far, they have been some of the outstanding players for Aston Villa this season. Many of them have played together in the very successful youth and reserve sides – a potentially key factor.

A winning mentality is something that cannot be taught. Players and teams that are used to winning have that edge, and tend to continue winning. Players that haven’t experienced winning sometimes lack that extra something.

Virtually all of the young Villa players have tasted repeated success in the past. The reserve team has won the Premier Reserve League South for three straight seasons, winning the overall title in 2009. The year before, the group won the academy title, reached the semi-final of the FA Youth Cup and won the prestigious Ergenzingen Tournament.


Just behind the current graduates are another promising group. They include 18-year-old goalkeeper, Benjamin Siegrist, who won the Golden Glove award as Switzerland won the U17 World Cup last year and Gary Gardner, who has represented England at U16 and U17 level before suffering a serious knee injury last season, and who has already been linked with a move to Inter. Academy captain, Daniel Johnson, has found himself in the 18 for the senior team in the last two games. Two other names to keep an eye on in the coming years are Courtney Cameron and Samir Carruthers, who have impressed for the academy side this season.

Fans love to see their own academy products succeeding in the first team, and it is this pride that it the source of the optimism around Villa Park at the moment. Not only are they holding their own in the best league in the world, they are turning heads throughout the league.

DW

Change is Needed - How to Resurrect the Youth System in England

The 2010 World Cup in South Africa marked the final opportunity for the so-called ‘Golden Generation’ to make their mark on the global stage. The likes of Frank Lampard, John Terry, Steven Gerrard and Rio Ferdinand were supposed to be the backbone of the team that was going to take the world by storm. However, tournament after tournament has come and gone with only disappointment. A series of quarter-final appearances the best they could achieve. But where are the next generation coming from?


There have been numerous reports commission to try and determine why we do not seem to produce the same quantity of gifted players as other countries. Holland, which has just reached the World Cup final, has a population of just over 16 million, compared to around 51 million people in England. However, we glance enviously at the list of talented, technically brilliant players that they continue to produce – Johan Cruyff, Marco Van Basten, Ruud Gullit, Johan Neeskens and Dennis Bergkamp just to name a couple. So where are we going wrong? This article will look at a few of the reasons and some potential solutions.

The first major issue is the style of coaching that children receive in England, compared to countries on the continent. In England, we introduce the players to competitive matches on full-sized pitches from a very early age. Furthermore, we have competitive leagues right down to the youngest age groups, putting a huge emphasis on the idea that winning is everything. This leads to teams picking the bigger, stronger children, at the expense of the smaller, more talented players.

Let us take Spain as an alternative example. There are far fewer leagues for small children in Spain, with a greater emphasis on making football more fun and focussing on teaching them the technical skills needed. There is a huge amount of small 5-a-side football played amongst the younger groups, which leads to each child touching the ball more, having more shots, making more passes, and so developing the skills.

The lack of focus on winning at all costs means that the children have greater freedom to try new things without the criticism that would come their way. It is an interesting question to ask whether the smaller, Spanish passing players, such as Xavi and Andres Iniesta, would have developed to become such good players under the English system.


The problem with this emphasis on winning at all costs is not only constrained to the younger age groups. We put great pressure on the England youth teams to win their respective tournaments. Whilst England has indeed had success in recent times in these competitions, there has not been the progression into the senior team. Maybe it is the fact that we have bred a team of strong and quick players, who are able to perform well at the youth level, but are unable to make the step up to full international level.

The likes of the Dutch and the Spanish put far less emphasis on these tournaments. Rather, they see them as an opportunity for the players to develop their skills and intelligence. Whether they win or not is a secondary issue. As former U18 winning captain Darren Caskey said, “The youth teams should be about bringing players through to the England team, not about winning.”

However, the difference in the coaching that young players receive in England compared with Holland is staggering. If we take an 18-year old academy graduate at Ajax, he will have received around 6,500 hours of dedicated coaching within his club. If we take an 18-year old academy graduate at an English club, he will only have received 2,500 hours of dedicated coaching. Given these facts, it is hardly surprising that the Dutch produce more technically able players than England.

We can make comparisons closer to home as well. A 15-year old footballer in England will be having around 5 hours of dedicated coaching per week. A 15-year old swimmer will be doing around 15 hours of dedicated training with a coach each week. Why should an aspiring footballer receive so much less training than an aspiring swimmer? We need to provide far more access to coaching for aspiring young footballers.

The problem is that we do not have the coaches. In England, we have 2,770 UEFA qualified coaches. Whilst this may sound like quite a large number, Spain has over 24,000 UEFA qualified coaches, and Germany has over 35,000. How can we expect to produce quality footballers if we have fewer coaches and provide less training for the children and teenagers that are supposedly the future of the national team?

The next issue is the facilities that are provided for young players to develop. England has more footballing academies than any other country in Europe. However, as we have seen, they do not seem to produce the quality. Maybe there should be more of a focus on quality rather than quantity. France has a total of 12 elite regional academies – the best known of these is Clairefontaine, which has produced the likes of Nicholas Anelka, Louis Saha, William Gallas, Thierry Henry, Hatem Ben Arfa, Sebastien Bassong and Jerome Rothen amongst other in recent years.


Similarly, the Dutch have merged many of the smaller local academies to form 14 large regional academies. This has helped to improve the quality of coaching and of the facilities in recent years. This also allows the best young players to play with and against each other on a far more regular basis, learning from each other in the process. A recent experiment has been tried in the Midlands to try and replicate this, where the academy players of Aston Villa, Birmingham and West Brom have been training together. Whether the National Football Centre that is expected to finally open in Burton in 2012 will help to move toward the continental system is still to be seen.

Furthermore, the Premiership regulations that 13 to 16 year old children may only sign for a club within 90 minutes drive of their home may be helping to restrict the opportunities for the most talented players to reach their potential. Manchester United has excellent youth facilities and has an excellent record of bringing young players through. David Beckham and Ryan Giggs are two of the best players that have come through as part of their golden generation. However, under the new regulations, neither would have been able to train at the Manchester United academy. Would Giggs have been the same player if he had to stay and train at the Cardiff academy instead of at Old Trafford?

One of the most commonly heard excuses is that there are too many foreign players in the Premiership, meaning that young English players do not receive the opportunities to break into the first-team. Whilst it is true that there is a growing proportion of foreign players in the league, this cannot be taken seriously as a reason for the lack of talented English young players. As Arsene Wenger has stated, it does not matter where a player is from, if he is good enough, he will play. No manager, even if he is foreign, is going to discriminate against an English player if he is good enough to play for their team.

Arsenal receives a huge amount of criticism for not bringing through English players. However, in the past 15 years, their academy has produced Stuart Taylor, Jamie O’Hara, David Bentley, Ashley Cole, Matthew Upson, Justin Hoyte, Kieran Gibbs and Jack Wilshere amongst others. All of these have gone on to have careers at the top level, and even internationally. However, they are not quite good enough to play for Arsenal, one of the best teams in the country. They did not play for Arsenal because they did not have the talent, not because they were not given the opportunity.

Whilst there are a growing number of foreign players playing in the Premiership, the younger players constantly complain that they are not given the chance to prove themselves. Maybe there could be an argument that these players should be more proactive and give themselves the opportunity. There are very few English players playing abroad. Why do some of these players, who do not get the opportunity at the age of 18-23, move to clubs in Europe? The likes of the Dutch and Belgian leagues in particular, but also the French and Portuguese leagues would be ideal for these players to develop by playing first-team football. Not only this, they would also learn a new style of play from these foreign league that would help them further.


There are very few English players that have ventured abroad, despite the obvious benefits that are associated with the move. A major reason for this is the mentality of young players. There are far too many youngsters who are in the game for the wrong reason – the lure of the money and lifestyle of a professional footballer, rather than for the challenge of being a great player. When we combine this with the fact that young players are paid far more in England than they would be elsewhere in Europe, we can see why the players stay. For these players, signing a professional contract with an English Premiership team is a sign that they have made it. In reality, they have barely even started.

The English system means that when a player graduates from the club’s academy at the age of 18, he must be ready to move straight into the first team. This obviously discriminates against those late developers. For those that are not ready for the first team, there is somewhat of a void. The reserve team is often made up of senior players trying to regain their fitness or the journeymen players that are no longer good enough for the first team. There are limited opportunities for the young players. There is a strong argument for introducing an U21 league, possibly even at the expense of the reserve league. Not only would it benefit the development of these players to play competitively at this level, there could also be a commercial opportunity. In the USA, they have the equivalent of an U23 league in all the major sports – the college system. Crowds of in excess of 100,000 people pack the stadia for the matches between the biggest colleges. Now whilst an U21 league would never reach these levels, it could easily garner public support if successfully marketed.

Finally, the Premier League has begun to try and address this problem. From this season onward, clubs must include 8 ‘home-grown’ players in a squad of 25 players over the age of 21. Whilst this sounds like a promising move, it is hampered by EU regulations that ban any restrictions on freedom of movement of labour. As a result, the Premier League cannot restrict teams to having to have a certain number of English players. Therefore, we have the idea of a ‘home-grown’ player. This is a player who has trained with an English club for at least 36 months before the end of the season when they turn 21.

This means that Arsenal are perfectly entitled to register Cesc Fabregas as a ‘home-grown’ player. Similarly, Carlos Vela, Nicklas Bendtner, Denilson, Alex Song, Armand Traore, Johan Djourou and Wojciech Szczesny would all qualify as ‘home-grown’. Therefore, Arsenal can meet the requirement of 8 ‘home-grown’ players in their squad, without naming a single English player. With the increasing frequency of young players in academies – 45 of the 300 players between 16 and 18 years old – being foreign, these regulations are relatively lax. Whilst the Premier League are hamstrung by EU regulations, there is an argument that the cap should be raised to 12 ‘home-grown’ players, as in Germany. Very few teams would have that many foreign players in their academy, forcing them to name English players.

However, this returns to the earlier argument that teams should not be forced to play English players if they are not good enough. There is a fine-line to be trod here. We do not want to hinder the quality of the league as a whole, and undoubtedly the foreign players have improved the league, but we do want quality young English players to be given the opportunity to play. As mentioned earlier though, if they are good enough, they will play.


Unfortunately, the sheer sums of money involved in the game now hinder the strategy of building for the future at the expense of instant success. Even the end-of-season games where teams used to blood new young players once survival was ensured and European football was beyond them are now taken more seriously. Sam Allardyce admitted that the additional £500k per finishing position in the league meant that it was not worth giving young players a chance. The only time young players get their opportunity now is when a club has an injury crisis, leaving them as the only option. Often on these occasions, the young players seize their opportunity. Phil Jones came in for Blackburn last season, impressed, and is now being talked about as a first-team regular. It is unlikely that he would even have had the chance to play otherwise.

It is money though that is likely to prove the solution. At the moment, the FA only invests 1% of its money into the development of young players. Rather, it relies on some of its major sponsors to provide projects aimed at the young kids. The FA Tesco Skills Programme is a good example of this type of project. Considering the FA pays Fabio Capello a salary of around £6m per year, it might be more effective to hire a less expensive coach and direct some of those funds toward youth development. No matter how good the coach is, if there are no good players coming through the system, England will not experience international success.

Germany has proved that investment can reap rewards. Ten years ago, the German FA, the Bundesliga and the German government all agreed to work together to resurrect the German game. They embarked on a £500m investment project (£50m per year) and they are now seeing the results. Victory in the U21 European Championships last year have been followed by an impressive number of those players making their mark at this year’s World Cup. Bayern Munich impressed in Europe with a team including a number of German players – the likes of Philipp Lahm, Holger Badstuber, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Toni Kroos and Thomas Muller are testament to the quality of players that are coming through the system at Bayern Munich.


With the money that is being pumped into the English game, major investment is needed to transform the youth system. Whilst the current economic climate means that investment on the German scale is overly ambitious, something needs to be done to change the style of coaching, the facilities, the quality and quantity of qualified coaches, and support for players to gain experience abroad. There is a worrying lack of talent being produced in the past decade, and if something is not done to restructure the youth system, England can look forward to a bleak future for the national team.