The future direction of the premier league

[Deleted]

Interesting article on superficial changes to the premier league:

www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/davidbond/2010/08/is_the_premier_league_responsi.html

Of particular note is the claim by the Birmingham academy manager that delivering a successful England side and developing talent for a premier league club are "worlds apart"

Its as I suspected after Englands latest fiasco, despite all the tough talk the premier league wont change a bit, the product will not change and so neither will coaching standards at youth level.

Should we look to Swansea and Cardiff to buck the trend and actually do something positive for OUR national side by following Tosh's blueprint?

[saints19]

Why would Cardiff and Swansea do anything for the national team? I'm not trying to be negative here, or anything, just pointing out that they will always do what's best for them. We just have to hope that their interests co-incide with those of the national team.

[idiot]

surely after (probably)years of slating toshack you're not suggesting we follow his blueprint?

what is his blueprint anyway?we are how many years into his reign and im still none the wiser to what he's doing

[flynnfan]

According to wikipedia (not the most reliable source of info, I know) Swansea have 14 Welsh players in their first team sqaud and Cardiff only have 3. For that reason, I'll be hoping the Swans do the better of the 2 this season. Although it would be great if they both went up. Unlikely, but still great.

[Deleted]

Aug 4, 2010 16:28:44 GMT idiot said:

surely after (probably)years of slating toshack you're not suggesting we follow his blueprint?

what is his blueprint anyway?we are how many years into his reign and im still none the wiser to what he's doing

As I see it he is trying to make us into what Spain are, comfortable on the ball, able to keep it for long periods before suddenly striking as soon as an opportunity opens up.

I dont have a problem with what he is trying to do. What I have a problem with is that its a futile exercise. I dont think he will ever succeed as to me it is plain to see that our players cannot keep possession to the standard he demands. He has tried to implement his vision too early- by bringing in young players to a senior set up and coaching and expecting them to play to a higher standard than maybe they are capable of. In the meantime we lose and lose and lose and our ranking goes through the floor. we are nearly in pot 5 and 6 years on look like we have made little progress other than unearthing a couple of golden nuggets with a handful that could yet turn out to be decent prem players.

The breadth of change needs to be more thorough and fundamental than that, change has to be made at youth level in order to bear fruit in 10-15 years time. For that to happen the premier league needs to make a conscious choice to do what Spain did and encourage skill over physicality in the major academies.

[idiot]

the thought that spain's formation should be adopted by everyone is wrong,you should choose your formation based on what players we have..just because it works for them it doesnt mean it will work for everyone

this is a golden generation for them,they've produced decent players over the years but i wouldnt belooking at them as the blueprint to produce the next crop of youngsters

[Deleted]

Aug 4, 2010 17:27:11 GMT idiot said:

the thought that spain's formation should be adopted by everyone is wrong,you should choose your formation based on what players we have..just because it works for them it doesnt mean it will work for everyone

this is a golden generation for them,they've produced decent players over the years but i wouldnt belooking at them as the blueprint to produce the next crop of youngsters

I dont mean the formation- I mean the style. We have played a very pedestrian passing football style within a wing backs system under Tosh. It does appear that either by luck or judgement Tosh pre-empted the current world cup trend of defensive formations and cagey possession based football (bar Germany).

The reason Spain have a golden generation is because they ripped up their rule book 15 years ago and started overhauling the coaching system. They have more Uefa qualified coaches at youth level than anywhere in the world and their changed their whole philosophy and approach to football. 15 years later they have the strong nucleus of a side that has grown up together and spent 80-90% of their time on a small training pitch with a ball at their feet rather than doing endurance drills on an adult size pitch. Our footballing cultures could not be more different. They are successful, Englands much vaunted premier league players (and by proxy ours) are not. Are Spains players naturally more gifted? Or has their re-structure made the difference? I think we need to put it to the test in the UK.