Liverpool FC Forum

by **stmichael** » Mon Jul 26, 2004 3:17 pm

whenever i listen to football shows nowadays all i hear is fans bleating on about academies and how supposedly great they are. it is something which i have never fully understood. i think people generally misinterpret what academies actually are. to me, academies provide fantastic facilities for young hopefuls but by no means guarantee that any of them will make the grade.

the question is, if these academies are so good, where are all the up and coming english star players of the future? i have yet to see them. man u produced players such as scholes, butt and the nevilles in the mid nineties, and liverpool and west ham have produced to a lesser extent since. however, the thing is, countries such as argentina don't have academies, but they seem to churn out players hand over fist.

to me the best academies are playing competitive football at school and down the park every day in your spare time. when i was young, especially during school holidays i played football whenever possible and gradually improved just through persistent practice. some days my parents wouldn't see me from midday until six at night. i bet a lot of you were the same. schools thesedays tend to place more emphasis on "taking part" than winning which gives kids the wrong mentality. they are also so obsessed with academic performance that sport, particularly football, seems to take a back seat.

what do you reckon?

by **begintoend** » Thu Jul 29, 2004 7:55 am

Do you see more influx of young foreign talents instead? There are no longer any true blue ENGLISH YOUTH ACADEMY (EPL Teams). Maybe those of true english academies lies in the lower divisions.

Many EPL teams now snap youngsters from oversea academies and plant them into theirs. That's youth developement, but not english totally. As for pure breds, looking at park-players is not a choice for scouts. But I agree that school players are definitely worth. School teams gets practises and play competitive football. So there will be players to pluck from.

I come from a country that academic results were so much more important as our professional players do not make loads like England's. Kids will not spend their time in football. Thus I feel the same as it seems sad and dire that the sport is only glorified on TV rather than a real match. I play a very small league every Sunday and is enjoying every minute of the game. And my team has been on track to be top of the league just because we love to win!

by **the great one** » Fri Aug 13, 2004 3:29 am

foreigin imports is cheap but we do have some good youth in our academy looks like benitzes is gonna give them a chance unlike out former manger

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