Football The 2012 / 2013 Season Thread

[megadave]

Cheap band aid to cover up the ground roots problems in English football. Utterly meaningless really as most decent 18-21 players wont be able to play due to club commitments.

To repeat my dayz post.. How many prem clubs actually have teenagers getting decent playing time every week?

 

[Aoami]

they play in the reserves, and the point of my post was that i can't see the difference. in fact, surely the reserve league is a higher level because it includes older pro's coming back from injuries or are just a bit off first team standard so the club wants to keep them.

 

[megadave]

You might have seen that earlier this week, news of the revamped structure for youth football in England was finally announced.
Chief amongst the changes is the introduction of the Professional Development League; a three-tiered Under-21 competition ranked on academy grading designed at improving the quality of football between the ages of 18 and 21.
Little more needs to be said about the failings of the old reserve system at this point. Most youth followers are aware that the ever-thinning fixture list, the underwhelming atmosphere and lack of direction contributed to a wasteland for the next generation of footballers in the English game.

So step forward the PDL. The top level, for Category One and select Category Two outfits, will garner most attention and be the immediate ‘replacement’ for the Premier Reserve League.
The competition structure mirrors that of the Under-16 and Under-18 leagues, with 23 teams divided into three groups irrespective of geography. They play home and away until Christmas before being split based on points accumulated, and then spend the second half of the season attempting to secure one of five playoff berths to determine the national champion.

On the face of it, the changes look good. The level of competition should step up, with only the very best academies included, and the redefinition from ‘Reserve’ to ‘Under-21’ should, in the short term at least, take teams in a new direction. Over-age players are permitted but not encouraged and have only been allowed so as to provide a facility for teams to nurse first-team players back to match fitness.
Most reserve teams in the past few years have been Under-21 anyway, but the odd club would have a large first-team squad overspill and when they featured in the second-string team, it would result in a vast difference in physical ability and experience, and contribute to a downtrodden and half-hearted feel with very few ever interested in competing fully.

Some managers have noted that they may eschew the loan system in favour of retaining a stronger and more competitive Under-21 squad in order to improve the quality of their team, and in turn the league. With the idea of B Teams within the football league structure never really likely to take off, a strong 18-21 league is the next best approach and if everyone commits to keeping the majority of their players at the club (where it suits the player, of course), they may be on to a winner.

So we now have a streamlined approach in terms of quality of team, and a specified directive for the league to operate with. The EPPP regulations themselves make this abundantly clear:

“The objective of the Games Programme in this phase is to provide players with the opportunity to practise and rehearse for the professional game. To achieve this, players need to be faced with an environment where they can learn how to win. The environment should, where possible, replicate the professional game. Players should be exposed to hostile environments from time to time, for they need to learn how to deal with stress and the challenge of competition when fear of failure can be debilitating to performance. For Academy players who harbour ambitions of playing in the Premier League, this phase needs to provide them with the hardest playground in the world.”​

A key part of this section – “The environment should, where possible, replicate the professional game. Players should be exposed to hostile environments from time to time…” – infers that Under-21 matches should be played in front of a crowd, at professional stadia.
The FA’s new rules and regulations on the competition support this notion:

“155. At least two matches in the Professional Development League shall be played at the Club’s ground registered pursuant to Rule I.5, and other matches may be played at an alternative ground subject to the approval of the Board or the Football League (as appropriate). Such alternative grounds may include a pitch at the Club’s Academy provided that it is floodlit, has a fenced off pitch and provides a spectator area.”​

The administrators of the league have recognised that too many teams have spent the past two seasons hosting their reserve/Under-21 fixtures at their training ground, which proved logistically favourable but less conducive to positive development.
Many clubs will play their entire home schedule at professional stadia in 2012-13; Chelsea will use Griffin Park and Stamford Bridge, West Ham will use Rush Green Stadium and Upton Park, and Blackburn split their fixtures between Leigh Sports Village and Ewood Park.
Understandably, some games will be played at training grounds, especially during periods of heavy fixture congestion at shared stadia or in times of inclement weather, but they are intended to be the exceptions rather than the rule.

Which begs the question; why are some clubs not playing ball? Liverpool’s entire first-half schedule is to be played at their academy in Kirkby, which is a training ground accommodating a smattering of fans. The same can be said for Fulham and Middlesbrough (with the exception of one fixture apiece), who go a stage further and indicate that their fixtures are to be played behind closed doors.
This is a desperately disappointing and short-sighted approach which flies in the face of what the Under-21 league is attempting to do. If clubs are going to be allowed to flout the rules and effectively maintain the status quo from the old reserve league, the possible benefits will be lost.

The changes many have called for are finally upon us. A new era of youth development is here and whether it succeeds or not is down as much as to the individuals and clubs involved as it is those governing the game. A collective effort to make progress and strive for an improvement in competition is what everyone should be aiming towards.
Let’s hope they all end up on the same page.

this is a cfc youth team blogs take on it

 

[Wazzerphuk]

So basically Cazorla's signed, passed his medical and even met some of the team but isn't officially an Arsenal player yet because Malaga are such a mess they don't know who needs to actually sign it off.

Lulz.

Sahin's expected to join on loan too.

Some good business. Very good business this summer.

 

[Aoami]

Is Sahin good in real life? FM hero, but not heard much of him in reality, especially since he moved to Spain.

 

[megadave]

Looked shithot before goong to Madrid and not playing. I'd have him over Ramsey. Not sure what arsenal are doing loaning and developing players for other teams though.

Also giroud and cazorla are a bit 'meh' to me.

 

[Aoami]

everytime i've seen cazorla i thought he looked good, not sure about giroud. not sure how much playing time either will see but they're no joke as back-up/rotation players.

 

[eksdee]

Giroud is great in the air, sure to thrive at Arsenal.

 

[megadave]

3 sided football is interesting

 

[eksdee]

mind

blown

 

[Shagrat]

that would be confusing as hell

 

[soze]

Afobe has joined Bolton for the Season. Fingers crossed he can step his game up. He has had some great games for the reserves.

 

[megadave]

that would be confusing as hell

it is, winner is team who concedes the least, they make and break alliances all match long

 

[cHodAX]

it is, winner is team who concedes the least, they make and break alliances all match long

Chelsea and United to gangbang Liverpool? Game on!!!

 

[megadave]

watching our preseason game atm, we are fucking dire

 

[Vladamir]

Still 2-1 to Brighton?

 

[Ch3tan]

This Mexico v Senegal game is immense.

 

[megadave]

nah 3-1, for the third our team stopped playing, waited for the whistle while brighton walked in unchallenged to score

 

[megadave]

Honduras, giant killers? Haha

 

[gohan]

it is, winner is team who concedes the least, they make and break alliances all match long

how retarded, I would bother attacking at all, one team scores 17 and conceeds 3 one scores 8 and conceeds 6 one scores 0 and conceeds 2.... yet they win????? can only be american

 

[megadave]

Played in deptford in London, fool!

 

[gohan]

Pfft you Londoners, you is crazy!!!!!

 

[soze]

Surprised Ramsey took the second penalty his fist was not very confident.

 

[Raven]

lol at the GBR team...nearly as terrible as England.

 

[Aoami]

way to let the nation down sturridge

 

[Shagrat]

fucking knobby stop start penalty run up.

just hit the fucking thing and stop trying to be clever.

bloody penalties

 

[Raven]

It shouldn't have even got to penalties. South Korea? Really?

 

[soze]

Keeper owned him then If the keeper flinches Sturridge put it down the middle and looks like a star but keeper won the battle.

 

[gohan]

penalties in the quaters? I've seen this somewhere before....

 

[CorNokZ]

3 sided football is interesting

im super high but when it will throwin/corner/goal kick?