LucaAltieri

He's right. Which is why you seldom see an English player come all the way through Arsenal's setup. He buys foreign teenagers then builds them up to play for the first team. I'm sure he'd love to just use the local talent pool and avoid paying a few million for a foreign kid, but they just aren't up to standard. This all comes back to coaching. Too many coaches at the lower levels are 1) shit 2) care more about their ego and being a winning coach than actually developing good players. My kid's team came up against one of those last night. Shouting at the kids when they make mistakes, encouraging them to boot the ball out of play, everyone charging the around after the ball to win it back. I'm sure it gets them some results but those kids are fucked for their future development. They're not going to know how to retain possession, turn defence into attack, and they'll be so afraid of messing up they'll never try anything creative or complicated ever again. My experience as a kid wasn't dissimilar. At that age it almost shouldn't even be a competitive sport. So, to cut a long story short, Arsenal's coaches training under 16s are shit? Not just Arsenal. The vast majority of them.

He's right. Which is why you seldom see an English player come all the way through Arsenal's setup. He buys foreign teenagers then builds them up to play for the first team. I'm sure he'd love to just use the local talent pool and avoid paying a few million for a foreign kid, but they just aren't up to standard. This all comes back to coaching. Too many coaches at the lower levels are 1) shit 2) care more about their ego and being a winning coach than actually developing good players. My kid's team came up against one of those last night. Shouting at the kids when they make mistakes, encouraging them to boot the ball out of play, everyone charging the around after the ball to win it back. I'm sure it gets them some results but those kids are fucked for their future development. They're not going to know how to retain possession, turn defence into attack, and they'll be so afraid of messing up they'll never try anything creative or complicated ever again. My experience as a kid wasn't dissimilar. At that age it almost shouldn't even be a competitive sport.

26. Fucking Shimizu S-Pulse?

Any good? Heard a lot of him, but he's played like 20 games in his career. Seen a lot of him? Heard he's supposed to be the next big belgian thing. He's raw but will be a good player. Seen bits of him. He's tiny. My HBA comparison was a little off... he's somewhere between a Hatem and Walcott. He the little chap at PSV? Yup.

Any good? Heard a lot of him, but he's played like 20 games in his career. Seen a lot of him? Heard he's supposed to be the next big belgian thing. He's raw but will be a good player. Seen bits of him. He's tiny. My HBA comparison was a little off... he's somewhere between a Hatem and Walcott.

I don't know why there's an assumption that introducing B teams will kill off the loyal support of lower league teams. "Oh, we're playing NUFC B this week, not Luton, I won't bother then." I don't see it, myself.

Spain have previously relied heavily on Barca players and Barca as a club aren't at the same level they were a few years ago. It stands to reason that Spain won't be either. There are many strong teams going to the World Cup, picking any particular one with any degree of certainty is near impossible. But I would be surprised if Spain won it again. Brazil have as good a chance as any. Home advantage even managed to win England a World Cup.

They don't want an extra league, they want (a) young English players to get a better grounding and/or (b) bigger clubs to get another advantage - depending upon your perspective/level of cynicism. I also don't believe that you wouldn't take an interest in NUFC B. I'd have thought you'd watch them more than NUFC A at the moment, tbh. From a purely selfish standpoint I'd love to see Spurs B, but it would destroy something more important. They just need to get tough on clubs. Have a 25 man squad for all competitions, 5 of those must be between 16-21. No more players allowed at the club over the ages of 16 other than those in the squad. Team in Europe are allowed say an extra 5 players, 3 of which have to be 16-21. Do so teams don't hoard players and have to give them an opportunity or release them to someone who will. Getting tough on clubs is what we should be doing, not bending over backward for them. Squad registration is done on a competition by competition basis. UEFA have their requirements, I'm sure the football league have theirs. I'm not sure who would have the right to dictate to clubs how many players they can have on staff available for ALL competitions.

Obviously there are flaws but there are most definitely positives too. How many players currently get loaned out from top sides to lower league clubs on average? Maybe a dozen? Having a competitive B team would get more kids more playing time against professionals. Having a B team means you control the coaching methods and staff. This means better coaches for the kids playing at that level than if they'd been sent on loan to Rotherham or where ever. And it means they can be coached using the same tactics as the first team, actually preparing them for a career in the first team, so there's a better chance they'll actually get called up and used in the Premier League. The report also talks about grass roots coaches and all weather pitches, both of which are issues that need addressing. The report doesn't go far enough. Even the standard of coaching at elite academies isn't up to scratch. It's understandable why these English pros wouldn't criticise the system that produced them, but half the problem with kids getting first team football is that they're simply not as good as the 18 and 19 year olds getting produced elsewhere in Europe. Coaching in England needs improving across the board, not just at grass roots, but at every level of the youth game. Way too much cronyism and jobs for the boys, at the moment. After moving to the US I'm a total convert on turf. It's great to play on even in shitty weather. I'm glad to see they're looking at ending some of that natural grass snobbery. In the US they are very keen to focus on homegrown talent and they're taking these exact same steps and then some. Not only do we have a dedicated league for under 23s (the PDL) but the third tier of American soccer (USL Pro) is rapidly expanding with MLS B teams and/or affiliate clubs. The situation is slightly different due to the fact that soccer over here doesn't have the same level of history, long standing lower league clubs, etc. A lot of the clubs that pop up are pretty new and the whole league system is viewed as a work in progress. But there's no doubt that they view this method of developing youth as the way to go.

Much as I hate Shola, Martins is a crock of shit. Oba has been immense this season. Much better player than Shola. Much better form than Shola. Two more assists in a 2-1 win for Oba tonight. He's playing ridiculously well.

No, no "bless him" required. I'm not arguing in favour of Pardew. He has to answer for performances. Unfortunately that point gets lost in all the other attempts to demonize.

The anti-Pardew echo chamber only goes so far, like. You need to stick to N-O if you want a pat on the back just for calling the manager a cunt. What are you even on about, at this point? Are you on the wind-up or not? Because otherwise you seem to be criticising justified criticism for the sake of it. All Jack's having a go at is the various shallow arguments that surface when Pardew's managerial abilities are picked apart. It's not about just wanting to see one point of view, it's about not ever seeing an alternative point of view that makes any sense. It's conspiratorial shite. He can't just be a poor manager who is honestly trying his best. No, he's so bad that even he knows it, and instead of making any effort to improve he's making it his mission to remove all joy from football in the hopes no one notices and he doesn't get sacked. Mike Ashley isn't a business man struggling to get to grips with a business that's alien to him - doing some right and some wrong. No, he's CANCER. It's laughable. Just a regurgitation of the same shite posted on here everyday put into long form. Any valid points about our shitty performances are lost in the rest of the dramatic garbage. I'd enjoy reading a critique with nuance. This is just another attempt to turn Pardew into a 2d comic book villain, when we all know that's really Vincent Tan.

The anti-Pardew echo chamber only goes so far, like. You need to stick to N-O if you want a pat on the back just for calling the manager a cunt.

I think I saw Stephen Carr in one of the sides, too. Yet no Ricardo Carvalho.

Careful, they'll remove the post of any dissenters.

I'd be happy if we made a run at Holtby and Sigurdsson Sigurdsson...sure. For a price. I'd be gutted if we let Holtby go. I just want to know that we've got a decent coach for next year. LVG would have been nice, but he's prob been Moyesed out of it. De Boer is the current fave. de Boer is arguably the better coach, anyway. How? Bloke has done zero outside of Holland and Van Gaal's resume speaks for itself. Resumes are not even close to comparable, van Gaal wins hands-down. However, van Gaal isn't suited to big clubs. At a smaller club he can get away with being dictator, but at big clubs it has caused him to fall out with his players and chairmen. He's very rigid in his approach, he wants players to play in a very specific way and he replicates that from club to club. He's kind of old and stubborn. Still a great manager, but someone like de Boer who is younger, more open to ideas, and has built on top of the methods people like van Gaal have laid down means I'd pick him over LvG for any mid-term or long-term appointment.

Yeah, I'm shit at that kind of trivia. Why the fuck would I remember Sami Hyypia? Scored 96.

npw and just regular w, too.

I'd be happy if we made a run at Holtby and Sigurdsson Sigurdsson...sure. For a price. I'd be gutted if we let Holtby go. I just want to know that we've got a decent coach for next year. LVG would have been nice, but he's prob been Moyesed out of it. De Boer is the current fave. de Boer is arguably the better coach, anyway.

You might have more luck on Grindr.

Most people on here thought they were fucked tbh, myself included. I remember a number of massive arguments about whether they even had a chance or not. 3 weeks ago they were still dead and buried.

Much as I hate Shola, Martins is a crock of shit. Oba has been immense this season. Much better player than Shola. Much better form than Shola.

Shola selected while Oba Martins is overlooked is an absolute crime. Oba - not my favourite player - has been brilliant the last few months. Shola scores once a Venusian orbit if the ball hits him.

Not enough managers on the list. You forgot Frank de Boer.

https://twitter.com/RAWK_Meltdown/status/464078375620202496