The future of our team?

Can anybody tell me why our youth team seems to be so rubbish? This is going to be a big problem unless we fix it. Most clubs are buying younger players so that in the future they can possibly make the breakthrough to the first team and help the club financially. We really don't buy younger players and I can't see anybody from the youth team or reserve team being Premiership quality. Does Chris not care about how pathetic we are when it comes to producing talent? I mean the last time we produced anybody of quality was Zat Knight and Sean Davis and that is pathetic. I want to see Chris buying younger players as this is the best way to secure our future as a football club.

 

Runstrom and Zakuani come to mind as players we've bought recently. Obviously, its too early to tell what these guys will become, but I'm happy to see that they're getting some playing time on loan spells.

 

I agree it is important to have a strong youth setup at a small club like Fulham. Specifically, with a small budget, it would be nice for Fulham to available to grab players from the youth setup and place them with the first team confidently. There are three problems as I see it with Fulham's current youth setup:

1. Lack of solid coaching - the youth system needs to be coached very well by guys who can thoroughly teach and game and have the know how to develop players. Unless Fulham upgrades in the coaching department with the youth team it will be tough to develop players for the future.

2. Lack of good scouting - Fulham's scouting system is almost non-existent. Most clubs have scouts in all parts of the world looking at young players and getting players in to clubs at an early age. Fulham does not seem to have any. Even the ones in England, Wales, Scotland and perhaps Ireland do not seem to be finding players that will develop into first team regulars.

3. Lack of money - As we all know, Fulham does not have loads of money. Unfortunately, to have a good youth system with good coaches, good scouts and good players you have to have money to pay the coaches, scouts and also money is needed to buy good players at a young age.

Any more these days players at younger and younger ages are signing for more and more money. It seems like every other week a team like Chelsea, Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool or another European club is buying a 15 year old player for a few million pounds.

Hell, we can't even spend a few million pounds on a first team player let alone a youth team player that has the potential to be good.

Fulham needs to look at the set up at Southampton, West Ham and Middlesbrough to perhaps figure out a way to model their own academy after these three successful clubs that have reeped the benefits over the past couple of years.

 

Sean Davies, Liam Fotaine, Adam Green, Dean Leacock, Calum Willocks, Zesh Rahmain and Elvis Hammond have all come through our youth system and are playing good qualityish football. While none of them made it at fulham they will all go on to make a living out the game.

Ismael Ehui, Knight, Elliot Omozusi, Robert Milsom and Michael Timlin are still contracted to Fulham (Info from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fulham_Academy).

The standard of players available in the catchment area is the main issue. Southampton compete with portsmouth for Hampshire, south Surrey, West Sussex, and Dorset.

West Ham fight off Colchester and Orient for Essex and East London.

Fulham compete with Chelsea, QPR, Brenford, Watford and Reading for North Surrey, Middlesex and the M4 corridor. Also players are pulled over to Arsenal and Spurs.

I am interested in some of the points made by Tom. In a recent article in Full Time, the scouting situation at the club was explorered. We have few scouts on the books, but have a large network of scouts who are paid a retainer.

The last time I read about the academy, it was funded to a comparable level to other clubs in our position. It affords excelent facillites, being based at the Motsper Park Training Ground.

I totally agree that coaching should be reviewed, but I cannot comment on the current set of coached as I have no knowlege of their experiences. They are all qualified to coach at that level though.

If you look at Man U (in the last 5 years), Arsenal (ever) or Chelsea (ever)... Who have they bought through from their youth system? John O'Shea?

 

Re: RE: The future of our team?

I think your being harsh on Arsenal. It depends what qualifys as brought up through the youth system, do you have to be in the system since you were 14? or does it count if you joined when you were 17?. But either way clearly Arsenal are good at finding and bringing up talent.

Djourou, Fabregas, Denelision, Senderos, Song, Clichy, Hoyte, Aliadiere, Connolly, Gilbert(whose from Hammersmith, which lends to GBFC's point), Walcot, Randall, and Traore are all players listed on Arsenal's first team who joined Arsenal well 18 years of age or younger. Beyond that are own Volzy was a Gunner academy player as to were many of the current Reading players.

 

Re: RE: The future of our team?

I like the debate of 'youth academy' because there is so much grey area its just silly.

Spencer, with regard to Arsenal, it doesn't count when you buy a player who is 17 or 16 or even 18 especially when he isn't English. Arsenal has alot of great young talent but barely any came from their Academy.

To put one thing straight, a successful academy is one that pays for itself, simple as that. Fulham academy has been doing so for a few years now but with Fulham you have to realize we are competing with the rest of London thus its hard to get the right players at the right times.

Just because we haven't had a player come in to our first team from the academy means nothing but trust me, Fulham will definitely keep trying to make that happen.

 

Re: RE: The future of our team?

Limiting an evaluation of ManU's youth development to the last 5 years is a rather convenient scope to prove your point, isn't it? A pretty fair chunk of the team that won 6 titles in 8 years (including the 1999 treble) came from internal development.

 

Another problem with our club is that we seem to think that players who are 22 or 23 are still young and still are inexpereinced. Players these days make their debuts at 17 or 18 and by the time they are 22 or 23 they are either performing like they should have or are in the lower leagues. I would like to see us play a full reserve team in the Carling Cup and build from there. I would also like to see us picking players from the likes of Africa and the Americas. we will never win the battle for young players in Europe so this area of the globe is key to our success. We also should have a feeder club or a youth academy in places like West Africa. These countries in West Africa usually produce absolute class and it would be nice if we could take advantage of this. We need to produce better quality as I believe this is the best way for success both financially and on the pitch.

 

I agree with you on scouting Africa and the French League more. There are a number of good players that might come on the cheap from those parts. The whole work permit thing might get in the way with some of them, but you never know unless you try.

 

I think the work permit is easier to get if he is playing for the youth team. I realise we don't have the money or the scouting to compete in europe so I figure we should do more scouting in places that produce the talent, but get overlooked. The French League is so successful because they scout Africa. Africans are usually the best foreigners in England from another continent. Very rarely will a player from Asia or Oceania will come to the EPL and play well. South Americans also don't have success, but I believe that this will change. Another advantage of scouting Africa and the Americas is that these players are probably the cheapest in the world. Collins Mbesuma came over from Kaizer Chiefs for less than 1M and he was by far the best player in the PSL. Also places like Nigeria and Ghana have good youth teams and I think we should give these players trials more and bring them into our youth set-up.

Also why is it that we seem to have so many contatcs in Eastern Europe? Of all the places in europe this would be the worst to scout for players that can play in the England.

 

Re: RE: The future of our team?

I agree, the reason I did was that they were abnormal and I did not want to enter an argument about they Man U youth system. They bought up a lot of youth tallent and used Preston and Crewe as feeder clubs. I believe a lot of the sucess of the club was exposure to first team football in the 2nd tier of English football.

No team in recent history has produced that many players though their academy - Scholes, 2 x Nevilles, O'Shea, Beckham, Giggs, Wes Brown.

Having said that their 2 biggest stars are not products of their system - Giggs was a product of Man City and Beckham was West Ham.

 

Re: RE: The future of our team?

Are you sure about that? Wikipedia says Beckham had a trial with Wet Spam but was at ManU's youth academy from age 14 on.

 

RE: Re: RE: The future of our team?

I have done some more digging (and phoned a walking encyclopedia).

Beckham was well know and being watched by West Ham and Spurs. As a school boy he should have played for a local club and Man U broke the rules to take him to Old Trafford. He was already a very good player.

It is impossible to say what difference the Man U academy made to him, but the West Ham academy has just as good, if not better, pedegree.

 

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