Villas-Boas wants B Teams in Football League

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roadrunner
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Villas-Boas wants B Teams in Football League

by roadrunner » 20 Jan 2012 11:06

F**k off!

Andre Villas-Boas has added his backing to calls for a change to the youth development system in England.

The Chelsea manager has backed the idea of possible feeder clubs, which has already been suggested by the likes of former Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez and Blues predecessor Carlo Ancelotti.

Villas-Boas admits England should look to Spanish football, where top-flight clubs field 'B' teams in the lower divisions, some of whom even play in the second tier.

The Portuguese tactician believes non-competitive action is hampering some of England's best young talent.

The idea of feeder clubs has long been dismissed by the Football League, and any suggestion has never carried any favour with supporters either.

But Villas-Boas feels that having feeder clubs in the same country is an idea that warrants investigation.

"The youth development system in England is not right, in my belief. There is plenty of effort and talks to get it right but in my opinion it is not," said the Chelsea boss.

"The reserve team league is not competitive. The youth levels are not competitive enough. The FA Youth Cup: does it favour talent or competition?

"In my opinion there is a missing link between age groups in all competitions. There should be national championships played between teams from around the country.

"The older ones should play nationally. The younger ones should play regionally. You promote more talent and competitiveness and it is that which generates talent and willingness to drive."

It was put to him that at Barcelona, Pep Guardiola has given first-team debuts to 25 players who have been promoted from the club's feeder team since he took over as manager in 2008.

"Why had Chelsea failed to bring any significant player through from the youth team since John Terry's emergence more than 10 years ago?

Gap
"Because the gap between the reserve team and the first-team is immense here.

"Barcelona 'B' play in the equivalent of the Championship. If the European model is applied in England, it could be tested.

"The reserve team serves the first-team, but it doesn't serve the progression of talent coming through.

"It [buying a feeder club] could be a solution. There is more of a cultural identity [with the parent club] if it's called a 'B' team. It's the same name, the same environment. If it's a feeder club, I couldn't call a player up to my team until the transfer window opens.

"What happens in Barcelona 'B' is a good model in terms of competitions. If the talent is playing in [a feeder club] in a competitive league you can call up players, there is immediate identification by the players with the process you're trying to implement in your first team.

"And it could be a great benefit because you don't have to work with a 26-man squad, but a 19-man squad and just recall the best young guys.

"If Ryan [Bertrand, who has had seven loan periods] and Josh [McEachran] could make the jump from Championship to Premiership every week, their involvement would be better.

"[In Spain] the older ones play nationally and the younger ones regionally. If the kids weren't able to win when they were young, they won't make it when they face the massive challenge."

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Re: Villas-Boas wants B Teams in Football League

by manny96 » 20 Jan 2012 11:09

roadrunner F**k off!


Pretty much sums it up for me too.

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Re: Villas-Boas wants B Teams in Football League

by Svlad Cjelli » 20 Jan 2012 11:09

This idea comes up every few years or so. I remember it came up in the late 80s, when it was suggested that Reading would be an ideal "B" club for QPR. Then 20 years later Reading were 2 divisions higher than QPR.....

People who come up with this idea forget the depth of the English pyramid and what smaller clubs mean to their supporters and their communities.

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Re: Villas-Boas wants B Teams in Football League

by FiNeRaIn » 20 Jan 2012 11:11

The idea would be good for the national team.

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Re: Villas-Boas wants B Teams in Football League

by Svlad Cjelli » 20 Jan 2012 11:18

FiNeRaIn The idea would be good for the national team.


Why? It'd reduce the overall talent pool, and a surprising number of current England players were initially discovered and scouted by Tier 2 teams.


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Re: Villas-Boas wants B Teams in Football League

by YateleyRoyal » 20 Jan 2012 11:26

But we already have feeder teams, I mean, we feed Wolves, and Brentford feed us....

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Re: Villas-Boas wants B Teams in Football League

by Silver Fox » 20 Jan 2012 11:29

FiNeRaIn The idea would be good for the national team.


Even if that were true my shoulders can't shrug enough at the suggestion

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Re: Villas-Boas wants B Teams in Football League

by Simon's Church » 20 Jan 2012 11:30

Lol, so Bertrand who's done very well on loan at 3 different Championship clubs can't even get minutes in the FA cup or Carling cup but he'd be much better if Chelsea had a proper B team?

Maybe if clubs like Chelsea didn't try to hoard all the best young talent and fcuck it up then the England team would be better.

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Re: Villas-Boas wants B Teams in Football League

by FiNeRaIn » 20 Jan 2012 11:31

Svlad Cjelli
FiNeRaIn The idea would be good for the national team.


Why? It'd reduce the overall talent pool, and a surprising number of current England players were initially discovered and scouted by Tier 2 teams.


Look at spain for gods sake lol, most of barcelonas stars played in the B team, that way they can play competitive football but keep the same footballing approach as their own club..based on the same principles. You are also with the same players you've grown up with so the understanding is top class. Compare that with loaning them out to some random hoof team with nothing else in common its much worse for their development...


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Re: Villas-Boas wants B Teams in Football League

by ZacNaloen » 20 Jan 2012 11:35

Shooting into the wind here, but rather than "B-Teams" how about a system whereby clubs invest in lower division clubs to improve their youth training facilities coaches etc in return for preferential access to the top talents they produce.

If the teams end up playing at the same level for whatever reason then agreement comes to an end and you then find another team to invest in.

I can already see loads of flaws in this, but it may be something that could be worked on.


The lower league structures would need to be changed completely for B-Teams to work here as you would have to introduce at least 20 new teams into the league.

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Re: Villas-Boas wants B Teams in Football League

by East Grinstead Royal » 20 Jan 2012 11:44

Simon's Church Maybe if clubs like Chelsea didn't try to hoard all the best young talent ...


Quite right. It's all about greed. Top clubs have more money so can afford to sign more players than they can possibly need. That reduces the quality of the other teams in the league, so is in their interests. Players are happy to sign because they can't see beyond the £££.

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Re: Villas-Boas wants B Teams in Football League

by Svlad Cjelli » 20 Jan 2012 12:03

Still, the way he's started this season, I can certainly see a Chelsea side being in the Championship within the next 10 years.

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Re: Villas-Boas wants B Teams in Football League

by Svlad Cjelli » 20 Jan 2012 12:08

FiNeRaIn
Svlad Cjelli
FiNeRaIn The idea would be good for the national team.


Why? It'd reduce the overall talent pool, and a surprising number of current England players were initially discovered and scouted by Tier 2 teams.


Look at spain for gods sake lol, most of barcelonas stars played in the B team, that way they can play competitive football but keep the same footballing approach as their own club..based on the same principles. You are also with the same players you've grown up with so the understanding is top class. Compare that with loaning them out to some random hoof team with nothing else in common its much worse for their development...


The big difference here is that Tier 2 is thriving and healthy - competitively, anyway, if not financially, whilst the Spanish Tier 2 is virtually moribund.

Make ours a development league for the PL and it'll go the same way as in Spain, meaningless games of involving team with no supporters, no continuity of players, no spirit.

Why not leave Tier 1 teams to do their own youth development - there are some super examples of it, even before EPPP - and any good enough prospects will make their way to PL teams and England eventually anyway?

This is all about a bigger slice of the youth development pie being with the PL, but would reduce the total size of that.


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Re: Villas-Boas wants B Teams in Football League

by 1871 Royal » 20 Jan 2012 12:51

Read this last night, and while it is very stupid on AVB's part to say something like this without realising what football league clubs mean to people, the football league would never allow it. It would cause uproar if it did happen.

Found this on "The 72" twitter feed.

http://theseventytwo.com/football-league/championship/2012/01/20/andre-villas-boas-wants-a-chelsea-b-team-in-the-championship-a-response/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

The Guardian have reported, with full quotes direct from the impressively-coiffeured horse’s mouth, that Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas believes that Premier League clubs should have B teams in the Championship – the latest in a series of stabs in the dark from those towards the top of the game.

The thought process from this procession of geniuses appears to be a neverending: “Well, Barcelona and Spain are bloody good aren’t they? What do they do?”

Of course, Villas-Boas is unlikely to last much longer if Roman Abramovich’s recent past is anything to go by. He won’t win the Premier League this season and the entire cast of Animal Farm (no, not that one) will fly over the Thames if Chelsea win the Champions League this May. So should we care?

Thankfully, probably not. Even in today’s world of bloated Premier League self-regard, surely English football has enough about it not to let this kind of thing move anywhere near reality. While the likes of Villas-Boas, Richard Scudamore and those who held Football League clubs to ransom over EPPP may hide behind an excuse of making the English national team more competitive, we all know the real agenda here – “Let’s do whatever we can to compete with Barcelona and Real Madrid”.

Sadly for Villas-Boas, Chelsea and their ilk, there are millions of supporters of Football League clubs who couldn’t give a stuff how well the Premier League’s elite measure up to Spanish sides. Most of us have got enough on our plates worrying whether our own clubs will survive the current financial climate, to which, incidentally, the richest clubs are obviously impervious to the point of stretching the gap even wider at the worst possible time.

Talent can still come through Premier League academies. Even if his own charge Daniel Sturridge, a Manchester City product, is not example enough, Villas-Boas could always glance over to north London and the progression of Jack Wilshere from bright young Arsenal kid to England regular.

What’s next? Forcing all English 9-year-olds to have the same growth hormone deficiency treatment as Lionel Messi? Rewarding any Sergio Busquets-esque play-acting with a goal at youth level? Encouraging teenage footballers to go and pick mushrooms on their day off in the hope they turn into Xavi Hernandez?

Although this is just one opinion, it is a growing trend and one that should be rebuffed by supporters of Football League clubs. As with EPPP, it smacks of the Premier League forcing the burden and the blame for its inability to compete with mainland Europe, and Barcelona in particular, onto Football League clubs.

In The Guardian’s article, Stamford Bridge youngsters Ryan Bertrand, Patrick van Aanholt, Gael Kakuta and Josh McEachran are named as examples of players who could flourish in a Chelsea B team participating at Championship level. Perhaps if there wasn’t such short-termism in the desperate pursuit of success at the highest level, which applies particularly at (but not exclusively to) Chelsea, one or two of these promising youth prospects would have enjoyed more than a handful of games by now? Bertrand, van Aanholt and Kakuta are all older than Wilshere.

None of the above even veers into the territory of the tradition and history of the Football League clubs that would be devalued by such a change in the structure of the English game. We may as well all pack up and have 16 NFL-style franchises throughout the country and consign everyone else to the playing fields on a Sunday morning. You know there are some who would advocate that too – and they would probably mumble something about the England team as well.

This is how English football works. You’re stuck with it. Now go and spend your £50million on someone who can hit an aircraft hangar door with a musical instrument of his choice. Just leave the rest of us alone.

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Re: Villas-Boas wants B Teams in Football League

by soggy biscuit » 20 Jan 2012 12:54

FiNeRaIn
Svlad Cjelli
FiNeRaIn The idea would be good for the national team.


Why? It'd reduce the overall talent pool, and a surprising number of current England players were initially discovered and scouted by Tier 2 teams.


Look at spain for gods sake lol, most of barcelonas stars played in the B team, that way they can play competitive football but keep the same footballing approach as their own club..based on the same principles. You are also with the same players you've grown up with so the understanding is top class. Compare that with loaning them out to some random hoof team with nothing else in common its much worse for their development...


:|

You would judt be prioritising the wants of the few elite clubs at the top over all the smaller clubs throughout the football league

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Re: Villas-Boas wants B Teams in Football League

by soggy biscuit » 20 Jan 2012 12:54

AVB - only here for the lolz

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Re: Villas-Boas wants B Teams in Football League

by Hoop Blah » 20 Jan 2012 13:03

Totally agree with your points here Dirk.

I do agree that for those clubs who could afford to run a B team it would make for a great idea and would certainly work well for them and probably for a lot of decent players.

It couldn't work in our competitive league structure though and definitely wouldn't help those clubs up and down the country who wouldn't run a B team.

A big no from me as the best thing about football in this country is that it's competitive.

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Re: Villas-Boas wants B Teams in Football League

by Alan Partridge » 20 Jan 2012 13:12

Why haven't Chelsea developed anyone in 10 years - because every window they go and spaff £50million on a load of player(s) other than giving 'their own' any sort of opportunity, because short term >>> long term in their owners eyes and the manager will be sacked if they don't win something every year.

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Re: Villas-Boas wants B Teams in Football League

by roadrunner » 20 Jan 2012 13:22

FiNeRaIn
Svlad Cjelli
FiNeRaIn The idea would be good for the national team.


Why? It'd reduce the overall talent pool, and a surprising number of current England players were initially discovered and scouted by Tier 2 teams.


Look at spain for gods sake lol, most of barcelonas stars played in the B team


Have you actually looked into the standard of Spanish football outside of the top tier? It's all a bit shit really.

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Re: Villas-Boas wants B Teams in Football League

by sandman » 20 Jan 2012 13:25

So it's similar to England then? HOOOOOFF.

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