Club academies failing, says Rafa

[Benitez]

Club academies failing, says Benitez

By Andy Hunter

Published: 19 December 2006

 

 

Rafael Benitez, the Liverpool manager, has claimed the English game is being undermined by an academy system that fails to expose young players to enough competitive football.

 

Benitez has embarked on a recruitment policy not dissimilar to that of Arsène Wenger at Arsenal, tonight's Carling Cup quarter-final opponents, and, under-whelmed by early offerings from the club's academy, has added teenagers from Argentina, Morocco and, naturally, Spain, to a club that last season lifted the FA Youth Cup. Yet, unlike Wenger, he will not turn en masse to his young charges for tonight's quarter-final at Anfield where, he believes, investment in youth pales in comparison with the Emirates Stadium.

 

"What is the youth policy of Arsenal? Spending big money on top class young players. That is not a difficult youth policy if you have a lot of money to spend," argued Benitez, who spent almost £28m on his senior pool this summer. "The situation we have now is different to when I first started here and I am really pleased with the work of the scouting department, but we know there is a big difference with Arsenal, who can pay millions for Denilson and also spend big on [Theo] Walcott."

Benitez also reiterated his view that England should follow the example of his native Spain and scrap the academy system to allow leading clubs to field second teams outside the Premiership.

 

"We need to give young players more competitive games," he said. "At the moment they play 18 games a season against players of their own age and nothing happens. When I was manager of Real Madrid's second team in the Spanish second division the young lads were up against 25-year-olds and 35-year-olds of quality, and so they learned more.

 

"The system here is not working. They need to play against men. Why can we not do both? I think we need to if you want to improve the level of English football."

[honourablegeorge]

Guardian Link

[flash]

damn fine idea, but you dont want the 1st and second divsion being solely premiership 2nd teams, its not fair on Acrington Stanley et al as there will be less room for their ilk.

[Rory Fitzgerald]

Thats a thinly veiled stab at Wenger that I think is unwarrented to be quite honest. Wenger has done a good job with the kids he has brought in. Am I reading this wrong, after all Paletta and Agger cost us about £7-8mln

[Mike]

its a praise of wenger not a stab at him.

its a stab at heighway if anything.

[mally]

damn fine idea, but you dont want the 1st and second divsion being solely premiership 2nd teams, its not fair on Acrington Stanley et al as there will be less room for their ilk.

 

who are they?

[Rory Fitzgerald]

its a praise of wenger not a stab at him.

its a stab at heighway if anything.

 

"What is the youth policy of Arsenal? Spending big money on top class young players. That is not a difficult youth policy if you have a lot of money to spend," argued Benitez

 

"The situation we have now is different to when I first started here and I am really pleased with the work of the scouting department, but we know there is a big difference with Arsenal, who can pay millions for Denilson and also spend big on [Theo] Walcott

 

My reading of that is that Benitez believes that Arsenal dont have a 'true' development structure but a good scouting system. Could be wrong though

[Benitez]

Thats a thinly veiled stab at Wenger that I think is unwarrented to be quite honest. Wenger has done a good job with the kids he has brought in. Am I reading this wrong, after all Paletta and Agger cost us about £7-8mln

 

as Mike says, it aint a stab at him, if you read the article in the Echo, he's very complimentary of him (way too complimentary ).

 

Agger is hardly a kid in the sense Rafa is talking about with this, he was bought for our first team from the off, not to be developed over 3 or 4 years. What he's on about is youngsters from youth team age (like the ones who helped win the youth FA Cup last year).

[Rory Fitzgerald]

as Mike says, it aint a stab at him, if you read the article in the Echo, he's very complimentary of him (way too complimentary ).

 

Agger is hardly a kid in the sense Rafa is talking about with this, he was bought for our first team from the off, not to be developed over 3 or 4 years. What he's on about is youngsters from youth team age (like the ones who helped win the youth FA Cup last year).

 

Cheers for that, only read that snip at the top and I thought it may not have been fully reflective of the whole interview. Realised that Agger was a bad example as soon as I hit 'Add Reply', you are right, he was 21 and brought in as a 1st teamer (after a settling in period).

 

Ta

[floyd]

Guardian Link

Good article that.

 

 

Academies are not working and need big change, says Benítez

 

Liverpool manager Rafael Benítez welcomes Arsenal's young imports in the Carling Cup tonight with a warning for the English game.

Dominic Fifield

December 19, 2006 12:30 AM

 

Rafael Benítez welcomes Arsenal's prodigious second string to Anfield tonight having renewed his attack on the English academy system, the shortcomings of which have prompted the Spaniard to follow Arsène Wenger's lead by attempting to recruit youngsters from abroad.

 

Arsenal travel with their Carling Cup squad featuring personnel lured from all points between from Sao Paulo to Auxerre complementing home products. Benítez has not spent the kind of fees it took Arsenal to sign Abou Diaby or Denilson, who both moved from foreign clubs, or Theo Walcott, from Southampton, for an initial £5m, rising to a maximum £12m.

 

His dissatisfaction at the lack of local talent emerging from Liverpool's academy has prompted him to look further afield, though the fact he will select more senior players for this quarter-final is a reflection that his squad lacks the depth of Wenger's. Even after the Argentinian Gabriel Paletta's arrival from Banfield in summer and the recent signing of his compatriot Emiliano Insua, who arrives next month from Boca Juniors, Liverpool continue to play catch-up with the youthful Arsenal team which defeated Everton in the previous round having cost £30.95m to assemble.

 

"It depends what you mean by Arsenal's 'youth policy'," said the Spaniard when asked if he admired their set-up. "If you mean spending a lot of money on top-class players, it isn't difficult for me if I have that money. We know there is a big difference with Arsenal, who can pay millions for Denilson and also spend big on Walcott and Diaby.

 

"We were monitoring those players, but we can't compete with the big money they spent on them, so we have to work twice as hard. I am really pleased with the work of the scouting department who are working really hard to sign quality international players without spending a lot.

 

"When Wenger talks about quality and not nationality, I agree with him because the most important thing is to be winning. And, for me, you need to improve the English academy system because it's not the best. I'm not talking just about us, but for English football. If you want to improve, you need to change because you can see that young players don't progress here."

 

Benítez's frustration stems from his perception of a lack of competitive football for youth sides in their leagues, and the apparent over-emphasis on education in the system. Though the Spaniard appreciates the need to incorporate a teaching element, he has suggested that, given the hours spent in the classroom rather than on the training pitch, the academies are effectively catering for failure.

 

He endorses Jose Mourinho's insistence that junior teams should play competitive games ideally in the Football League, something Benítez did as manager of Real Madrid's B side in finishing sixth and eighth in the Spanish Second Division.

 

"You can't just have young players playing 18 games in a year," said Benítez. "When I was in Spain, the youngsters came up against 30- or 35-year-olds. If you need to play against men, you must play against men. The academies are not working, and that's worrying. We are not training youngsters to be good lawyers or teachers, but good footballers. If you want to improve English players, you have to change because there will be long-term effects."

 

Liverpool, under the academy director Steve Heighway, won the FA Youth Cup last season but a set-up which developed Robbie Fowler, Steve McManaman, Michael Owen and Jamie Carragher has not generated a first-team regular since Steven Gerrard. Benítez's predecessor, Gérard Houllier, was perturbed at the poor level of talent he judged to be emerging from an institution which costs £3m a year to run.

 

Houllier looked to his native France by signing Anthony le Tallec, Carl Medjani and Florent Sinama-Pongolle. Benítez, predictably, has used his knowledge of the Spanish-speaking markets. He tried to sign Fran Merida Perez from Barcelona, only for Arsenal to prove more tempting, with Liverpool now looking more to South America. "Insua is 17 and he's already in Argentina's Under-20 squad," Benítez said. "We aren't talking about a small country. It is Argentina, the world champions in that age group."

Investing in the future

 

Arsenal's youth purchases

 

Denilson (Sao Paulo), age 18, £3.4m

 

Arnand Traoré (Monaco), 17, free

 

Fran Merida (Barcelona), 16, free (robbed more like)

 

Theo Walcott (Southampton) £5m plus

 

Abou Diaby (Auxerre), 20, £3m

 

Alexandre Song (Bastia), 19, £1m

 

Johan Djourou (Etoile Carouge, Switz), 19, trainee

 

Gaël Clichy (Toulouse), 21, nominal fee

 

Nicklas Bendtner (FC Copenhagen), 18, free

 

Arturo Lupoli (Parma), 19, free

 

Sebastian Larsson (Eskilstruna, Swe), 21

 

Cesc Fábregas (Barcelona), 19, £1m

 

Vito Mannone (Atalanta), 18, £350,000

 

Carl Parisio (AS Cannes), 17, free

 

Vincent van den Berg (Heerenveen), 17, free

 

Liverpool's youth purchases

 

Nabil el Zahr (St Etienne), 20, free

 

Godwin Antwi (Real Zaragoza), 18, free

 

Paul Anderson (Hull), 18, swap

 

Miki Roque (Llieda, Sp), 18, £10,000

 

Besian Idrizaj (Linzer ASK, Aut), 19, free

 

Jack Hobbs (Lincoln), 18, free

 

David Martin (MK Dons), 20, free

 

Gabriel Paletta (Banfield, Arg), 20, £2m

 

Emiliano Insua (Boca Juniors), 17, £1m

[meepins]

it's not a stab at anyone but at thhe failing system.

[jimmylibel]

Guardian Link

 

Interesting part of that article:

 

Benítez, predictably, has used his knowledge of the Spanish-speaking markets. He tried to sign Fran Merida Perez from Barcelona, only for Arsenal to prove more tempting, with Liverpool now looking more to South America.

 

Nothing we hadn't speculated about previously but interesting to see it confirmed.

[Poolfrog]

damn fine idea, but you dont want the 1st and second divsion being solely premiership 2nd teams, its not fair on Acrington Stanley et al as there will be less room for their ilk.

So what? I don't support Accrington Stanley. If it helps Liverpool, who cares about the effect on small clubs with no fans? The league isn't a workers' co-operative

[Guest Scot]

Has he said this before?

[Cobs]

yes

 

there used to be a time when you'd read every thread...

 

 

lazea.

[Guest Scot]

yes

 

there used to be a time when you'd read every thread...

lazea.

 

[Bootle Buck]

I think credit needs to go to Wenger for the fact that he has no fear of giving those youngsters a chance. If I was a top prospect and looking at the Big four clubs in England I would think that Arsenal would offer more opportunity to play first team football judging from the many that are in their first team squad already. I don't think it is all down to how much they have paid.

Edited December 19, 2006 by Bootle Buck

[Maldini]

He's right too, the academy system is a joke for a number of reasons, the territorial restrictions being the main one.

[Andyjandy]

 

"The system here is not working. They need to play against men. Why can we not do both? I think we need to if you want to improve the level of English football."

 

Does he mean to be as good as Spain?

[Guest PaulMcC]

Does he mean to be as good as Spain?

 

How would anyone on here know? I think he means what he says ie English football needs to improve.

 

The overall quality in Spain is higher than in England.

[Maldini]

Spain produces far more top class footballers than England.

[Guest Scot]

Spain produces far more top class footballers than England.

 

Doesn't everywhere?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

except Scotland, cn*ts

[DonRafa]

Doesn't everywhere?

except Scotland, cn*ts

[Andyjandy]

Spain produces far more top class footballers than England.

 

 

I disagree.

[floyd]

Spain produces far more top class footballers than England.

Won't be long before the Vatican does.