The Catholics amongst you will correctly point out he was the Evangelist, the patron saint of artistry and students. The footballers amongst you will insist - Luke is merely the student who perfected his art.
Luke Shaw, the latest youngster to emerge
from Southampton’s seemingly never-ending conveyor belt of talent.
Was it really a surprise that from within
the same factory of football that the likes of Gareth Bale, Theo Walcott, Alex
Oxlade-Chamberlain and Adam Lallana were all manufactured, molded and shaped,
that England’s latest left back has rolled off the production line.
FA and Premier League Chiefs will no doubt
be applauding the work being done at Southampton but surely amongst the pats on
the back and celebratory speeches, the question must be asked, “where’s the
rest?”
Much like Theo Walcott, one of their esteemed graduates, would find himself so far ahead of the rest that he had nobody to pass
to, Southampton find themselves drowning alone, in a footballing pool of
talent.
“What about Arsenal and Man United?” I hear
you say. Yes, they have fantastic academies and nobody can argue that the class
of '92 was the best group of youth team graduates to ever grace English
football.
But to those people, I ask, where is the
class of 2002 and of 2012?
What if the hailed class of '92 was a freak
accident? Is it inconceivable that in a bizarre twist of coincidence,
Manchester United merely inherited 6 outstanding young boys who just happened to be
born in the same year?
That their natural talents and timing of their
parents romance decided it so, not the work done by United’s youth
team coaches?
That their god given gift would have
surfaced should they have played for Macclesfield or Mansfield?
Beyond class of 92, English football showcase a sporadic,
erratic and irregular pattern of elite player production. Clubs spinning the
wheel in the hope of landing on a star prize.
Every so often, one appears. Jack Wilshere.
Ross Barkley. Lampard and Gerrard before them. Gascoigne.
But where’s our template? Our tangible equation?
Our footballing law of gravity, our Pythagoras’ Theorem, our La Massia or De
Toekomst?
Put a young player through processes X, Y
and Z until they are 18 and you have yourself a world-class player.
Oh there isn’t one? It doesn’t exist? Tell
that to Barcelona. To Ajax. To the Royal Belgian Football Association. To
Southampton.
Pep Guardiola, then manager of
Barcelona once said of a masterful Jack Wilshere performance,“we have many players in the second
team like him.”
Sarcastically, no. Ironically, maybe. But if nothing else, his words allowed us to peer into his thinking, into the clubs mentality. You may have one star player, we have a team full.
Sarcastically, no. Ironically, maybe. But if nothing else, his words allowed us to peer into his thinking, into the clubs mentality. You may have one star player, we have a team full.
Spain now boast the likes of Isco, Thiago, Illiramendi, Jese, Morata, Oliver
Torres and Deulofeu. Coincidence? They don't have a class of '92. They have a school.
We must learn from these clubs. Their
youngsters buy into their programme. Their coaches believe in their methods.
Their manager accepts their ethos and the chairman tolerates their long standing philosophy.
Each department is pulling in the same direction at Southampton, and that direction seems to be up. Players know they will get a
chance at the club. They will train with and practice against proven
internationals, testing themselves everyday, pushing their own capabilities.
The manager has a mandate to give youth a chance. The chairman is realistic about the clubs success.
The manager has a mandate to give youth a chance. The chairman is realistic about the clubs success.
Save the Premier League, its job stealing foreigners,
its money and managerial lifespan argument for another day.
We can only change the game, once we change
ourselves.
No comments:
Post a Comment