07 Jun 2017 06:15:55
Real Madrid slapping a 78m Pounds on Morata is just absolutely baffling. Its like I suddenly woke up in 2062. Goodness!

{Ed001's Note - I doubt Morata will be worth anything like that amount by 2062. I know modern sports science is extending some careers, but that would be ridiculous.}


1.) 07 Jun 2017
07 Jun 2017 06:34:22
Ed001 Nice one, but you know what I mean :)

{Ed001's Note - just checking....}


2.) 07 Jun 2017
07 Jun 2017 06:57:17
On the same issue Ed001,
Do you think the laws of demand and supply are affecting prices? Clubs realized that their is a real shortage of quality players in the market therefore take advantage and inflate prices of their own players with a bit of quality?

{Ed001's Note - inflation, lack of top quality players and increased money in the game are all increasing prices. For me the main problem is the lack of quality coming through, as there is very little compared to when I was a kid. Clubs simply seem unable to produce anything other than robots through the academy system.}


3.) 07 Jun 2017
07 Jun 2017 07:16:48
Do you think this is down to coaching? Can't remember what coach it was but remember reading something recently about one assistant coach being a genius for basically making players solve problems on their own or setting up training sessions under different circumstances (e. g. 10 against 11 but with the 11 being two goals behind) . Surely coaching isn't that bad!?

{Ed001's Note - coaching is robotic these days, everyone has to have the same coaching badges and so are taught exactly the same things. No one is remembering that we are all individuals and that every player needs individual treatment to bring out the best in them. Also that coaches need the same. They need to learn how to develop their skills in a way that brings out their strengths and allows them to coach rather than indoctrinate. That is why so many former footballers are now refusing to allow their kids to become part of the academy projects in England. It quashes individuality.

Don't get me wrong, there are exceptions, not every club and not every coach is at fault, but the exceptions are swimming against the tide right now. Many academies refuse to employ coaches without an A license, even if the coach has extensive experience as well as a relevant coaching badge. The coaching qualifications are no indicator of a coach's ability to coach, just of their ability to follow the instructions of the courses and pass them. They are also expensive and out of reach of the vast majority of us. They are creating an elite which doesn't have elite abilities. It is moving away from being a meritocracy and into a system based on how much money you have (or how much debt you are willing to get into) in order to gain badges that are little real use.}


4.) 07 Jun 2017
07 Jun 2017 07:21:48
I also think their's an issue with the quality of scouting especially in England. Most scouts I think are taking their clubs for a ride. They are not willing to get down and dirty to the grassroots. I think English clubs should demand more from their scouts. Some of them I think are just practising what I would call "Lazy Scouting" same to "Lazy Journalism" in the media world.


5.) 07 Jun 2017
07 Jun 2017 08:19:27
In effect football is turning into tennis. It's not a secret that there's a dearth of promising British tennis players because the working class have been priced out of it. It's an exclusive set for the very few. Who despite having the money, don't necessarily have the talent or motivation to reach the top.


6.) 07 Jun 2017
07 Jun 2017 08:20:05
Also a lot of these players never get a game.

Look what happens when you jist play them (tottenham) you either get a good sale, mason, bentaleb or you have academy players in ypur team kane, dier, ali, walker, rose. granted some wbere bought but not to different to gomez for us, but allgiven chances at a young age.

Eds 100% rigjg about coaching. But it doesn't make one different how good they get coached if they can't get a freaking game.

If we had our full strengh team how mich damage could gomez do next to matip. Like how bad would it be. I just don't understand the excuse for not playing him. Taa aswel.

Some our obviouslt verh young and that's understandable.


7.) 07 Jun 2017
07 Jun 2017 08:41:46
Does gomez being injurd have anything to do with it supermane?


8.) 07 Jun 2017
07 Jun 2017 08:57:07
Considering that people my age are now starting to get decent level jobs in coaching, and our entire education was based on the 'past the test' style of learning, it's not surprising that adult qualifications are following the same pattern.


9.) 07 Jun 2017
07 Jun 2017 10:19:09
spot on ed001. being involved in the game myself i see your point. academy kids are like machines, good pace and stamina, gym, strong bodies but lack imagination and hart, lack that desire and fun in game. and demands a pshysical ascpects of the game are growing.

{Ed001's Note - they forget that it is a game. Sadly.}


10.) 07 Jun 2017
07 Jun 2017 11:22:40
Well considering he was fit from january and playing with the u23s from feb. Again id ask how bad could he of been partnering matip.


11.) 07 Jun 2017
07 Jun 2017 12:23:15
Can't find it now but there was an article that showed that part of the problem was size as well. As in academies are looking for bigger stronger kids and not taking a balancing view of skills. It had a piece showing the earlier you're picked up at an academy the less likely you are to make the grade as an adult and the more likely you are to not even be a pro by the end of teens. I think it also brought up the age bracket and showed that being born pre 31/ 12 made you more likely to progress into those set ups because you could be 6 months older (or more) than rivals.

The more concerning thing I've heard is that kids are being binned from academies as not being good enough but when the question was asked about who is coaching them, at age group, the coaches are early 20s, minimum qualifications and paid peanuts, yet the kids apparently are the problem. Also heard similar stories to others here about scouting being lazy and a joke.

All in all I can fully understand why you'd actually want to keep your kid away from big club academies, not least because how many players ever come through from them? It would seem you're better off aiming at the semi pro and lower league clubs and developing by playing.


12.) 07 Jun 2017
07 Jun 2017 12:28:08
Fit doesn't mean match fit for EPL matches though, he may have been fit to train and start playing again but that isn't always the same thing. Especially as he has been out for most of the past 2 seasons. Would also wonder, considering eds have suggested Klopp rates him, that maybe they're thinking long term rather than rushing him back in.


13.) 07 Jun 2017
07 Jun 2017 13:26:41
One country, and I think it was Germany, breaks down their young players into bigger age ranges but also separates them into weight classes to give more space for smaller and lighter players who might be quicker or more skillful to develop without just being clobbered every session.


14.) 07 Jun 2017
07 Jun 2017 15:43:10
Sounds silly but I think in this day and age of computer gaming there is less kids out playing ball to begin with.

Think back to when you were a kid (some will have to think further back than others! ) . Every bloke my age spent the entire day, every single day playing football. It's all we ever did. You'd play heads and volleys, have matches, various other things. We didn't realise it but we were drilling the fundamentals of the game into us on a daily basis so much so that when you actually joined a team you already had the skills and technique, you thought yourself how to do these things you didn't need a coach for it. I remember channel 4 years and years ago had a show on a Sunday that was on just after football italia with Ryan Giggs teaching you little tricks and stuff. W'ed Watch it and spend the whole day then repeating it. You'd pick up things from match of the day and repeat it.

The point of all this is, I look at my road these days and I rarely see any kids playing football. We lived and breathe it, kids these days have a lot more to occupy themselves with. I genuinely believe that's the basis for the lack of quality these days.


15.) 07 Jun 2017
07 Jun 2017 21:48:27
There is also as someone suggested above a problem in the quality of scouting. Based on what I've seen/ heard over past few seasons it seems to be lazy to say the least. I've heard a coach from a championship club's academy say they've had kids sent through cos a scout saw them do one good thing in one game where that was the only time they watched them. Equally there is an element of who you know, I've seen kids who are nothing special who I've been told are on a trial with a big club and kids with more talent who aren't anywhere on the radar for the same clubs. The problem is scouts only look at the top leagues at age level, they don't watch the dross leagues to see the kids who don't have contacts and don't have connections to the better clubs. So those kids don't get picked up. Also if you look at how pro clubs in the lower leagues deal with unsolicited trial requests, basically you have to have evidence of being involved at a similar level, stating that as being pro club academy. So if you know someone, get put forward to an academy you can then trade on that for chances elsewhere. Again the kids without contacts are being missed. I appreciate the volumes of approaches are an issue but when you're just recycling the same kids who've been released by other club's youth set up you're hardly scratching the surface.


16.) 07 Jun 2017
07 Jun 2017 21:48:27
There is also as someone suggested above a problem in the quality of scouting. Based on what I've seen/ heard over past few seasons it seems to be lazy to say the least. I've heard a coach from a championship club's academy say they've had kids sent through cos a scout saw them do one good thing in one game where that was the only time they watched them. Equally there is an element of who you know, I've seen kids who are nothing special who I've been told are on a trial with a big club and kids with more talent who aren't anywhere on the radar for the same clubs. The problem is scouts only look at the top leagues at age level, they don't watch the dross leagues to see the kids who don't have contacts and don't have connections to the better clubs. So those kids don't get picked up. Also if you look at how pro clubs in the lower leagues deal with unsolicited trial requests, basically you have to have evidence of being involved at a similar level, stating that as being pro club academy. So if you know someone, get put forward to an academy you can then trade on that for chances elsewhere. Again the kids without contacts are being missed. I appreciate the volumes of approaches are an issue but when you're just recycling the same kids who've been released by other club's youth set up you're hardly scratching the surface.