- Jan 24, 2016
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English football has the same problem that Spain had in the late 80's, Italy and Germany had after their booms of the mid late 80's to the mid 90's and France and Scotland of the early 90's. They were leagues flooded with money and as a result foreign talent. This blocked pathways for younger talent and a whole generation of players were lost. They then went through what was subsequently known as the "dark ages" in terms of youth development. Scotland and Italy are still struggling to find their way out for entirely political reasons. France and Germany got their acts together. However, it wasn't political will or luck that resulted in the attempts to fix the situation, it was very real economic circumstances. The booms turned to bust. In Italy, Spain, France and Germany established top division clubs went to the wall or very close to it. In Scotland this happened to a lesser extent with pretty much everyone bar Celtic having to adjust to living hand to mouth.
England will not become a leader in youth development until the boom is over. It will come to an end, all booms do. Until that time the political will to implement meaningful change cannot and will not find any traction. For evidence of this basic principle just look at the 2008 financial crisis. Everyone and their dog (well, apart from those ideologues of the Right) knew the system was f*cked long before it went pop but who's going to turn round to the shareholders and tell them that whilst everyone else is making money hand over fist their company is going to be run along sustainable but significantly less profitable lines. No one and that's what happened. No one dared. The same principle exists in football. No one shuts the stable door until the horses have bolted.
England will not become a leader in youth development until the boom is over. It will come to an end, all booms do. Until that time the political will to implement meaningful change cannot and will not find any traction. For evidence of this basic principle just look at the 2008 financial crisis. Everyone and their dog (well, apart from those ideologues of the Right) knew the system was f*cked long before it went pop but who's going to turn round to the shareholders and tell them that whilst everyone else is making money hand over fist their company is going to be run along sustainable but significantly less profitable lines. No one and that's what happened. No one dared. The same principle exists in football. No one shuts the stable door until the horses have bolted.