England FA plan to improve quality of elite youngsters

LONDON: The English FA announced 25 recommendations yesterday to improve the way players are developed from the age of five with the ultimate aim being to end the country’s decades-long wait for a major trophy.

There may be resistance to some of the ideas from powerful elite clubs but after decades of failure at every World Cup since England’s triumph in 1966 and every European championship, the Football Association is taking action.

The primary goal is to improve the technical standards of youngsters or else risk losing out on major honours for the foreseeable future.

“We have not won anything for 44 years and I am not saying these changes will make us world champions overnight,” the FA’s Director of Football Development Trevor Brooking told a media briefing at Wembley Stadium.

“But we must improve the way we develop our young players and the way they are coached from the age of five to 16 and beyond.

“We need to develop more and better English players and hopefully they will eventually break into the first teams of our elite clubs and into the international team.

“We have made huge strides in the last 10 or 12 years with, for example, mini-soccer for boys and girls, then organised seven-a-side or nine-a-side leagues where kids can learn how to play the game and develop their skills.”

Everything from the introduction of smaller-sized pitches for juniors to the mandatory release of players for international age-group tournaments are covered in the proposals which are expected to be approved by the FA board in April.

“We are now seeing the first green shoots of young players who have come through our coaching system and are beginning to play at professional level,” added former international Brooking.

“This has not just come about because of our failure at the World Cup in South Africa.

“These recommendations will hopefully produce better quality players, with more players developing through to elite level and breaking into our top clubs.”

One obvious barrier to the aims is that most Premier League clubs not only field many foreigners but scout the world for the best youngsters who they develop in their own academies.

“There is a need for us to develop more of our own home-grown talent in the next few years,” said Brooking.

“The 5-16 age group is really key. What happens at junior school level is crucial. We want to produce better players in this age group and eventually give clubs a greater choice of players, although it is better now than it was.

“Obviously the clubs have been buying in overseas talent, but with the euro as it has been for the last three or four years, it is probably costing them 30 or 40% more to bring the same player in than it did a few years ago.”