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| Sir Bobby Charlton. |
Manchester United is a club which prides itself on the
development of youth. From the Busby Babes, to the Class of ’92 some
illustrious names have come out of the club’s youth academy such as Duncan
Edwards, Sir Bobby Charlton, George Best, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes etc. The club
has produced 4 ballon d’or winners overall with 2 of them (one of who is also England’s
all-time leading goal scorer) coming from the club’s academy, a fine
achievement. The club has also played a key role in the development of
Cristiano Ronaldo. Even though times have changed and the game is a lot more
global nowadays, whether foreign or local the club’s commitment to helping
young players attain a higher level remains unwavering.
United also have a very rich European history filled with tragedy
and triumph, the club and particularly Sir Matt Busby took Europe very
seriously at a time when it was ridiculed. The legendary Scot had a vision when
it came to European competition and what it would ultimately mean for the club,
English teams as well as the whole continent. United were the first team to
play in European competition in 1956-57 and perhaps very fittingly the first
English team to win the European cup.
Knowing all the above it therefore came as a surprise to me
when I learned in April of this year that the 10 time record FA youth cup
winners had turned down an invitation to take part in the 2012-13 NextGen
Series, this competition combined two things United strongly believe in – youth
development and European competition, to me it seemed almost an inevitability
United would take up the invitation.
Most of you are probably aware by now what the NextGen series
is, for those of you that aren’t the NextGen series is basically the U-19
version of the European cup, a Junior Champion’s League bringing together the
finest club academies in Europe’s top leagues from the famed youth academies of
Ajax Amsterdam to Barcelona among others.
The competition was founded in August 2011 under the parent company
Cydad Sports Management. It is the brainchild of Brentford Sporting director
Mark Warburton and Sports TV producer Justin Andrews. Warburton is a former
city trader and professional footballer who has also played a significant role
in UK football, having been the Academy Manager of Watford Football Club. He
set up the Harefield Academy, a renowned dedicated football school and the
first of its kind in the UK. The
competition itself was designed to replicate as closely as possible the
competitive environment and experience of the Champion’s League for younger
players, exposing them to different styles of play, the travelling involved and
even dealing with the media.
Team participating in the NextGen series are limited to a
squad size of no more than 18 members. There is an age limit of 18 on players
participating in the competition. However, each club has the option of having
three players who are one year older than this, although only a maximum of two
of them are allowed to be on the pitch at any one time.
In its inaugural year, 16 teams took part and were split
into 4 groups. There were overall 4 English participants, Aston Villa,
Liverpool, Man City, and Tottenham. The remaining teams consisted of Wolfsburg,
Inter Milan, Marseille, Ajax, PSV, Molde, Rosenborg, Sporting Clube de
Portugal, Celtic, Barcelona, Basel and Fenerbache. Teams faced each other home
and away with the top two teams from each group advancing to the quarterfinals
in a knockout format. At this stage however, unlike the Champion’s league it
doesn’t become a 2 legged affair rather a single game with the quarter finals played
on the home ground of the group winners and the semifinals and final played on
a neutral ground.
The winners of the competition eventually turned out to be
Inter Milan displaying once again the tactical intelligence of the Italians and
their ability to adapt when faced with different scenarios and opposition.
Inter Milan knocked out free scoring Sporting club de Portugal in the quarters,
Marseille in the semis and Ajax on penalties in the final. It was a run to be
respected given Sporting were very impressive in the group stages amassing 16
points from a total 18 and scoring a staggering 20 goals, the most in the group
stages along with Barcelona. Ajax in the final was also no easy opposition, the
Dutch side knocked out Barcelona in the quarters and humiliated Liverpool 6-0
in the semis.
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| Inter Milan were the NextGen's inaugral winners |
Liverpool were the best performing English side but not as
convincing as Spurs or Aston Villa in the group stages, advancing in 2nd
place only a point ahead of Wolfsburg. In fact Liverpool actually did lose in
the quarters 1-0 to Spurs but Tottenham opted to withdraw from the competition
after an “accidental breach of competition regulations”. The specific details
of the breach were not released by Tottenham but there is a belief either they
fielded two under age players or a player on trial in a competitive game. As a
result Liverpool was given a place in the semi-finals.
Next season’s competition is set to see the number of
participants extended to 24 teams with Basel dropping out and 9 new entrants
which are: Arsenal, Chelsea, Paris Saint-Germain, Anderlecht, CSKA Moscow,
Athletic Bilbao, Juventus, Borussia Dortmund and Olympiacos.
United are thus the only member of the so called “Top 4” in
England who have decided against participating. This has led to a bit of
discussion from United fans as to the reasons why. Like most things nowadays The
Glazers have taken some blame from some quarters with fans believing the costs
involved and finances are the real reasons behind the decision.
Another possible reason relates to the unwanted hype which
the competition seems to generate for younger players building complacency and egotism
for players who you would have to say as of yet have not made it. On the other
hand depending on the player’s personality a beating by superior opposition may
just motivate him to address his weaknesses whilst giving an indication of
where he actually stands. This is true for the club as well; the competition
would not be a bad assessment of the club’s youth department relative to the
club’s continental counterparts. United perhaps feel it is too much of a risk
to take and want to keep their players more grounded, a competition like this surely does little to
achieve that goal in the long-term. Already United have faced contractual and
attitude problems this season; the cases of Ravel Morrison, Paul Pogba, and
Ezekiel Fryers are well known. Driven by their agents, higher wages and more
minutes in the first team were two key demands made. It seems very soon not one
of the three will be left at the club. Ravel Morrison was sold to West Ham in
January, Paul Pogba’s move to Juventus is almost official and Ezekiel Fryers
will most likely take up Tottenham’s contract offer. All this was on the back of
a successful FA youth cup campaign; take it up a notch with the increased media
attention the NextGen provides and the club’s decision may be justified.
When confronted on the whole NextGen issue, the Ex-Man Utd
academy chief Jim Ryan responded with the following:
"I think the thing about that is we like to have more control over what games we play. We can do that by selecting tournaments. I’m not sure how good that’s turned out to be. I saw a couple of games and Liverpool lost heavily in them both."
What Jim Ryan says seems to make sense; the clubs
involvement in 2 separate tournaments late in the season (Future Cup and the
Dallas Cup) appeared to provide all that the NextGen offers, from travelling to
continental opposition. The Dallas Cup was used for a much older crop of
players, whilst the Future Cup was used for players a bit younger, mainly an
academy side. United finished runners up in both, they came very close to
upsetting Ajax in the Future cup final losing on penalties, in the other final,
Coritiba of Brazil emerged victorious. United’s involvement in the NextGen
might also have triggered their withdrawal from the Premier league reserve
league which is a decision both Tottenham and Man City made. United raised a
few concerns last year when the NextGen was founded whether their youngsters
would still be getting enough football to develop. Man City eventually only
participated in 6 games of last year’s NextGen, but did continue to take part in
the Manchester Senior Cup, Lancashire Senior Cup plus several other matches and
tournaments such as the Central League Cup.
On a personal level, the cynical side of me and one of the
reasons I was not in favour of this competition was my worry that it would
increase poaching between clubs. Whilst clubs are only taking advantage of the
loopholes, the whole process does appear to be on the whole quite unethical. English
clubs particularly have the money to tempt youngsters from abroad (a key period
and age of the player’s development) for promises of riches. You can count on one
hand the number of successes. For evidence what I’m saying is coming to
fruition we only have to see the cases of Joao Carlos Teixeira of Sporting club
de Portugal, signed for £1m by Liverpool and more recently Joan Roman Angel snapped
up by Barcelona from Man City, the Catalan formerly of Espanyol’s academy has chosen
to go back home. Likewise top scorer Victor Fischer has been tracked and linked
heavily with United.
It would be hypocritical for me to say all this without
pointing out United themselves organise the Manchester United Premier Cup
annually where the best U-15 youngsters around the world compete. The
competition has seen youngsters such as Andres Iniesta compete and win. At this
tournament United have been able to get a closer look at some of the best U-15
youngsters and agreed deals for Rafael and Fabio Da Silva not to mention the Chilean
Angelo Henriquez. However for the first time this year the competition will be
staged in Shanghai rather than Manchester, an indication to United’s commitment to delivering
a world-class tournament for club youngsters and a hint of a possible
rebranding of the tournament in the future.
In the end it does seem a shame that historically one of
England’s best youth setups is opting against participating. We will be unable
to see one of United’s most technically promising generations tested against
some of the best youngsters on the continent. A very young and less physically
developed crop was able to reach the semi-finals of this year’s FA youth cup
losing to eventual winners Chelsea. At the very least it would be interesting
to track their progress in the NextGen but the fans must trust the club and Sir
Alex Ferguson have made the right decision and that the cons outweigh the pros.
Indeed the club may yet reverse their decision in the coming seasons.
What are the reasons in your opinion for United opting against
participation in the 2012-13 NextGen series? Leave a comment on our blog below,
or have your say on our United subforum. http://www.soccer24-7.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=33
Scholesy18
