Not enough kids coming through to be potential England stars: Experts

LONDON - England’s abysmal display in the World Cup in South Africa in June and July this year, has kicked off the debate about what is wrong with the Premier League game.

According to current players, commentators and officials, there there are not enough kids coming through to vie for places in the globally respected Premier League.

The Sun quoted defender Rio Ferdinand as saying: “In this country we go back to front quicker. Kids are not taught enough to pass the ball. I think we are in a Catch 22 situation in this country.”

“You can be influenced by the expectations of the supporters who want it to be gung-ho, as it is in the Premier League. But international football is not like that and nor is Champions League football,” he added.

Respected administrator Tony Carr said: “We find it hard as teams to play under pressure and play to marked players because they find it hard to keep possession. I think the foreign players tend to be a little more intelligent - they tend to be more tactically astute. They will keep possession, play in triangles and don’t mind being marked.”

When asked about the attitude of kids coming through, Ferdinand said: “I don’t think kids nowadays have the same enthusiasm for football.”

Carr said: “In Rio’s era, there was a real love of the game and the camaraderie was terrific and friendships have lasted for years. But for young players now it is more about the fringes of the game. They sign academy forms and think they have made it. It is all take, take, take and not giving enough back.”

Ferdinand further said: “Too many lads get their first pro contract and think ‘I am on 500 pounds or 2,000 pounds a week, which is a lot of money and I am set up for a lifetime now’. I probably signed three contracts from ages 17 to 18, but I was never content - I was always setting myself goals.”

He also said that today’s young players do have it too easy at their clubs

“The thing about cleaning the senior pros’ boots is a massive issue and it does my head in. That was one of the best groundings. Now, kids don’t even do it. I played a few first team games and still cleaned Harry Redknapp’s boots. The kit man does it now. If they were having to do it, they would think ‘I want to play my way out of this’. We weren’t just cleaning boots but cleaning changing rooms. I remember Manchester United beating us at Upton Park and I had to wait two hours outside their dressing room before I could get in and clean it,” Ferdinand said.

Carr agreed that today’s football enthusiasts appeared to be more spoilt and mollycoddled. He said that doing the menial jobs made you a part of the team, inculcated a team spirit.

“A lot of that is lost and for me that has not helped the young players. We should bring it back,” he added.

“You have to allow young players to make mistakes and not curse them for it or a talent will freeze. If he is frightened to make mistakes, he won’t want the ball and will never develop as a player. Certainly the general feel I get is youth football is becoming results-driven and it should not be. A lot of that is due to the academy system,” Carr said. (ANI)