Revista de la Liga

[jcdenton08]

They have just done a quite superb piece about exactly why Spain and Spanish football is in its golden age. They interviewed Xavi (who, in my opinion, is one of the greatest living footballers) and loads other top Spanish players and coaches. The passion and excitement they speak with when they talk about the game puts our jokers to shame.

I know this statistic has been given loads of times recently, but I feel it's worth repeating - in Spain they have over 23,000 fully UEFA qualified coaches. In the UK we have just 3,000. In Spain, that works out as one coach per 17 professionals. Incredible. And yet the media and British public still say we aren't very good because "Gerrard can't play on the left" or "Lampard is past it". We haven't got a clue.

 

[Commander]

I know this statistic has been given loads of times recently, but I feel it's worth repeating - in Spain they have over 23,000 fully UEFA qualified coaches. In the UK we have just 3,000. In Spain, that works out as one coach per 17 professionals. Incredible. And yet the media and British public still say we aren't very good because "Gerrard can't play on the left" or "Lampard is past it". We haven't got a clue.

Agreed. Plus the fact that we aren't taught how to keep the ball from a young age as we put the big lad at the back on a full size pitch when he's 8 so he never sees it. They are light years ahead of us. Nothing to do with the fact Capello cant speak English or Rooney gets tired when it gets to June.

 

[robbyford182]

Love the way everyone can see it, except the pricks in charge!

 

[Manx Shearwater]

Thought this thread was going to be about the Gotan Project.

Sorry.

 

[mcshane in the 79th]

Saw Guillem Balague tweet about the programme yesterday, need to find out when it's repeated as it's sounds really good

 

[jcdenton08]

Saw Guillem Balague tweet about the programme yesterday, need to find out when it's repeated as it's sounds really good

There is also a brilliant part with Pep Guardiola giving a speech. Very moving.

 

[brunswick]

many spanish league 1 teams only have a few thousand fans, league 2 is mostly B teams and even less crowds.

in spain no city is a "football city" like in england, it is more of social "going out" type of thing rather than deep in the blood compared to in england.

saying this, nearly every town, even small towns have decent pitches, astro pitches etc.

 

[Doc Lynam]

Has Gus implemented any of the things they talk about, just interested to know what changes he has made.

 

[Simon Morgan]

I think the general attitude is so different as well. Spanish players speak about the game with a lot of passion, our lads are so guarded when talking about the game they spend their lives playing (partly due to being very English about it all, partly due to the media). In Spain it's also quite normal for the kids to be taught the importance of working at a young age with comparatively little time being spent actually playing football. They grow up not only as brilliant footballers but well-rounded human beings. I dare say the same couldn't be said for JT, Stevie G et al.

On a side not, what a mistake Sky made by getting rid of the old presenter whose name I can't remember (Mark Bolton?) I thought he was fantastic and the current incumbent, Scott Minto, is DIRE.

 

[Shuggie]

I know this statistic has been given loads of times recently, but I feel it's worth repeating - in Spain they have over 23,000 fully UEFA qualified coaches. In the UK we have just 3,000. In Spain, that works out as one coach per 17 professionals. Incredible. .

I'm not arguing with the argument but the numbers are a bit weird. 23,000 coaches (one per per 17 professionals) suggests they've got 400,000 paid players. That would indeed be incredible as it requires 10% of blokes between 18 and 30 being professional footballers. They probably mean registered players rather than professionals.

Go here ... FIFA.com

If the number of coaches is about right, it means:
- England 1 per 500 registered players
- Spain 1 per 28 registered players
Conclusion: we're f***ed.

Looking on the bright side though, we've got 1 administrator for every 8.8 players compared to Spain's feeble 1 to 10.4 players. Hah, we win !

 

[mune ni kamome]

I wonder sometimes whether Jamie Carragher, Rio Ferdinand, the Neville brothers, John Terry and all those big "lump it" defenders would get through the selection process as youths in places like Spain and Italy to become professional players or would they be laughed out and become bricklayers, roofers, etc

 

[jcdenton08]

I wonder sometimes whether Jamie Carragher, Rio Ferdinand, the Neville brothers, John Terry and all those big "lump it" defenders would get through the selection process as youths in places like Spain and Italy to become professional players or would they be laughed out and become bricklayers, roofers, etc

On the other hand, the better coaching and nurturing from a young age could take our more promising players and make them fulfill what potential they do have.

WHY did Manchester United release Pique? One of the best central defenders in the world. That says a lot as well, doesn't it, what our idea of a 'good defender' is

 

[Surf's Up]

You see more ball skill and technique on a spanish beach than you do watching most english league games!

 

[Surf's Up]

many spanish league 1 teams only have a few thousand fans, league 2 is mostly B teams and even less crowds.

in spain no city is a "football city" like in england, it is more of social "going out" type of thing rather than deep in the blood compared to in england.

saying this, nearly every town, even small towns have decent pitches, astro pitches etc.

Not so, there are some genuine spanish football cities where the fans are totally committed to their team. Cadiz is a good example where, even though the team is currently struggling in the regional leagues, the fans still turn up in their numbers both at home and (less typically for spain) away and a short walk around the city will tell you a great deal about how passionate they are for their team.

 

[ArcticBlue]

Has Gus implemented any of the things they talk about, just interested to know what changes he has made.

All of them!

I can imagine Gus stealing Pep's playbook in a James Bond styleee.

 

[Mestalla]

I think the general attitude is so different as well. Spanish players speak about the game with a lot of passion, our lads are so guarded when talking about the game they spend their lives playing (partly due to being very English about it all, partly due to the media). In Spain it's also quite normal for the kids to be taught the importance of working at a young age with comparatively little time being spent actually playing football. They grow up not only as brilliant footballers but well-rounded human beings. I dare say the same couldn't be said for JT, Stevie G et al.

You can see the importance of the kid's formation for example in this tournament played since 1994 for 'alevines' (under 12). It is very famous and massively followed on national tv. The National tournament is played in June, with the participation of the alevín team from Barça, Madrid, Valencia, Villarreal, Athletic Bilbao, Espanyol, etc and the International tournament is played in December in Canarias (Barça, Real Madrid, Valencia, Manchester United, Inter Milan, Benfica, B. Dortmund, Villarreal, etc). I saw playing for the first time in this tournament players like Iniesta, Fàbregas, Piqué, Silva, Llorente, Torres, Mata, Albiol, de Gea, Bojan or Canales.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SpYsr9XwdTQ

Fútbol 7 - Cuatro
XV Torneo Internacional AlevÃ*n de Fútbol 7

One example of what you said about being taught not only as footballers but as human beings also is what happened in June in another under 12 tournament in Basque Country. Teams like Barcelona, Valencia, Sevilla, Espanyol, Athletic, Real Sociedad and Osasuna were participating and the final was played by Espanyol and Sevilla. The result was a draw and Sevilla won on penalty kicks, but when they were handed the cup, their coach suggested to them to hand the cup to Espanyol and they accepted, because they thought that Espanyol had played better than them being 1 year younger and they deserved the winners cup more than them.

 

[Cloughie]

On the other hand, the better coaching and nurturing from a young age could take our more promising players and make them fulfill what potential they do have.

WHY did Manchester United release Pique? One of the best central defenders in the world. That says a lot as well, doesn't it, what our idea of a 'good defender' is

Pique asked Manchester United to let him go to Barca. He was not released.

 

[shoreham moonraker]

the guardiola speech was brilliant

 

[jcdenton08]

Pique asked Manchester United to let him go to Barca. He was not released.

I wonder if Aguero asked nicely to go to Real Madrid whether Man City would let him

 

[Cloughie]

I wonder if Aguero asked nicely to go to Real Madrid whether Man City would let him

Or if Fabregas asked Arsenal to let him go to back to..... Oh wait......

If a player doesn't want to be there then he's gone. Fabregas had to wait a year or two as will Modric. Pique didn't as he was not first choice at Utd (and they made a tidy £5m profit on a player that played a handful of games).