25-04-2018, 13:12
The problem that many smaller clubs have is that they copy what the big academies do and I can't see the point in being a poor copy of something that doesn't even work very well on a large scale.
The best player this country has produced in years IMO is Dele Alli. He came through at Milton Keynes. He made the first team at 17. He had a season in Division One honing his skills against men who seriously wanted to cancel them out. Spurs couldn't have bought him a better training. Okay it left a bit of aggression in him, but if an opposing player dallies on the ball a bit he'll be in there to rob him which can be as game-changing as all his flashier skills. Dele got his chance because he was the special fish in a small pond.
If Huddersfield stay up this season the next step surely has to be how you can be smart enough for this level to become your future? You don't have to have some vast academy - Plymouth knocked Man City out of the Youth Cup! You just have to accept that by being smaller you can give lads better attention, be more flexible in bringing them through and offer recruits a genuine chance of a future in professional football. If I had a son keen to make it in the game I'd be thrilled for him if Man City came knocking, but I'd try and persuade him to look for a smaller club where there'd be no danger of being lost amidst a mountain of talent.
The best player this country has produced in years IMO is Dele Alli. He came through at Milton Keynes. He made the first team at 17. He had a season in Division One honing his skills against men who seriously wanted to cancel them out. Spurs couldn't have bought him a better training. Okay it left a bit of aggression in him, but if an opposing player dallies on the ball a bit he'll be in there to rob him which can be as game-changing as all his flashier skills. Dele got his chance because he was the special fish in a small pond.
If Huddersfield stay up this season the next step surely has to be how you can be smart enough for this level to become your future? You don't have to have some vast academy - Plymouth knocked Man City out of the Youth Cup! You just have to accept that by being smaller you can give lads better attention, be more flexible in bringing them through and offer recruits a genuine chance of a future in professional football. If I had a son keen to make it in the game I'd be thrilled for him if Man City came knocking, but I'd try and persuade him to look for a smaller club where there'd be no danger of being lost amidst a mountain of talent.