England expects, but best boys will get burn-out
There is a ticking timebomb in our game, with young players suffering from the explosion in the international fixture list. When people hear the phrase club v country, it's usually connected with a Premier League regular who also plays full internationals.
What concerns me is the growth of football between Under-16 and U-21 levels, which means our most promising youngsters never ever get a full summer off, hugely important when they are growing lads and need to rest their bodies if they want a long and problem-free career.
This summer alone, we have the U-21s European Championship in Denmark, the U17s World Cup in Mexico, the U-20s World Cup in Colombia and the European Championship at U-19 level. Every summer our best young prospects alternate between a Uefa or Fifa age group tournament.
After a full season playing for their youth teams in the league and FA Youth Cup, and often for the reserves as well, they then have to travel with their countries, rather than put their feet up for the following season. Put them through that for four or five years in a row and you are asking for trouble.
I would rather protect talents like Conor Coady, the Liverpool lad who has captained England U-17s and U-18s. Clubs have to pay their wages while trusting their welfare and football development to other coaches we have no control over.
National associations will claim international tournaments are for the development of young players but I disagree. I think they are mainly for their commercial benefit, through sponsorship and television income. When I was a young player, there wasn't much between U-18 youth internationals and U-23s.
You could rest between the club seasons and as you grew, you matured physically and could play a greater amount of games. Something needs to be done and I hope the authorities listen.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1382260/Jose-Mourinho-allowed-overshadow-Lionel-Messi--Kenny-Dalglish.html#ixzz1L3wGcvM6
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I touched on this subject before when I mentioned Carroll and Kelly playing for the U21s in the summer.
I'm all for the kids getting more games during the season especially competitive games (not the average U18 friendlies) but they also need a break during the summer.
Coady seems to be highly regarded by Kenny.
There is a ticking timebomb in our game, with young players suffering from the explosion in the international fixture list. When people hear the phrase club v country, it's usually connected with a Premier League regular who also plays full internationals.
What concerns me is the growth of football between Under-16 and U-21 levels, which means our most promising youngsters never ever get a full summer off, hugely important when they are growing lads and need to rest their bodies if they want a long and problem-free career.
This summer alone, we have the U-21s European Championship in Denmark, the U17s World Cup in Mexico, the U-20s World Cup in Colombia and the European Championship at U-19 level. Every summer our best young prospects alternate between a Uefa or Fifa age group tournament.
After a full season playing for their youth teams in the league and FA Youth Cup, and often for the reserves as well, they then have to travel with their countries, rather than put their feet up for the following season. Put them through that for four or five years in a row and you are asking for trouble.
I would rather protect talents like Conor Coady, the Liverpool lad who has captained England U-17s and U-18s. Clubs have to pay their wages while trusting their welfare and football development to other coaches we have no control over.
National associations will claim international tournaments are for the development of young players but I disagree. I think they are mainly for their commercial benefit, through sponsorship and television income. When I was a young player, there wasn't much between U-18 youth internationals and U-23s.
You could rest between the club seasons and as you grew, you matured physically and could play a greater amount of games. Something needs to be done and I hope the authorities listen.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1382260/Jose-Mourinho-allowed-overshadow-Lionel-Messi--Kenny-Dalglish.html#ixzz1L3wGcvM6
---------
I touched on this subject before when I mentioned Carroll and Kelly playing for the U21s in the summer.
I'm all for the kids getting more games during the season especially competitive games (not the average U18 friendlies) but they also need a break during the summer.
Coady seems to be highly regarded by Kenny.