Opportunity in the U-21's

All that follow the world's most popular sport know that this weekend was a big weekend as most seasons finally get underway. The EPL opened up in an entertaining way that at half-time seemed would be dry of goals. Surely enough, West Brom Albion piled three on Liverpool, A Dempsey-less Fulham knocked five past Norwich and Swansea, who in season previews have been considered relegation candidates, slotted another five goals in against Queen's Park Rangers. But this is not the focus of my post (if you couldn't tell from the title). My focus is the introduction of the first national U-21 league.

Even within the first weekend of it's iteration, it is already getting praise and with good reason too. I think this is brilliant. With the amount of money and pressure to succeed that the large teams have, the gap has been growing between success at the youth level and breaking into the first team. There are countless stories of Player X who was in Arsenal or Chelsea academy and was heralded as the next Henry or next Lampard only to start their real career in the nPower League 1 because they are 20-21 and not in the first team plans. in Chelsea's example, we are already seeing Lucas Piazon who would break into a mid-table team within a season or half a season that is clearly on a level above his peers, or Josh McEachran who fans for the last 2-3 seasons has said should be breaking into the squad. The problem is that when you spend money buying more people in  that position for more immediate success, then you cannot grow these players. Reserves has been a lot of money for something that is sort of just a layaway for players not in the first team plans. With this new system, players are segmented more and allowed to grow together. This is already in play internationally and has worked well. Countries like Mexico have been coming up with young talent as a squad.

From a manager/coaches perspective, it is much easier to assess a player when they are put in these segments. It effectively bridges the gap. Also, as the commentators at the Chelsea vs Man City match had stated, the fans are excited to see the academy boys in a more formal setting. It also gives them an more of an introduction into what a match feels like in a way you can't be taught. One guest on Soccer Am today said that the extra year or two of important game time that is allowed with this U-21 system is crucial because it took him until around 21 to start being a class player and that he was lucky that his contract worked out where he was awarded that extra half a season or so but that is not the case with many players. And on a final note, I was entertained by the match and could definitely see this bringing back a bit of club loyalty and bring more attention to players hitting that time in their career.

So to sum it up, I fully approve of this new move that was taken and hope it succeeds in bridging this gap between youth and first team. The matches also appear on the online streamed sites I use so I will be sure to tune in and I suggest you do too.

Daniel