UEFA President Michel Platini, never reticent about sharing his thoughts, has criticized Arsene Wenger for his youth development program.
“I do not like the system of Arsene Wenger,” Platini said. “In France, Italy and Spain it is easy to buy with money the best players at 14, 15 or 16. I don’t like that. If the best clubs buy the best 15 or 16 players [then it] is finished for all the clubs in Europe.”
Wenger purchased 16 year-old Gilles Sunu from French Club Chateauroux over the summer.
First, Wenger’s youth development produces great players. Under his tutelage, players like Cesc Fabregas and Ashley Cole have risen to international stardom, and other youngsters, such as Theo Walcott, appear headed that way. The game of football is hardly worse off because Wenger is producing great players.
It’s not just Arsenal that is benefiting. Even if players have difficulty making the first-team at Arsenal, many go on to do well at smaller clubs. Steve ‘The Ginger Assassin” Sidwell was integral to Reading’s surprise success last season. David Bentley has been excellent for Blackburn and, if he feels like it, will probably become a fixture of the England squad.
Lower League clubs also benefit. Birmingham were promoted to the Premier League last season, largely on the basis of hosting Arsenal youth players like Nicklas Bendtner on loan.
Like most Platinisms, this statement sounds great and gains him popularity, but there is little substance behind it. There are many problems endemic with European football that need serious attention (ahem…Racism). Arsenal developing great footballers and providing an entertaining product is not one of them.
1 November 2007 at 9:03 am
Sorry, Tyler, but while Platini may have been wrong to single Arsenal out for this, I actually agree with him about the purchase of players under the age of 18 being one of the more unseemly aspects of the modern game. Arsenal do indeed have a fine youth system, and their style of football is fantastic, but I don’t think that’s the issue here; I would argue that there are other, more regrettable consequences of what is arguably European football’s latest “Gold Rush”:
a) The issue of adequate compensation for the clubs that have previously developed the young talent, which still hasn’t been resolved by the likes of FIFA and UEFA (I remember that Barcelona weren’t too happy about the manner in which Arsenal signed Cesc, nor that of Manchester United in the signing of Pique; I’m sure there have been other deals by other big European sides that have picked up on legal loopholes/grey areas, but those two deals are the ones that I could immediately think of.)
b) The issue of how the players are treated when they get there, and what happens when they fail to make the grade, not to mention that of passports and EU national eligibility(Arsenal do treat their youngsters well, but there’s many a tale of an Ivorian player who’s come to Beveren, say, and ended up living on the breadline in Belgium if they don’t have the right documents; I know that a lot of clubs park youngsters abroad until they can claim dual nationality, as Arsenal have done in the case of Carlos Vela.)
The way that this strikes me as a typical Platini-ism is that, much like Blatter (or any other FIFA/UEFA suit), there will be a lot of strong rhetoric, but little concrete action. I would certainly not demean the importance of tackling the issue of racism in European football (which is a scandalous problem to still need addressing in the 21st century), but the resolution of problems with the international transfer market (particularly in the case of youngsters under the age of 18) is also essential.
1 November 2007 at 9:22 am
B is a fair point.
But A, isn’t that due to a disparity between English and Spanish law where players in England can sign a professional contract at 17 as opposed to 18 in Spain? Forgive me for not shedding a tear for Barcelona.
I think it is also a somewhat logical response to the ridiculous prices for English young talent.
1 November 2007 at 10:40 am
A - I’ll take your word for it. Another reason not to shed a tear for Barca is that they are already well served in central midfield (i.e. Xavi, Iniesta and Deco.) And you’re absolutely right about the grossly inflated prices for English youngsters (which I think might have been one among many fine points made by both Wenger and Trevor Brooking re. English youth development.) I think there may be a need for standardisation of the contract law, though (but then, that’s something FIFA should have sorted out years ago.)