28 Jan 2019 20:37:14
I get that it's harder in the EPL at the top of the league with 6 teams competing for 4 places. Yet this hasn't always been the case, both City and Spurs challenging is a recent phenomenon, only a few years old. Chelsea have only joined the party over the last 15 years and to some extent have done so as Arsenal have phased out to a certain extent. Liverpool have challenged for 2 maybe 3 league titles in nearly 30 years.

So it hasn't always been the case of 6 into 4.

For me the real issue though is that the 6 teams least likely to give youngsters a chance due to intense competition for UCL places are the same 6 clubs who hoover up the majority of the young talent, to such an extent that they even often compete for youngsters from abroad as well as domestic youngsters.

If all the most talented kids are stockpiled in academies where they realistically aren't going to get a chance then it stands to reason the kids who will get the chances are the less talented kids in academies outside of the top six.

Is shouldn't be lost on people that Jason Sancho and Callum Hudson-Odoi have both come from top six academies, both are hugely talented a d both look like they will have to go to German to make their breakthroughs. Yet they haven't gone to mid table teams in Germany, but instead to the top two teams in Germany, in Hudson-Odoi's case he would be moving to a side far more likely to finish higher in their league then the team he would be leaving will finish in theirs.

Should there be tighter and more stringent rules for British clubs with regards to youth academies?

Should their be a limit on the number of players you can recruit beyond a certain radius of your club? Obvious adjusted to take population into consideration.

Should their be stricter limits on the number of "home grown" players a side must register?

Should their be limits on the number of players a club can bring in during one season?

As we are seeing we do produce talented youngsters, it is the system in place which is stopping them getting through, it is the system we need to change.

1.) 28 Jan 2019
28 Jan 2019 22:06:22
Callum hasn't gone yet, Shappy :) we can enjoy him for 5 more months at least haha.

2.) 29 Jan 2019
29 Jan 2019 14:52:52
Chelsea offered him a deal he said no. He wants game time and will get it at Bayern.

It wouldve been a different issue if chelsea never offered him a deal but they didn't and hr rejwected ao there isn't much Chelsea can dom. Its a results business and its personal choice for players.

He probably wants to play now rather then wait around so that is why he is moving.

Its not really a big deal as this is part of life and should be looked at as normal.

3.) 29 Jan 2019
29 Jan 2019 17:55:33
Jackson, If by enjoy him you mean watch him play 3 games most likely as a sub then leave in the summer then yeah, enjoy him all you want.

The lad has handed in a transfer request, he is refusing to sign a new deal. I'm sure being made to see out a contract at a club he no longer wants to be at will suddenly make him happy to sign a new deal and tie himself to the club for longer.

Its a silly stance from Chelsea, they have an offer of 35-40m on the table, for a player who wants to leave and can do in 5 months time regardless. At the present time he isn't even a regular starter.

If someone had offered us 40m for Pogba the January before he left nearly every United fan would have snapped their hand off for such a large fee for a player who just doesn't play for the club.

Instead Chelsea will receive practically nothing for him and he won't make a telling difference to the points they gain or the trophies they could win between now and the summer.

4.) 29 Jan 2019
29 Jan 2019 19:35:44
3 games is underselling it, Shappy. He's started 3 in the last month alone, and I'm pretty sure more starts will follow.

His price also won't go down in the next months, especially if he plays semi regularly. And I'm thinkingbin the end he might stay after all, and that his mind is not yet made up completely. Otherwise the club would let him go, as they've shown in the past with Matic, Mata etc. If Sarri isn't full of rubbish in what he says then it would appear Callum will get minutes in the second half of the season.

I may be too optimistic, but we might be seeing more academy grads in the coming years. CHO, Mount, Ampadu, RLC, Christensen and Reece James all look to have a decent to good chance of making it. They've all been taught to play football the way Sarri and Roman like. Tammy should get the chance as well, but I'm not sure the club rate him as I do.

I'm not here to argue though, so don't take all of this the wrong way.

5.) 30 Jan 2019
30 Jan 2019 05:48:01
Bayern may have targeted Houdson Odoi as a long term replacement of Ribery and Robben.
Could be a solid investment if he fulfills his potential.
He could do better at Bayern because he is surrounded by quality players.
Moreover, the German league wouldn't be as challenging as EPL.