What's the point of the u21's

[C0YS]

all fair points I don't agree with them all - loans its not a one size fits all I agree, I think that they can be over emphasised a bit but generally the trend is that they are split into two - one the boys who are fast tracked and others where they are effectively put in the shop window - for the majority they are not an option

A few clubs have ditched the u21s and I would expect more might follow for both financial and development reasons . The B team or affiliates are for me the right way to go at the expense of an U21 sides with defined squad sizes you give boys a potential path and I don't see how it undermines the integrity I think it raises the quality and the competitive element (you haven't seen an u21 team win the cup that they compete against League sides yet)

I do take the point about different pathways just don't see that the u21s league fits that purpose for anyone

It's the right way to go for the big teams. It's an awful way to go for the lower division teams. As someone with knowledge of Italy and Spain having connections to both countries the lower leagues are much worse than in England in terms of engagement. In part because England treats the lower leagues much better

But also when you have the big teams in Spain and Italy hold onto 60-80 players sometimes, it's not good for competition, because these players get stuck into these big club systems and talent gets kept away from smaller clubs. This makes it much much harder for smaller clubs to go up through the ranks. And much easier for bigger clubs to hoover up all the talent.

 

[ralphs bald spot]

It's the right way to go for the big teams. It's an awful way to go for the lower division teams. As someone with knowledge of Italy and Spain having connections to both countries the lower leagues are much worse than in England in terms of engagement. In part because England treats the lower leagues much better

But also when you have the big teams in Spain and Italy hold onto 60-80 players sometimes, it's not good for competition, because these players get stuck into these big club systems and talent gets kept away from smaller clubs. This makes it much much harder for smaller clubs to go up through the ranks. And much easier for bigger clubs to hoover up all the talent.

Well surely the answer is look at squad sizes and axe the loan system which is what the big clubs use to get circumvent "stock piling" players - if you look at the idea of B teams being restricted to a squad size of say 27 registered players who can only be moved on in the transfer windows you then have player pathways for youngsters at the big clubs and don't really see how it stops smaller clubs progressing or developing talent in fact that same talent is being blocked by loan transfers from bigger clubs

Already the big clubs in England have huge squads using the loan system to effectively trial boys for free and in the case of u21's largely players whose careers are stagnating in non competitive football. If you implement strict squad sizes for B teams entering into the pyramid - sure it makes it more difficult for the smaller sides but the big clubs are already hoovering up talent and you are in reality making that more difficult for them to do because your limiting the sizes of their squads

It maybe slightly a utopian dream that nobody wants loans work ok for the big clubs they can identify their chosen development projects smaller clubs get cheap quality players and the option to sell their talent at inflated prices and the u21s remain an irrelevance with every now and again a player doing well because of a rare opportunity. My argument still remains that the u21's server little point to the clubs or the boys playing in them

 

[Shanks]

Games are best for development, it’s absolutely needed in order to have games for those coming through the ranks.