Countries like Spain, Italy, France and Holland have a much better record than us in this regard though. I think that several factors come into play:
1/ The physicality of the PL discourages the use of skillful young players who are not strong, they thus get no games against opponents who are better than them and don't improve.
2/ Related to the above but our reserve/youth teams cannot play in competitive divisions. Players need to handle the pressure of important games, not just be ready physically or be skillful enough.
3/ Fans are too quick to criticise players who come into the team and demand instant results. Too many clubs are too quick to change not just managers but entire backroom setups. Although the Eurpean model of a director of football may be frowned on here it does allow a club to have a consistant long term policy in areas such as youth development which is not affected by changing thf person in control of first team affairs.
3/ English players are less likely to know a foreign language and in general our culture is quite insular, which means that it is very rare for our young players to try and make it elsewhere or to gain new experiences which can be a valuable aid to development.
4/ We are loosing the quantity of green space available to play in reducing the potential number of players that are available. English youth also watch the most Tv and are amongst the least healthy in Europe which probably doesn't help.
1/ The physicality of the PL discourages the use of skillful young players who are not strong, they thus get no games against opponents who are better than them and don't improve.
2/ Related to the above but our reserve/youth teams cannot play in competitive divisions. Players need to handle the pressure of important games, not just be ready physically or be skillful enough.
3/ Fans are too quick to criticise players who come into the team and demand instant results. Too many clubs are too quick to change not just managers but entire backroom setups. Although the Eurpean model of a director of football may be frowned on here it does allow a club to have a consistant long term policy in areas such as youth development which is not affected by changing thf person in control of first team affairs.
3/ English players are less likely to know a foreign language and in general our culture is quite insular, which means that it is very rare for our young players to try and make it elsewhere or to gain new experiences which can be a valuable aid to development.
4/ We are loosing the quantity of green space available to play in reducing the potential number of players that are available. English youth also watch the most Tv and are amongst the least healthy in Europe which probably doesn't help.


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