The Joys of Youth

Welcome to the Footy Fox, where all things football will be discussed, analyzed and dissected in a manner befitting the beautiful game.

Today the Footy Fox will reflect on something dearer to himself than WAG’s or his affection for La Liga bust-ups between Barcelona and Real Madrid (oh you), though those are sure to be made mention of in the coming days: opportunity. So often in football, as is the case in many professions, finding employment opportunities is a difficult thing to do. Employers look to maximize their results and efficiency while minimizing the need for training and development. We see this when young people look for work, only to be turned away for having a lack of experience; you can’t get the experience because it won’t be given to you because you don’t have it. Just follow along mate.  

As I’ve preached for a long while the nature of cup competitions should – with the right opponent and at an appropriate stage of the competition mind you – focus on youth opportunity. Being a supporter of Manchester United, in past years it’s always been great watching competitions such as the FA Cup, Carling Cup and Champions League allow for the Club’s younger talent to gain much needed competitive matches. Having said that, no one realistically expects reserves to take up positions against Barcelona or Chelsea in the more critical cup ties, but there should always be room for youth when possible.

In the Champions League for example, quick success in the group stages and an early birth in the round of sixteen can do wonders for youth opportunity and the club. So let’s say Barca were to clinch the knockout stage with 3 matches remaining in the group stage, that’s 3 games against European clubs of Champions League quality that younger players have the chance to line-up against.

A fantastic demonstration of this is today’s result for Tottenham Hotspur over Hearts in the Europa League, where the North Londoners thrashed the Scots 5-0. Sure, no one really cares for the Europa League except the fans of the clubs involved and Kyle Davis, but it was a lesson in presenting opportunity for young players. Jake Livermore (20) was named to start for Spurs, while in the 70^th minute Andros Townsend (20) was introduced and had an immediate impact. Both midfielders have been loaned out to other clubs 6 and 5 times respectively over the last few years, but here they were given an opportunity on the European stage in a squad that boasts tremendous talent in the middle of the park.  

With an eye specifically focusing on young English talent, if this trend continues with the likes of Tottenham, Birmingham, Fulham and Stoke City leaning towards blooding their youth in the Europa, it can only lead to good things. For starters, the young players get stronger and gain experience. Another plus lies in giving the members of the first team, faced with multiple cup competitions and the domestic league, much needed rest to avoid fatigue and injury. Finally, developing youth from a club’s academy has massive benefits in that clubs will then need to spend less on transfers and have players already moulded to the style and character of the club. I’ve nothing against loan spells to different clubs, since they’ve shown true value with the likes of Wilshire, Sturridge, Cleverly and Welbeck displaying their talents and gaining experience. Now it’s up to their parent clubs to put them to use, or risk wasting their potential.

So in as much as Europa is really a bit of a relegated and watered-down form of the Champions League, there is still plenty for a club like Spurs to gain from being there. Hopefully they have the intelligence to embrace a youth policy even further, and use the return leg of the playoff against Hearts to field a squad that’s younger and in much need of the experience. We’ll see.