England’s disastrous performance at Euro 2016 shined an international spotlight on the Football Association’s failure to prime the “academy generation” for top-tier football. Will recent tournament changes have an impact on Chelsea’s youth development?
The lack of homegrown players in the English Premier League, especially among the top clubs, has been a growing concern for the English Football Association. The intense competition for the top spots – and the financial incentives of reaching those places – drives those clubs to seek the best talent worldwide, displacing English-bred players.
The end result is that very few English players are able to fulfil their early promise and turn into regular contributors at the top level in their home country. They must either accept a lower-division team in England, or enter the journeyman’s life across Europe and beyond.
One of the biggest deficiencies in the FA’s development pipeline is a lack of bridge between U-19/U-21 level of play and the professional level. Youth players are simply not equipped to handle the rigours of professional football. The FA’s numerous studies and panels have shown that the level of competition on offer is simply not comparable to the experience a youngster would get on loan.
But, as Chelsea fans know only too well, the loan system has its own pitfalls. Since the FA ruled out B teams on the dubious grounds that it would kill the spirit of competition in lower leagues, the FA has tried to ramp up the exposure and competition quality of the U-21 level.
The most recent effort towards that end is the all new Premier League 2. The FA has scrapped the old U-21 Premier League and re-branded it as Premier League 2 in order to raise the eligible age of players for this tournament to U-23 level.
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This change will be implemented across the full complement of youth tournaments under the FA’s purview: the Premier League Cup, the Premier League International Cup, and the recently-added English Football League Trophy, in which Category One development teams will be invited to participate.
In addition to raising the age level to 23 years, teams will still be allowed to field three overage players and one overage goalkeeper, as was the case in the erstwhile U-21 Premier League.
The Premier League 2 is split into two divisions of 12 teams. Chelsea will start in Division 1. The bottom two teams of Division 1 will drop down to Division 2, while the winner of Division 2 is guaranteed promotion. The other spot for promotion will be determined through play-offs between teams which place second, third, fourth and fifth in Division 2 (similar to the Championship).
Chelsea, by virtue of being one of the country’s premier academies, has also qualified for the Premier League International Cup. This tournament will feature 12 teams from England and 12 from the rest of Europe. but all games will be played in England.
The teams are split into six groups of four. Teams play each other once in home, away or neutral venues. The winners of each group, plus the two best placed runners-up, advance to the quarter-finals. Chelsea’s group in this tournament include Swansea City, Dinamo Zagreb and Feyenoord.
This move is a step in the right direction, and will not affect Chelsea much in the near-term. Chelsea’s development policy has always been to promote youngsters as soon as they are ready to the next age group. This steady progression means that players of ages 18-19 compete at the U-21 level. As of this season, they will play at the U-23 level. Meanwhile, older Chelsea players head out on loan and younger players (17 or under) will stay at the U-18 level.
The increased level of competition may prove to be beneficial in the longer run. Although it is not a perfect solution, the aim is to make staying at the parent club a worthwhile option for a 21-23 year old player. The new structures will provide playing time at a good level while the players hover around on the fringes of the first team.
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Players such as Tammy Abraham will benefit the most from the new youth tournaments. Abraham and others like him have clearly outgrown the U-21 level but can’t quite establish themselves in the Chelsea first team. This set-up will provide regular playing time along their talent-based – not just age-based – peers, while they continue to train alongside the first team and work towards their big break.