Lowensda Posted August 17, 2011 Report Share Posted August 17, 2011 (edited) Great Piece by the Guardian - http://www.guardian....ootball-dynasty About the perception of small players not likely to succeed. Using Spains recent exit from U20's WC, shows that small players have the ability to play against 'Big boys' because of their skills and ability, rather than their height and frame. Edited August 17, 2011 by tenaciousj Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pete0 Posted August 17, 2011 Report Share Posted August 17, 2011 Man City's academy is an absolute joke, seen the kids play Liverpool and they were all about 8" taller and very little ability just team of kids who had physically developed earlier. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Avinalaff Posted August 17, 2011 Report Share Posted August 17, 2011 Man City's academy is an absolute joke, seen the kids play Liverpool and they were all about 8" taller and very little ability just team of kids who had physically developed earlier. There are many who will tell you that City's academy is the best. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pete0 Posted August 17, 2011 Report Share Posted August 17, 2011 There are many who will tell you that City's academy is the best. The facilities are really good. The kids are shit, the only good ones are the Everton, Liverpool and Man u rejects. Can't think of a single player they've brought through. Richards-Leeds/Oldham, Ireland-Some Irish team and Barton-Everton apart from that theres Onouha and Sturridge but they haven't played for them really. Only player I can think of is SWP who is one of the worst players ever to play in the prem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marcus jones Posted August 17, 2011 Report Share Posted August 17, 2011 Dunno about you lot but the British mentality has always been ''A good big un will always beat a good small un''. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Posted August 17, 2011 Report Share Posted August 17, 2011 (edited) Great Piece by the Guardian - http://www.guardian....ootball-dynasty About the perception of small players not likely to succeed. Using Spains recent exit from U20's WC, shows that small players have the ability to play against 'Big boys' because of their skills and ability, rather than their height and frame. Messi, Maradona, Iniesta, Silva, to a lesser extent Ossie (the only time his name will ever been in the same sentence, im sure it will make some of you laugh!) are tiny players but are sucessful. Add to that the game is becoming so full of wimps (thanks to the Spanish, Italians, Portuguese and South Americans) that the weak, rather than small, players will be protected. You see some of the tackles now, how they roll around as if theyd been shot until the phsyio comes accross with blusher and hairgel after another player sneezes next to them..... Try and put some of the CBs from the 70/80s in there, theyd be suspended half the season! Edited August 17, 2011 by Matt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lowensda Posted August 18, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 18, 2011 Its a silly statement and one i have used in the past unfortunately, but size shouldnt matter, i mean use Alexis Sanchez as a good example, isn't he 5'5 and people were talking about him being one of the best next things? I'd take a tiny, skillfull winger over a lumbering one anyday. With a lower centre of gravity and (usually) quicker feet, they'll beat their man, unlike those 6'+ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marcopaulo Posted August 18, 2011 Report Share Posted August 18, 2011 messi...5ft7...nuff said Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve_E Posted August 18, 2011 Report Share Posted August 18, 2011 (edited) The facilities are really good. The kids are shit, the only good ones are the Everton, Liverpool and Man u rejects. Can't think of a single player they've brought through. Richards-Leeds/Oldham, Ireland-Some Irish team and Barton-Everton apart from that theres Onouha and Sturridge but they haven't played for them really. Only player I can think of is SWP who is one of the worst players ever to play in the prem. We do seem to bring through the same type of player as wellin recent years: tall, strong lads (Anichebe, Rodwell, Barkley, though Barkley does seem to have great skill on the ball as well). Is someone on this forum somewhat in the know of the academy? I don't think we, like most English teams, focus on skill enough. We should be looking to bring this type of players through the ranks, rather than the Anichebe type: http://www.youtube.c...nel_video_title We, like Lille and Dortmund, can't afford to buy that type of players. So we should look to make them ourselves. Edited August 18, 2011 by Steve_E Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marcopaulo Posted August 18, 2011 Report Share Posted August 18, 2011 mcaleny and lundstram aren't that big are they? quite neat footballers from what i hear too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve_E Posted August 18, 2011 Report Share Posted August 18, 2011 mcaleny and lundstram aren't that big are they? quite neat footballers from what i hear too I saw Lundstram play with England youth and he isn't exactly what I would call a small player. Certainly not the creative type. About McAleny, I haven't seen him play, but I was actually talking about producing that type of youngsters that will actually lift us up to a higher level. Someone who'll make the England team in a few years time. Can't see McAleny doing that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marcopaulo Posted August 18, 2011 Report Share Posted August 18, 2011 never seen lundstram so i wasn't sure..i know what you mean but players like that don't come along every 5 minutes..if we can produce squad players with the odd gem that is very successful and what we seem to do Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve_E Posted August 18, 2011 Report Share Posted August 18, 2011 never seen lundstram so i wasn't sure..i know what you mean but players like that don't come along every 5 minutes..if we can produce squad players with the odd gem that is very successful and what we seem to do I guess you're right. We can't really complain about the amount of useful players we get from the academy. Though I would have loved us to get Jan Olde Riekerink as an Academy Manager. He used to be for Ajax, but Cruyff took over there this summer and he wants his own people for all of the important jobs. But now Riekerink's already signed for some youth job for the Chinese Football Association apparently. He would have been great though, has got a lot of expertise and experience in the Ajax system. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
codders78 Posted August 20, 2011 Report Share Posted August 20, 2011 It seems the English obsession to have big players. Preferring graft over craft. With the way football is going players get so much protection that smaller players have a more even playing field. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StevO Posted August 21, 2011 Report Share Posted August 21, 2011 Small players with a lot of upper body strength has always been the best of both IMO ever since I first saw maradonna. If you can be five foot tall but strong as an ox with te shoulders then the big lads don't have a chance. Messi looks like he has bilked up a little this year, and Aguero is short and very very strong too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Louis Posted August 28, 2011 Report Share Posted August 28, 2011 A low centre of gravity is easier for dribbling Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marcus jones Posted August 29, 2011 Report Share Posted August 29, 2011 A low centre of gravity is easier for dribbling Gian luigi Lentini, Chris Waddle, Gullit could all dribble and they are 6 foot 2 plus Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Romey 1878 Posted August 29, 2011 Report Share Posted August 29, 2011 Gian luigi Lentini, Chris Waddle, Gullit could all dribble and they are 6 foot 2 plus He didn't say tall players couldn't dribble, just that it's easier if you're smaller. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marcus jones Posted August 29, 2011 Report Share Posted August 29, 2011 I didn't imply otherwise, just that there are some cracking tall players who can dribble, I forgot to add C Ronaldo too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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