Marvin.
Well-Known Member
I watched Portugal v Armenia at the weekend. It was a 9-1 destruction. With all the fuss about England, I thought Portugal were on a different level. Their football was a joy to watch but this comment is more about Carlos Forbs who came on as a 2nd half sub. I don't get to watch the Academy as some do, but I know that he was a highly rated player who we sold to Ajax. He is now at Club Brugge and playing well in the Champions League. Perhaps it was just the perfect time for him to come on as a sub. in a side that was flying against a demoralised side. Look out for him.
If I look at PSG, and Barcelona, they promote their youth team players more than we do. Perhaps that is because the PL is much stronger than Ligue 1 and La Liga and we just can't promote youth team players in the same way but City continue to do a very good job with academy players. The 3 outstanding academies in Europe at the moment are PSG, Barcelona and City. Perhaps I should name Arsenal too as have brought through some good young players into their first XI recently. Utd talk about their 'proud record' of always naming an academy player in their squad but that's just tokenism.
If I look at PSG, and Barcelona, they promote their youth team players more than we do. Perhaps that is because the PL is much stronger than Ligue 1 and La Liga and we just can't promote youth team players in the same way but City continue to do a very good job with academy players. The 3 outstanding academies in Europe at the moment are PSG, Barcelona and City. Perhaps I should name Arsenal too as have brought through some good young players into their first XI recently. Utd talk about their 'proud record' of always naming an academy player in their squad but that's just tokenism.