Youth Development

[Portista69]

Which Youth system in Europe developes the most talented players over the years? Give team and a list of 5 top players!

[Johnlong]

Liverpool IMO

1.Gerrard
2.Owen
3.Carragher
4.Fowler - was the best in EPL one time
5.McManaman

[lanman]

Ajax - Cruyff, Van Basten, Rijkaard, Bergkamp, Kluivert and many more.

[Johnlong]

Cruyff, Van Basten, Rijkaard, Bergkamp, !

If we are going back that far i could name too many !

Come on,at least say someone under 35 ! LOL

[tomo]

Cruyff, Van Basten, Rijkaard, Bergkamp, !

If we are going back that far i could name too many !

Come on,at least say someone under 35 ! LOL

Van der Vaart, Sneijder, Zlatan, Chivu, Van der Sar, Gronkjaer, Seedorf, Davids, Van der Meyde, Landzaat, Pienaar, Mitea, De Ridder,...

[dsk_oz]

Ajax. No comparision. Period.

[astabooty]

in europe, over the years, it is ajax. but right now it is barcelona.

valdes
xavi
puyol
iniesta
motta

soon to be messi

subs:
gabri
gerrard

[johan neeskens]

Ajax is very good at spotting young talent and developing them as teenagers. They are not very good these days, however, at further developing these footballers as grown-ups in first team football. I think PSV has a better record of getting young players to go to the next level than Ajax.

[Lockjaw]

This info is from last year, but it shows Real Madrid youth players & the number of games they have played with the Spanish national team as of Mar 2003. It is an impressive list.

pos. name games

1 Camacho 81
2 Butragueño 69
3 Míchel 66
4 Raúl 59
5 Sanchis 48
6 Gallego 42
7 Alfonso 38
8 Martin Vazquez 38
9 Cañizarez 37
10 Chendo 26
11 Urzaiz 25
12 Casillas 23
13 Benito 22
14 Rincón 22
15 Del Bosque 18
16 San José 13
17 Grosso 12
18 Velazquez 10
19 Mateos 8
20 Guti 7
21 Santisteban 7
22 Victor 6
23 Raúl Bravo 5
24 Dani 5
25 Pardeza 5
26 Aldana 4
27 Lopez Peinado 4
28 Marañon 4
29 Vidal 4
30 Garcia Calvo 3
31 Villa 3
32 Garcia Remón 2
33 Planelles 2
34 Marsal 1
35 Casado 1
36 Serena 1
37 De Felipe 1
38 Solana 1
39 Paco Llorente 1
40 Ochotorena 1
41 Losada 1
42 Lopetegui 1
43 Contreras 1

[tomo]

Ajax is very good at spotting young talent and developing them as teenagers. They are not very good these days, however, at further developing these footballers as grown-ups in first team football. I think PSV has a better record of getting young players to go to the next level than Ajax.

Which players of PSV are you referring to then? IMO youth never got a chance there. What you say about Ajax makes little sense, looking at people like De Ridder, Mitea, Nigel De Jongh, Wesley Sneijder, Rafael Van der Vaart, Johnny Heijtinga and so on...

[Excape Goat]

in europe, over the years, it is ajax. but right now it is barcelona.

valdes
xavi
puyol
iniesta
motta




This list is more impressive: Raul, Morientes, Casillas and Guti. I am not going to mention Bravo. Of course, Etoo spent some time at RM youth system.

[johan neeskens]

Which players of PSV are you referring to then? IMO youth never got a chance there. What you say about Ajax makes little sense, looking at people like De Ridder, Mitea, Nigel De Jongh, Wesley Sneijder, Rafael Van der Vaart, Johnny Heijtinga and so on...

PSV has a reputation for spotting young talent, bringing them to Eindhoven and there, bring them to another level, i.e. preparing them for the biggest European leagues. Robben is a recent example, then there's Ronaldo, Romario, Stam, Cocu, Ruud van Nistelrooy - all were sold off to really big clubs and did/are doing well there.

Meanwhile in recent years Ajax seems to have a problem with their young players, i.e. their development stagnates at some stage. That's certainly the case with Rafael van der Vaart and Wesley Sneijder - just a year ago they were the greatest thing since sliced bread and allegedly all of Europe's big clubs were after them. Now they're not even certain of first team football anymore. De Ridder doesn't get any first team football either at the moment, neither does Johnny Heijtinga. I'm not saying that these aren't hugely talented players. I am saying that Ajax isn't doing much to further their development. Both Sneijder and Van der Vaart look miserable at Ajax, whereas they look very, very happy whenever they get to put on an Oranje shirt.

I personally think the Ajax youth development system is very rigid and focused on heavy discipline. While that obviously works with young boys, it does not work when footballers get at an age where they start developing a mind of their own. In Holland the consensus among young talent at the smaller clubs is that it's better for your career development to go to PSV than to Ajax in any case.