First they complain that Mansours money could've gone to health and education, now they want him to fund the future of England. Is this how bad it has got?
Anyway:
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Manchester Citys Brian Marwoods Embarrassing Academy Plans
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Less than a week after the opening of England‘s very own national football centre, Manchester City‘s sporting director Brian Marwood has brought the country down to earth with an unrivaled outburst stating that the future of the league champions does not necessarily revolve around homegrown talent.
Weeks ago jaws dropped at the official unveiling of the fantastic Etihad Campus, a £200m setup which on this very blog was labeled as the bringer of hope to not only Manchester City but England as well. After almost a year of wondering, how refreshing it was to read that Manchester City’s footballing academy plans are set to become a reality. Weeks later, however, Manchester City‘s own Brian Marwood has just dished out a one hell of a party line.
‘Our priority is to produce players who will get into City’s first team. From a selfish point of view, that may mean to the detriment of the England team. And while it would be great (to help England) because I came through the system and it helped me, we also have to be realistic. If we are trying to produce real top quality to play for City, if they happen to come from another country and we’ve developed them, we shouldn’t be ashamed to embrace it.
‘We can’t expect our owners to keep spending at the rate they’ve been spending for the past three or four years. We have to start somewhere and change that — and it’s something we’re trying to do. We are looking to produce youngsters to play alongside the likes of Yaya Toure and David Silva. That is the benchmark if we want to be a side competing in every cup competition at home and in Europe.
‘The harsh reality is we have to produce local boys or bring in players from abroad. You see players for our under-21s who have come from Spain, Norway and France. It is something everyone has to deal with because it is a global game.’
While football might be a global game, English clubs should have an obligation to their local and national fan-base to produce English players. Other top clubs across all of the other top nations don’t seem to have this issue. Why should the top teams in England be any different?
- Is it a “harsh reality” for Barcelona to have over 95% of their academy be Spanish?
Is it a “harsh reality” for Bayern Munich to have over 80% of their U21 through U17 teams be German?
Why should it be that Manchester City uses the ‘global’ factor of football as an excuse to sidestep what should be fundamentally core to every club in football – agnostic of where they are based?
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I also note other clubs fans thoughts on this and in the main they are not really worthy of copying in as there doesn't seem to be any decent responses to what could be another real success for us, and for other national teams, including England. Are supporters that blind or is it just envy that drives them to such comments?
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