Barcelona tonight - an insight into our future?

utterly superb and dispatched the second best team in Europe with ease. With our super chairmans vision and the investment we have seen and been promised into our academy with the aim of being that they fill the first team in years to come were we watching tonight a glimpse into what the future holds for SFC??

Unrealistic you say? Well yes, maybe to think we would spank the English champions with such ease but what we saw tonight was what can be achieved with players with the right grounding. A fantastic style of football coupled with a team ethic and a real comaradere amougst the squad, they clearly played for each other. Whats to stop us picking up the best young English players, schooling them and coaching them, developing that same team spirit and togetherness and developing what our super chairman has already called "The Southampton Style"? I am certainly starting to buy into the dream.

Could we be the English Barcelona? No one else has done it. Why cant we?

Well the nay sayers will say "impossible, we are the saints" In reality, unless we want a future of scrabbling around trying to hang on at the top level and scraping up the odd crumbs, this is the only course that makes any sense at all.

Bring it on

"Impossible..." - guess that's me off to the 'nay sayers' corner...!

Chicken and egg question- think we need to be successful first which will require us to spend serious cash on existing talent and challenge in the here and now before youngsters take us seriously as a long-term career choice rather than just a decent stepping-stone for bigger and better things.

There is one piece of the (I wonder where he found it) Business plan left to come,

Our Academy scouts the best players in their age range in "The UK"

To become a Barca we need to look further afield. We need to have tie-ups with a network of "Kid Scouting" worldwide.

We need to send our best technical players who don't have the pace for English football to other countries and bring THEIR best kids suited to the English Leagues (and eventually Eurpoan Football) to our Academy.

When I see him do that, spread our net wider then I will know we could become Barca.

But to imagine for one minute that we could find 11 kids in England that could do what Barca do....

LMFAO - we've been looking as a NATION since 1966!

We would have to grow as a club and that's not something I can see us doing in 5 years - more like 10. It would be easier to adopt a Barcelona model at a club like Newcastle which already is pretty huge in terms of support. You need the big attendances to guarantee the sort of money which can keep the players here. Until then the good players would be picked off by the big clubs (think what is rumored to be happening now with Oxo).

That said, with the will, the money and the fans yes we can build something very special here.

crap, I just lost a whole lot of what I typed... gotta go type it again now

We would have to grow as a club and that's not something I can see us doing in 5 years - more like 10. It would be easier to adopt a Barcelona model at a club like Newcastle which already is pretty huge in terms of support. You need the big attendances to guarantee the sort of money which can keep the players here. Until then the good players would be picked off by the big clubs (think what is rumored to be happening now with Oxo).

 

That said, with the will, the money and the fans yes we can build something very special here.

To be fair it's going to take 10 years anyway. Get the best 10-14 year olds in and coach them so they all play the same way, make them technically good footballers and bring them through the ranks, U16's, U18's etc. They'll then have the commeradere that Barca have, they'll be playing with their mates, playing for each other playing for the club.

Do we really beleive that spanish kids for example are born better footballers than English kids? Of course they aren't, they are schooled to keep the ball, pass and move, look for a pass out of defence etc, whereas English kids are schooled to "get rid of it FFS!!!" I do agree we need to get the top young players in europe, but we have shown we can get the top youngester in England, why not spread our wings further? I dont see why we cant be the new Barcelona. we have a lot in common, play in stripes (usually) seaside city, got our own airport, massive catchment area. It's all their to be had, we've just to go to bite into it.

There is one piece of the (I wonder where he found it) Business plan left to come,

 

Our Academy scouts the best players in their age range in "The UK"

 

To become a Barca we need to look further afield. We need to have tie-ups with a network of "Kid Scouting" worldwide.

 

We need to send our best technical players who don't have the pace for English football to other countries and bring THEIR best kids suited to the English Leagues (and eventually Eurpoan Football) to our Academy.

 

When I see him do that, spread our net wider then I will know we could become Barca.

 

But to imagine for one minute that we could find 11 kids in England that could do what Barca do....

 

LMFAO - we've been looking as a NATION since 1966!

I seem to remember a few months back we signed up about 6 or 8 new academy players and I think one was from either South America or Portugal. Sounds as though we are looking further afield with this supposed European scout as well.

Could we be the English Barcelona? No one else has done it. Why cant we?

PART 1: CLUB INFRASTRUCTURE

Yes we can.

That said, it's not going to happen overnight and there are many, many things that have to be assured before we can even think about a long-term future using our academy as our main source of players.

The good news is that we are already producing players of an excellent calibre. In recent times we've seen Bridge, Bale, Matthew Mills, Joseph Mills, Baird, Cranie, Surman, Dyer, Walcott, Chamberlain, Blackstock, Jones, Best, Ranger and McGoldrick all graduate to play in the top two divisions of English football; I'm not sure many teams can lay claim to such an astounding crop of young players in such a short space of time.

Before them was Monk, Williamson, Oakley, Sparv, Davies, Howard and McDonald.

However, of the first batch - exactly how many of them can realistically play in the Premier League and not look out of place?

It's hard to tell, but we've already seen Bridge, Bale, Baird, Cranie, Surman, Lallana, Walcott, Jones, Best and Ranger make the step up fairly comfortably for their respective clubs.

And of those, how many of them are truly top class footballers? Or at the very least, footballers who would be able to play for a club in the top six of English football?

From that group, I'd suggest Bridge, Bale, Lallana, Walcott, Jones and Chamberlain would be able to command a place or at least jostle for a position at one of the Premier League's better clubs. The jury is still out in some respects on Chamberlain as he's only had one season in League One and it remains to be seen whether he can fulfil his immense talent but realistically speaking and judging from the quality and maturity of his game the indicators are that he has all of the attributes. As for Wayne Bridge, he's probably a sentimental pick as he's a player definitely winding down, sadly.

The jury is also out on whether Baird can (though he'll unlikely ever get the chance, though he was a regular for a Fulham side which finished 8th) and time is still on the side of Matt Mills, Surman, Dyer and Best, though you would likely predict the absolute pinnacle of their achievements might be a middling, average sized Premier League club. It's hard to say to say for definite how far they'll go but I would imagine that is probably the furthest they might achieve.

Once again though, if we look at just those 6 players previously mentioned, it's still an incredible feat to have produced that amount of players of upper-Premier League quality. This will have to be usurped quite magnificently though if we are to achieve what Barcelona have and arguably, we might have a harder time than them in doing so.

We've already established a great reputation in producing youngsters and it's fair to say, we are probably on the radar of many kids parents when it comes to choosing the right environment for their promising young son to develop his footballing career. However at the moment, as we're in a lower division, we are no more than a stepping stone before they eventually move on to better things. In some respects, our level of football might work for us. Being in the Championship undoubtedly means that there is more opportunity for our youngsters to progress to the first team. On the other hand, when they do get there and perform we're in a difficult position of trying to keep a hold of them - something we cannot presently do for too long in the 2nd tier of English football.

So how are we going to be able to keep our most promising footballers of the future? Simple-ish. We have to be in the Premier League.

The problem is, the Premier League is awash with clubs, fans and managers who want instant results. Who want instant solutions. Why? Because losing your Premier League status is financially disastrous. Clubs are terrified of taking a 'gamble' on a young player. Need a striker to score you 10-15 goals? Need them quick? Throw £5m at a proven South American forward. Need a left back? Visit the "sh1t-club swap shop" and purchase a ready made replacement for your outgoing personnel. Unless you're quite lucky or tremendously outstanding, not too many players come through the Premier League these days.

If we're really going to emulate the success of Barcelona or Ajax, we are really going to have to subscribe to this ethos, these principles. And I mean, really, really, REALLY subscribe to it.

We're going to need a club completely aligned to this objective and this belief and plan must course through everybody, not just the academy. From the youth teams to the executives in their suits and back to the first-team manager, we're going to need everyone to believe and buy into this plan.

The good news is that we've already got a chairman who believes in this. A chairman who has identified this as almost the only realistic way of competing in the upper echelons of the Premier League. Can it be done? The indications are that it is very possible - we've already proven we can develop players good enough for a middle-to-lower Premier League side (see above) over a period of 5-10 years. We've also already proven that we can produce higher quality Premier League players over the same period. The next step? Producing players of that quality on a regular basis and giving them that opportunity in the top division - assuming we get there. And unlike Lowe, he has the backing to make turn this from a pipedream into a reality.

The next piece of good news is that we already have a manager who believes in this policy, too. That is why, for better or worse, whatever happens next season I hope we back Nigel. He's clearly someone who is going to give our younger players an opportunity if they've deserved it and equally importantly, they're ready for it. He's been nurturing our brightest prospects very well since he's arrived and he's also acutely aware of the rigours of a long, gruelling season and the impact it can have - therefore he knows when to play them and when to hold them back, Lallana and Chamberlain for example.

Beats having a miserable old b4stard sending out a group of unprepared youngsters on a cold, wet night in Mansfield then writing them off as "not good enough". No names mentioned.

Once again though, this is multi-faceted effort. Despite the difficulties and limitations of the period between 05-09, our recruitment drive and quality of players enrolled in the academy appear to have gone undisturbed. As you are all aware, we've produced many players since without the Premier League sized funding we used to enjoy and I'm absolutely sure we'll continue to do so. We've already got a fantastic reputation for developing young players - we just need to add to it and when possible, prove it can be done in the Premier League too.

But I do wonder what we could achieve with that extra slice of the Premier League pie? Can we widen the net further afield? Would we be able to offer more attractive proposals to the brightest young players and their families? Will we still be able to provide them an environment where eventually, if good enough, their son will get the opportunity to play in the first team, in the Premier League? Or will we also succumb to the Premier League status quo and flood our own squad with imported players and Premier League journeymen?

Whatever happens and assuming we do get there, I hope it's the former.

PART 2: TEAM INFRASTRUCTURE

As alluded to above, this is something that is not going to happen overnight. It's also something that has to be applied to throughout all the age groups, from the youngest to the professional team.

I'm positively excited that this is conceivably possible. We've seen it done at a number of teams abroad, notably Ajax and Barcelona and at home, to a lesser extent, Middlesbrough. Aside from Boro though, I cannot think of one club in the past 5 years that has produced as many top level professionals as ourselves. West Ham possibly (Ferdinand, Collison, Noble, Tomkins). Everton might be another (Rodwell, Coleman, Vaughan). Aston Villa, perhaps (Clark, Albrighton, Bannan, Agbonlahor)?

How is it achieved?

Well, the first principle is Premier League quality players. Without that quality, no-one will ever graduate. Once again, this is something that we only have to improve upon with regards to our ratio. We're producing players of sufficient quality but output probably needs to be doubled and the standard needs to more akin to Bale, as opposed to Lloyd James. To achieve that, on a regular basis, will be no mean feat.

Do we have the current infrastructure to attract the best young players in our region or in the UK?

Yes we do - and we're improving upon what we've already classed as Premier League facilities.

As you are all aware, we're developing the training ground and building an environment where players earn their graduation from the youth facilities to the first team's more luxurious surroundings. This is a fantastic idea as we're appealing to the youngsters who truly possess the desire to "make it" and aspire to be everything they can be as footballers. This is, in some respects, modelled on the continent and of course, at Barcelona's own 'La Cantera'.

How many should we expect to graduate from the youth team to the first team?

Barcelona work on the principle that at least 50% of the first team should comprise of graduates from their academy. The rest of the team should be made from 35% of the best players in Spain or Europe and the remaining 15% from the top ten players in the world.

It's fair to say that it's unlikely that we'll be able to attract or afford the final 50% of Barcelona's strategy but there is absolutely no reason that with the right recruitment and development, we can perhaps produce our own players of the highest quality from time-to-time. And with Premier League money on a regular basis, there is also no reason why we cannot compliment our production line with the finest players our status and budget allows. If Wigan can spend in excess of £8m on a player in the top division on their crowds, then we most certainly can - with or without a backer.

Tactics, Team Building and 'The Southampton Way' - is this possible?

Once again, yes. The only reason it hasn't already happened yet is because we haven't actually tried it over here - no-one has.

Ajax and Barcelona's renowned footballing academies teach their young footballers to play in a certain style from a very, very early age. Physicality and brute force are not pre-requisites for a good footballer on the continent and thankfully, the technical side is now starting to bear fruit and be appreciated over here, with the emergence of Jack Wilshere this season.

At these academies, technical ability is everything. The young players don't have to be the strongest nor the tallest, but they do have to be of exceptional ability or at least have the raw attributes. Below are two comments from Arsene Wenger that ring so very true:

At a young age winning is not the most important thing... the important thing is to develop creative and skilled players with good confidence.

Young players need freedom of expression to develop as creative players... they should be encouraged to try skills without fear of failure.

He also said that if a player doesn't have the technical aspect to their game by the time they early teens then they won't develop into a top player. Once again, most likely to be true.

So what do they do different on the continent?

Well, they focus on the technical aspects first and foremost. First touch, control and skills. They have an environment where they are encouraged to develop their skills without, as Arsene says, fear or failure. Winning and tactics, whilst important, isn't introduced until the latter parts of their development stages. For the time being, it's all about shaping the player into the best possible player they can be; maximising their potential before introducing the crux of playing the game.

They also have a dearth of qualified coaches. Holland, who despite only having a population the fifth of ours, continue to develop players of the highest quality at a staggering frequency. We have around 3,000 qualified coaches in the UK in a population of 50m, they have 20,000 in just over 10m.

Another aspect we wish to introduce is 'The Southampton Way'. A brand of football that is coveted and respected. An institution, a benchmark to those who aspire to be like us. But what does this mean?

Once again, in Europe, all age groups will play in a familiar style. The formation and the tactics will be very similar to what they will experience in the first team should they ever get there, so they can fit seamlessly into a model they already know. With that familiarity, the graduate will have confidence in their position and will enable them the best possible opportunity of excelling, having had years of coaching and game time already in that role.

And what of team building?

That is probably something that will occur organically, as the players who do graduate will develop not just a special bond on the pitch, but also off it as well. The end result will be a player that cares just that little bit more. They'll probably have a stronger bond with their teams and coaching staff, as well as succinct connection with the club, the fans and the surrounding area.

Phew.

I seem to remember a few months back we signed up about 6 or 8 new academy players and I think one was from either South America or Portugal. Sounds as though we are looking further afield with this supposed European scout as well.

Sauce?

Sauce?

Alberto Seidi! (not the source, the player)

Alberto Seidi! (not the source, the player)

Signed from an African academy...nice.

Nice idea.

But come on.

This Barca team are probably the best football team ever...

They also regularly attract huge crowds and enormous TV rights.

At a guess, their turnover is 50-100 times that of Saints.

Anyway, back in the real world.....................

Barca have the highest wage bill in europe, that is why their players stick around.

Barca have the highest wage bill in europe, that is why their players stick around.

came in to say this.

I believe anything is possible in this world it's a massive massive call to be the worlds best

,let's get back to the Prem first then we can set other goals .....

Awesome, reading this in a pool in Bali and is the best 2 posts I have read here.

I think we should hide this thread before next season, just so we don't have any extra fuel to our fire of perceived arrogance.

Imagine reading this thread on QPR's board? I'd laugh my t*ts off.

utterly superb and dispatched the second best team in Europe with ease. With our super chairmans vision and the investment we have seen and been promised into our academy with the aim of being that they fill the first team in years to come were we watching tonight a glimpse into what the future holds for SFC??

 

Unrealistic you say? Well yes, maybe to think we would spank the English champions with such ease but what we saw tonight was what can be achieved with players with the right grounding. A fantastic style of football coupled with a team ethic and a real comaradere amougst the squad, they clearly played for each other. Whats to stop us picking up the best young English players, schooling them and coaching them, developing that same team spirit and togetherness and developing what our super chairman has already called "The Southampton Style"? I am certainly starting to buy into the dream.

 

Could we be the English Barcelona? No one else has done it. Why cant we?

No because whatever division we are in due to perceived historical reasons and delusions of grandeur we will never hold onto our best young players when the big clubs come calling. We can emulate the Ajax model of the Mid 90's anything beyond that is just a pipe dream. We like that Ajax team will need a production line of players to replace the ones we lose but as soon as this dries up we will struggle again.

One thing to say if we do aim for Barcelona model and fall short and end up as an Ajax then that would not be a bad place to be and I am sure most of us would be pretty happy about that.

I learned the other day that when Lionel Messi was still a 10 year old kid in some Argentinian slum the progress of this young player was in jeopardy because he was unusually small for his age - the result of a growth hormone problem. Even at that very early stage Barcelona stepped in and payed for the £1k a month cost of treating his condition, and the rest is history as they say.

If our scouting network gets anywhere near to that level of attention to detail I'd be delighted.

Nice idea.

 

But come on.

 

This Barca team are probably the best football team ever...

 

They also regularly attract huge crowds and enormous TV rights.

 

At a guess, their turnover is 50-100 times that of Saints.

Dear god people Turkish is dicking with you, I believe the term for what he has achieved here is a "poe".

Dear god people Turkish is dicking with you, I believe the term for what he has achieved here is a "poe".

That can't be true because sarcasm isn't allowed on the main board. If Turkish was joking, Boj would have infracted him and locked the thread.

I think we should hide this thread before next season, just so we don't have any extra fuel to our fire of perceived arrogance.

 

Imagine reading this thread on QPR's board? I'd laugh my t*ts off.

I think you are confusing arrogance with aspiration? Something which NC and NA have, and in spadefuls!

Crabby! Two great reads.

I agree that it is aspiration. But we have only just got ourselves out of League 1.

People go on as if Barcelona is a team that is just full of academy products throughout. Whilst a lot of the players are, lest we not forget the likes of Alves, Abidal, Mascherano, Villa, Maxwell, Keita and Milito were all signed for fees ranging from £15m to £45m. Whilst producing players through the academy such as Puyol, Xavi, Iniesta, Busquets, Pedro and Messi is no mean feat, it has been augmented with massive amounts of investment that has seen the club ploughed in to all kinds of debt.

Just over ten years ago, Man City were in the third tier of English football. Granted they got massive investment, but now they are FA Cup winners and a top 4 club, with aspirations of winning the League.

If they can do it, so can we. OK, we may not ever have the money that has been ludicrously (imo) been pumped into their team, but with sound investment and the nurturing of the youngsters, I don't see why we can't achieve the same.

People are under predicting our finish next season IMO (and rightly so, it's better to be pleasantly suprised than disappointed). I genuinely think we'll be top 6 material, we can do a Norwich, we just have to believe the players can do it. Early next season will be an indication, but with the transfers we'll undoubtedly make this summer (and hopefully holding on to our key starlets), we'll go far.

Since supporting Saints, I can honestly say I don't think my cup has ever been more than half full, but it is now. Barcelona? HAH! 2013-2014 Champions League, we're coming for you.

Could we be the English Barcelona? No one else has done it. Why cant we?

Because by definition, no one else is better than the best team in the world.

It's akin to opening your second convenience store and saying "I reckon we can be bigger than Tesco".

I agree that it is aspiration. But we have only just got ourselves out of League 1.

Absolutely.......just because we have dispatched the Bristol Rovers, Bournemouth's and Orient's does not mean we are on course to dispatch Real Madrid, Man Utd and Barcelona in the next decade.

I'm sure every club aspires to be Barcelona.....some have quite a head start on us.

Well as long as we don't get riots that have left a lot of people injured when we win the Champs League I guess it'll be OK.

We are clearly better than Barcelona.

The real question is: Is Bart better than Gordon Banks?

It would be great to be a model of Clough's late 70s early 80s Notts Forest side in terms of punching above our weight domestically and in Europe, albeit with home grown players - NA has certainly got the eccentricity and manner! Barcelona mark 2 may not be achievable in the next five or six years but how about the English AJAX, 52000 capacity, 48000 gates and still a great reputation for young players...

We are clearly better than Barcelona.

 

The real question is: Is Bart better than Gordon Banks?

He saves to the left he saves to the right

Bart Biaowkowski makes Gordon look shi*te

I firmly beleieve we can match Barcelona within two years. St Marys can be expanded, and if we can keep Lallana, Oxo and Lambert we can more than match them man for man. The core is there, I reckon we are 3 - 4 players from matching them IMO.

Absolutely.......just because we have dispatched the Bristol Rovers, Bournemouth's and Orient's does not mean we are on course to dispatch Real Madrid, Man Utd and Barcelona in the next decade.

 

I'm sure every club aspires to be Barcelona.....some have quite a head start on us.

From small acorns Beatle, from small acorns.....

From small acorns Beatle, from small acorns.....

Jaidi is a freaking redwood, I'd hardly call him a sapling

my two penneth....

1. How to keep youngsters? - almost impossible as heads are turned by agents that promise greater riches at an earlier age - which appeals to those brought up on the 'want it now' short cut culture in this country... the promise od success today, rather than graft for success tomorrow. One idea is to provide educational support for parents around the issues of agents and the their personal greed philosophy - help convinve parents and kids that the best approac is to avoid agents altogether - go down teh Roy Keane route and encourage them simply to have a good solicitor to help with contracts and then educate them on managing their own image rights/sponsorhip deals - if they are successful enough through excellence in performance, attitude and hard work - sponsors will come to them anyway and their solicitor can deal with the contracts for a fixed fee rather than the greed of a percentage for life. That would maybe help solve one of the problems.... but not all.

2. If we can afford it, we need to hold on to youngsters longer - in terms of NOT releasing them too early - some kids have issues around graft that need working on, attitude and behaviour CAN be changed with education, this will help in attracting the best kids, even a new contract model from 16 - 20 etc that give security and time.

3. At a younger level as already pointed out - its ALL about coaching - and scouting - scouting at kids games often overlooks promising kids who are sat on the sidelines simply because tehy are less developed/smaller than the bigger kids in the same age group - I have seen some systems where games are played betwen kids of similar size, rather than age - There are issues here with teh FA age rules etc, but internally should not be an issue - when the clubs holds summer coaching schools we should encourage kids to enjoy it by assuring them its not goiung to be like the school team - they will get a chance because they are playing with kids of a similar physical size, not the crap way many schools operate... the big kids, the big pitch syndrome does not work if we want kids that are skillful but importantly willing to works on it - and at the younger age that comes through enjoyment - kids dont enjoy being sat on teh sidelines and never getting the ball, or having bigger lads have a go becuase they could not make the pass... Many have said this, but where does it happen?

4. Dont forget, though that the real test of Barca will be when this generation needs replacing - there must be a huge element of luck in having identified such talent and that it has all developed at the same time (not withstanding the excelence of the coaching), one of those moments that may not be repeated... we will see.

5. Patience - as fans we need to be prepared to have tough times, see youngsters leave, etc and stick with it, with the manager and with the chairman if we are even to get close to the Ajax model, let alone the Barca one. It needs fans to see the benefit of LONG TERM potential rather than short term bragging rights or wanting teh odd win over a top five side, but understanding that in the early years its about building, developing and infrastructure, talent ID and development, not trophies or league status - yes we need a prem place to see it work, but as we are seeing now the ground work can be done at any time. - If fans are prepared for the approach, then great, but we cant get on the clubs back, every time we suffer a home defeat to a prem also ran or even pompey - teh plan must be bigger than the fan collective ego. Desserting the terraces (seats) because of bad results, wont keep us on track.

There is one piece of the (I wonder where he found it) Business plan left to come,

 

Our Academy scouts the best players in their age range in "The UK"

 

To become a Barca we need to look further afield. We need to have tie-ups with a network of "Kid Scouting" worldwide.

 

We need to send our best technical players who don't have the pace for English football to other countries and bring THEIR best kids suited to the English Leagues (and eventually Eurpoan Football) to our Academy.

 

When I see him do that, spread our net wider then I will know we could become Barca.

 

But to imagine for one minute that we could find 11 kids in England that could do what Barca do....

 

LMFAO - we've been looking as a NATION since 1966!

This thread is absolutely mental, no wonder people accuse of arrogance! We're in the Championship (old div 2 for those that aren't sure) and people are asking if we can be the best team in the world, with a 90,000+ stadium. You're a bunch of mentalists!

Mind you some of the links about Barca have been really interesting so thanks for them, now please stop giving other clubs ammunition to love at us.

Well as long as we don't get riots that have left a lot of people injured when we win the Champs League I guess it'll be OK.

To be fair there's much more to it than a champions league win, there's been a tahrir square style protest movement going on across spain for the last half a month about corruption in politics there and on friday the police tried to clear the square in barcelona by using massive amounts of police brutality (under the guise of wanting the square available for people to celebrate if barcelona won the football).

There's a hell of a lot of anger in the city at the moment towards the Mosso's (riot police) who have been seen as basically a private army to forward the ideas of Puig. So there most likely would've been flash points over the weekend whatever.

IMHO its time the premier league got a shake up. With the tedious 4(sometimes 5) horse race for the title, its fast becoming like its namesake the scottish premier league. BORING!!!!!!

This thread is absolutely mental, no wonder people accuse of arrogance! We're in the Championship (old div 2 for those that aren't sure) and people are asking if we can be the best team in the world, with a 90,000+ stadium. You're a bunch of mentalists!

 

Mind you some of the links about Barca have been really interesting so thanks for them, now please stop giving other clubs ammunition to love at us.

 

 

 

To be fair there's much more to it than a champions league win, there's been a tahrir square style protest movement going on across spain for the last half a month about corruption in politics there and on friday the police tried to clear the square in barcelona by using massive amounts of police brutality (under the guise of wanting the square available for people to celebrate if barcelona won the football).

There's a hell of a lot of anger in the city at the moment towards the Mosso's (riot police) who have been seen as basically a private army to forward the ideas of Puig. So there most likely would've been flash points over the weekend whatever.

The thread isn't about beating them, it's about us becoming the English Barcelona. We have the best academy in England, why cant we spread out wings and have the best academy in Europe? We have a fantastic chairman with a vision, a wonderful history of developing young players and a promise of investment to create the Southampton style. We are not starting from scratch we are half way there already.

And if we need to demostrate in the square against our corrupt council and Hampshire constabulary to aid our cause then i'll be the first one there waving the flag of Southampton in the faces of the clowns.

This thread is absolutely mental, no wonder people accuse of arrogance! We're in the Championship (old div 2 for those that aren't sure) and people are asking if we can be the best team in the world, with a 90,000+ stadium. You're a bunch of mentalists!

Here fishy, fishy, fish. It's a juicy worm on a shiny hook.

On a separate note, does anyone else think Citeh would have given them a much better game last night. I think they'll win the Prem comfortably next season and also do well in the Champs League.

My nipper has been watched by a couple of local professional teams, not for his first touch or vision but simply because he's a big lad who can get stuck in.

As long as English clubs worry about size over technique we will be left behind.

Utd looked like a 20th century team with an old manager wedded to 442.

Barca looked like a 21st century team with a young manager playing 433.

1. How to keep youngsters?

Simple, force the FA to change it's rules on under age contracts, if, when they sign professional terms, they should have to sign for 5 years. This would stop top clubs poaching them, then sitting them in reserve teams for years.

My nipper has been watched by a couple of local professional teams, not for his first touch or vision but simply because he's a big lad who can get stuck in.

 

As long as English clubs worry about size over technique we will be left behind.

Quite. I was chucked out of a professional team at 17. Their reason? I wasn't "strong or big enough for the professional game". Just about sums up the problem that still exists in this country. Look at Messi, Villa, Xavi and Iniesta! Makes me sick.

Simple, force the FA to change it's rules on under age contracts, if, when they sign professional terms, they should have to sign for 5 years. This would stop top clubs poaching them, then sitting them in reserve teams for years.

That wouldn't get past employment and human rights law.