"Argentina has an excellent youth team program and they have the best coaches in the world in terms of teaching young players, All the top teams in Argentina identify players when they're still young, bring them into their system, and place them into their regional training centres, from the time the players walk through the door when they're 13, they're looked after as they grow up and work their way into the starting line-up. There used to be a potrero around every corner, but now buildings are going up everywhere and youngsters seem more interested in computers and TV than playing football. I know these are trends that are happening in other countries, but football is so important here. It's part of our social fabric."
Hugo Tocalli, Argentina Youth Coach
“We are probably governed too much by size at the moment, by projecting how big youngsters will be when they stop growing, there was a forum at Hampden recentley and we didn't believe players such as Xavi and Iniesta would have flourished in the Scottish system. Our game is based more on power and pace so there’s an argument that they wouldn’t have come through in this country to become the players they are now. The Spanish have a different culture and another way of thinking about football, which places the emphasis on sheer technique and movement."
Billy Stark, Scotland Youth Coach
Scotland and Argentina.
I think it's easy to establish why Scotland is not one of the world's top footballing nations. Argentina may have a bigger population, they may have a shining history, they may have produced players such as Diego Maradona and, more recently, Carlos Tevez. There is a major difference; we are all talk in this country, we can discuss on forums and messageboards how to improve Scottish Football, but at the end of the day, our men at the top won't change a single thing. The Argentinian FA and their clubs have accepted they are not full of money in their league, but they have found a way to solve that problem - and that is developing Youth Football.
The mentality of the Scottish and Argentines is very different, our national game in Scotland is dying and we still persist with negative, tactically-naive managers who persist with average players with "experience" and a "strong work ethic". In the past, even ourselves and Celtic have been guilty of this. Why do players such as Martin Canning, Darren Dods & Craig Dargo still regularly feature in Scotland's top league? Thats the problem. If I'm being perfectly honest, I would rather give two or three 17 or 18 year-old players a contract. It's great to see youngsters like Paul Hanlon, David Weatherspoon, Craig Thomson and Ross Forbes cementing a place in their respective teams, it's refreshing to see some new talent, players who can actually pass a ball and do the basics. For most clubs, wages are being wasted, potential is not being realised. Deadwood like Canning and Dods still get plaudits from their manager if they cut someone in half, but 17 year-olds like John Fleck get criticism for not performing consistently, while playing out of position?
Let's look at Argentina: Carlos Tevez made his professional debut with Boca Juniors at 17 years old, he continued at La Bombonera until he was 21 and made 76 appearances for Argentina's top club. Sergio Aguero, now at Atletico Madrid, made his debut for Independiente at 15, and left three years later after making 54 appearances, scoring 23 goals. You might think they are top class footballers (and they are) but I'll take an average Argentinian footballer and a Colombian. Roman Martinez, a defender now with Espanyol, made his debut at 17 and until he was 21, he made 64 appearances with Deportivo Moron. James Rodriguez, currently at Banfield, made his debut at 15 and now at 18, he is a first team regular.
Do we just say it is the demanding nature of the Scottish supporters? Surely Argentinian fans are more demanding? Are they told to accept that's the strategy?
Is it the managers and coaches?
Is it the training methods?
Similarities and differences.
There are many comparisons that could be made between domestic football in Scotland and in Argentina. You might dismiss the comparision, but bear with me for a minute. Mainly, there is a huge lack of investment in both countries, it's only recently that Argentina have signed a controversial lucrative TV deal with the government after TyC Sports were unable to pay their installments. The clubs believe it's a great deal, but only people in Buenos Aires can access the games for free, you must have cable to get it anywhere else. Also, the main installments will be going toward clearing debts and I believe the Argentinian government are keeping some of the money. In Scotland, we've had the collapse of Setanta and the pretty dire TV deal with Sky Sports and ESPN. So there's a valid comparison there.
This lack of domestic investment links to another comparison. In both countries, the better players at clubs are sold to finance the day-to-day running of the club. Huracan, who finished 2nd, sold the spine of their team which had gained many plaudits. Javier Pastore went to Palermo, Matias De Federico went to Corinthians and Federico Nieto left. Very similar to Scotland. I'll use Hibs as an example; Whittaker, O'Connor, Brown & Thomson are just a few of the names who have moved on to bigger clubs.
In 2004, a joint-effort between the AFA and FIFA allowed 10,000 youngsters in Buenos Aires poorest neighbourhood access to state-of the art football facilities funded by the GOAL Project. These children will receive regular coaching and seasonal programmes will be made available. Belgrano AC, a very small Argentinian club, have now got training and youth facilities that consist of three indoor pitches and six other pitches. Now, in Scotland, children haven't got that opportunity of people 'wanting' them to play football. How many signs do you see saying "No Ball Games" on grass areas? Gates to local school pitches are chained up during the summer, and from my own experience, my school takes away the goalposts and removes the white lines. My generation is criticised for having computers etc, etc, but in some cases children have literally nowhere to play. If you play in the streets, people will tell you to go away. If you were to compare the Youth Facilities of Rangers and Celtic and Boca and River, then Hearts with Banfield and then Hamilton against Tigre. I'm sure you could notice the difference.
A European Comparison.
Maybe my comparisons to Argentina were unfair, and some will ignore their great record at senior and youth level and concentrate on present struggles. Austria is a country with a population of around 8 million, so they aren't far off the population of Scotland. Over the years, the Austrians haven't been at forefront of any major continental competion and this, along with the successful hosting of Euro 2008, has encouraged major change. The national side now contains a lot more younger blood, average old players are a thing of the past and their current manager Dietmar Constantini has given the responsiblity to the promising younger players, such as David Alaba (17), Aleksandr Dragovic (18) & Daniel Biechler (22). In 2006, the Austrian FA realised that the 'older' generation of players was getting them nowhere, and a target was set for 2008 so they could re-install some hope to their national team. It's not just the national team, the Austrian clubs are now beginning to see improvements in the standard of their football: a few weeks back, we saw Rapid Vienna play some neat football against the second-best team in Scotland.
In the 2009/10 UEFA co-efficients, Austrian club performance ensures they are currently 3rd in the list of top rated European countries, falling behind only England and Spain. Scotland is 30th behind Latvia and Belarus.
With the investment into youth facilities, Sturm Graz, Rapid Vienna & Austria Vienna are now at the front-line of producing the future footballers for Austria. With an academy, Sturm Graz have produced Biechler, Jantscher and Holzl, who are now seen as Austrian hot-properties. Every domestic Austrian football club has youth teams from U7s to U19s and B teams. The B teams of Austria Vienna and Red Bull Salzburg play in the 2nd highest league in Austrian Football. Veli Kavlak and Christopher Drazan of Rapid Vienna were introduced to first-team football at the ages of 16 and 17 - they are now first-team regulars there. Both made impressive debuts and were encouraged by their manager and coaches. In comparison with Salzburg and Austria, Rapid's B team play in the 3rd division but have a deal with Lustenau, in the 2nd division, to loan their young players there.
Very recently, the Italians have dipped into the Austrian market. AS Roma are sniffing around Rubin Okotie of Austria Vienna. Okotie, 22 is now a regular in their first-team. Marko Arnautovic, 20, recently joined Inter Milan for £9m from FC Twente in Holland. Erwin Hoffer is now playing his football for Napoli and is competing with Lavezzi and Quagliarella for a place in their starting line up.
The strategy of the Austrian FA - to develop the young players early, and focus on blooding them into their national teams and different age groups - will have its rewards and I expect the Austrians to challenge in future qualification as the Bosnians and Serbians have done this campaign.
The emergence of Bosnia and Serbia on the International stage has proven that football in smaller countries has potential, if they accept the problems and try to resolve them. Partizan Belgrade constantly produce talented young players, they basically feed their national team! Adem Ljajic, Zoran Tosic, Marko Jovanovic, Ljubomir Fejsa & Ivan Obradovic. Red Star Belgrade over the years have produced Dejan Stankovic, Nenad Milijas & Marko Pantelic.
Rangers, Scotland and the way ahead.
“The biggest concern for a guy in my position is our youngsters’ general lack of physical activity,” Wilson said. “I see it every day, and it is the same across Scotland. We simply don’t have kids in society now who do as much physical activity as we once did. We live in the computer age, and you can see it in our young kids’ conditioning. Those of us who are involved in youth development have a lot of hard work on our hands.”
Tommy Wilson, Rangers Youth Coach
In answer to Tommy Wilson's comments; I think he is right when he says there is not enough physical activity. Pupils at school here in Scotland, are allowed to opt-out of physical activity. In Austria, pupils at school of all years, are required to take part in four hours of physical activity every week. This can range from Football to Volleyball to Athletics. From 9th to 12th grade in Austria, the students are allowed to choose which activity they would like to participate in - it's more a game than coaching, as the coaching is done from 5th to 8th grade. Vienna has 259 football teams in total and 511 youth teams which would work out at nearly 10,000 youth players that can be developed. Clearly, political will is necessary.
From my own experience again, the red-ash pitches have a significant impact on the enjoyment of football for young people. They are literally a waste of space, the sooner the Councils dig up these surfaces and replace them with grass or astro-grass then the better. I watch school football and see young kids will cuts and bruises after falling on this surface, who are probably itching to get off and never play again. Recent developments such as the facility at Toryglen cannot be the exception: they must become the rule.
Youth Football in Scotland has its problems: it won't take 2 weeks, or 2 months, or a year to produce the next batch of highly-rated stars. It could take four years, it could take up to a decade but we must make the changes sooner rather than later.
It is too easy for the SFA to fall back on tired excuses for a lack of direction and progression in our national game. It reeks of a lack of imagination and effort from the games governing bodies. You can draw parrallels between Argentina, Austria and Scotland (and many others) in terms of the issues these countries face. Yet rather than hide behind thes issues as an excuse for inactivity, in Argentina and Austria they have sought to overcome these problems. Whilst some may point out that Argentina traditionally have a greater pool of natural talent from which to select their future stars, other smaller nations with no great history in the sport such as Bosnia, Serbia and Austria have shown this to be no barrier to producing young talent in the present climate. We need to start taking action and stop making excuses.