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canarydan23

Webber's attention to detail

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I spoke to a bloke who works at the Academy, and has done for years, at the weekend. I won't say who in case he was revealing stuff he should have kept quiet, but he said it in earshot of several people, so I figured it can be publicly disclosed.

He said that one of the first things Webber did with regards to the Academy when he stepped in was to instruct all teams to start playing with two strikers. The majority of them had been playing with one, either to replicate the first team or because it is generally the done thing these days. However, Webber's thinking was that strikers come with a greater premium, so the more strikers we give development opportunities to, the greater the prospect of us creating a valuable asset to sell.

The same bloke also said that for two or three years when he was a pre-teen, Todd Cantwell would cry his eyes out whenever the team he was on lost or went a goal or two behind as he absolutely detested losing or even the prospect of losing.

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2 minutes ago, canarydan23 said:

I spoke to a bloke who works at the Academy, and has done for years, at the weekend. I won't say who in case he was revealing stuff he should have kept quiet, but he said it in earshot of several people, so I figured it can be publicly disclosed.

He said that one of the first things Webber did with regards to the Academy when he stepped in was to instruct all teams to start playing with two strikers. The majority of them had been playing with one, either to replicate the first team or because it is generally the done thing these days. However, Webber's thinking was that strikers come with a greater premium, so the more strikers we give development opportunities to, the greater the prospect of us creating a valuable asset to sell.

The same bloke also said that for two or three years when he was a pre-teen, Todd Cantwell would cry his eyes out whenever the team he was on lost or went a goal or two behind as he absolutely detested losing or even the prospect of losing.

Hope he gets his new contract then!

The other stuff is interesting. You'd have thought they'd have trained the same way as the first team currently does, with primarily one striker.

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I think Webber talked about the two strikers thing in an interview I heard with him. I had certainly heard it before somewhere. 

Whether or not it’s a good thing is debatable. Guess it depends on what you want the club’s academy to be - a development ground for future Norwich players or a production line of young players the club can sell to supplement their income. 

The best academies in football will set a style which matches the first teams and then trains players in that style from the moment they enter the academy. This is what Barcelona and Ajax do (as well as many others). It means that the club has to commit to a style of course. 

Chelsea on the flip side will bring in young players and then try to flip them for profits to help them spend more on the first team. 

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8 minutes ago, Bethnal Yellow and Green said:

It means that the club has to commit to a style of course. 

You would have thought that now would be the ideal time for us to do that, with Farke-ball being implemented, but I guess in the current footballing environment, to quote 1990s philosopher Meja, "It's all 'Bout the Money", and the prospect of creating valuable, sellable assets trumps developing players who will slide seamlessly into the first team environment.

As Barcelona and Ajax are number one in their respective leagues, I guess they can afford to have a different outlook.

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22 minutes ago, Bethnal Yellow and Green said:

I think Webber talked about the two strikers thing in an interview I heard with him. I had certainly heard it before somewhere. 

I think it's in the MFW interview with Connor Southwell. I've definitely heard him say it as well.

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Realistically we make real money on academy players after they break into the City first team.  Our young stars who played regularly last season are likely to move on to bigger clubs at some stage, if they do well next season.  This is not because we want them to, but simply because if they're good enough for a big 6 Prem team to be interested, that's going to be hard to resist eventually.  Ditto with the Murphys looking back (obviously at that point, a sale to any Prem team was a big step up).  From our FA youth cup-winning team, did we make serious money on anyone who didn't get into our first team ?

 

Academy players who don't get into our first team are rarely going to be big moneyspinners for us, although if we sustain a period in the Prem, thus making it harder for them to get into the first team, we might find we can get a modest return on some of them.

 

So there's no contradiction between wanting players who can make it into our first team, and wanting young players who will be in demand from other clubs.  A player will normally tick both boxes or neither.

 

As for playing two strikers, the reality is that strikers are always the most in demand of any position and therefore it is good sense to play a formation with 2 strikers at academy level.  Looking at our fundamental playing style under Farke, I'd say it's not about playing 1 or 2 strikers, more about a possession-based approach to controlling the game.  I see no reason why that can't be used in the academy in a formation with 2 strikers.

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The Ajax/ Barcelona thing about playing the same system from age 7 upwards is a bit misleading. Both clubs ostensibly play a 4-3-3, but that is very fluid depending on game situations.....and that is where their secret lies  , the players are very versatile and capable at realising in real time, uninstructed from the sidelines, when and in what way to alter the setup. I am not comparing us to them but last season we were a class above our opposition most days, as were Barca and the 'Godensonden'. We play with ever increasing quality as the players we have improve under Farke and I'm very much enjoying, not just our current success, but our progress in style. I only hope that if we struggle in the top flight next season, the Club maintains faith in the current direction of aspiring to achieve footballing excellence.

Thats what Ajax and Barcelona do.

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Not sure about this 'two strikers' guff.

Does that mean Pukki has to be the furthest forward player at all times...though interchangable with one other defined player ?

Do the rest of the team have to observe this set up and ensure all goals (where possible) are scored through this process ?

The reality is football is far more fluid than this 'static'  each man to his place stuff.

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