Are big money moves ruining our youngsters?

Unfulfilled potential is rife amongst the England squad currently and players like Jermaine Defoe, Kieran Dyer, Glen Johnson, Chris Kirkland, and Jermaine Jenas seem to still be dining out on their wonderkid status despite being in their mid 20's. I'm sure there are plenty more examples out there.

Too Much Too Young?

Would these players have benefited, professionally, from staying at a smaller club, on lower wages for a season or two more?

Glynn Hensen: Why am I unable to take a post inwhich you mention kids seriously?

in some cases, definitely. can't generalise as it will depend on the player's personality but there are certainly cases (some of which you mention) where it appears players who've made their big move and just stagnated because they think they've made it. playing week in week out in the prem for a lower level team is surely going to be more beneficial long term for most players than being a backup player at one of the top 4. compare bentley to pennant at the minute. of course there are going to be exceptions, young players who manage to adapt quickly and thrive at a big club (fabregas at arsenal, as an example) - so as i said, it will depend significantly on the individual in question

The only thing that ruined Dyer was injuries, he was a great player at one stage. Jenas would probably ruined by money though, he was a great prospect but strangely he's probably worse now than when he was around 19/20, the boy liked his bling a bit too much. At one stage alot of people thought he was going to be the future England captain.

Glenn Hysén wrote:
Would these players have benefited, professionally, from staying at a smaller club, on lower wages for a season or two more?

Definitely. A general problem in these 'ageist' times. This fetish for young players may be most blatant on the island, but it has started on the continent also. Players get hyped too early, get signed by big clubs too early and often don't fulfill their potential. Then, they are either lucky and establish themselves at a smaller club later (e.g. on a loan), or remain 'prospects' for the rest of their careers.

Football careers are as much about cleverness and character as talent. A lot of talented youngsters lack in the first two areas. Managers play a huge role also, some of them simply are not able 'form' young players, and need to work with established ones.

Avoiding the big 4 clubs completely would be the best bit of advice a youngster could get. It must be more than sheer coincidence that Everton and Man City have vastly superior youth teams compared to there close rivals.

Dwarf wrote:Avoiding the big 4 clubs completely would be the best bit of advice a youngster could get. It must be more than sheer coincidence that Everton and Man City have vastly superior youth teams compared to there close rivals.

They don't really, Pool and Man U have very good youth teams, infact i think they played eachother in the FA Youth cup final last season. 3 of the semi final places were taken by top 4 clubs. The problem is there's not really anywhere for them to go when they reach 19/20 as there's no space in the first team squad for them, so they have to bugger off to a championship club.