Matthijs de Ligt

[soul24rage]

I’m going to pose a very simple question that people here regularly fail to answer: How is the French development system so successful if Ligue 1 is so bad? How are their players becoming so good, so regularly, if the football they’re playing is so poor? Why aren’t English academics similarly successful in terms of talent development if the level of their football is so much higher?

The logic doesn’t add up.

I think the answer to your questions is the pressure of needing to get results. The price of falling behind (such as not getting top 4 or surviving relegation) is so big that many clubs ditch the incentive to develop players so they rather get players who have a lot of experience and can give quick solutions to their problems. Plus English clubs have a lot of money so they would rather buy players than develop them.

I'm not sure about how big the pressure to get instant result is in Ligue 1 but I watch a lot of English football and I can tell you there are few English clubs that would develop players over getting results.

 

[Gaudi]

Croatia’s talent development isn’t anywhere close to France’s. Your argument falls flat there.

Croatia as a nation isn't anywhere near France by population or anything else, and if you add former colonies to that argument stands. You can't look at it from apsolut perpsective but relative one.

 

[messi2140]

Brazil and Netherlands are prime examples of weak leagues that produce great players that go on to achieve great things.

 

[Jair Ventura]

Brazil and Netherlands are prime examples of weak leagues that produce great players that go on to achieve great things.

Our league isn’t weak. The Netherlands doesn’t produce half of France’s talent, nor do their talents regularly reach the level of France’s best players.

 

[Zidane82]

Playing in a tougher competition doesn't make you a better player. That isn't how football works.

That said I watched most of Monaco v Nice the other night and was shocked at the poor standard of play !! It's

I've seen better Division 2 games ( the old 4th division ! )

 

[messi2140]

Moving goalposts are we ?

 

[Jair Ventura]

I think the answer to your questions is the pressure of needing to get results. The price of falling behind (such as not getting top 4 or surviving relegation) is so big that many clubs ditch the incentive to develop players so they rather get players who have a lot of experience and can give quick solutions to their problems. Plus English clubs have a lot of money so they would rather buy players than develop them.

I'm not sure about how big the pressure to get instant result is in Ligue 1 but I watch a lot of English football and I can tell you there are few English clubs that would develop players over getting results.

Lyon, Monaco, and PSG are pressed for results but they have three of the strongest academies in Europe...

 

[Zidane82]

Croatia’s talent development isn’t anywhere close to France’s. Your argument falls flat there.

Mmmmmm

 

[Jair Ventura]

That said I watched most of Monaco v Nice the other night and was shocked at the poor standard of play !! It's

I've seen better Division 2 games ( the old 4th division ! )

There was more talent on the pitch in that matchup than can be found in any Spanish match up that doesn’t involve Barca or one of the Madrid’s.

 

[soul24rage]

Lyon, Monaco, and PSG are pressed for results but they have three of the strongest academies in Europe...

Pressed for results as much as the likes of Man Utd, Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Man City and Tottenham? Those 6 English clubs have more fanbase globally and I bet it's more humiliating for them and for the fanbase to fall out of the top 4 than it would be for the likes of Lyon or Monaco. You got fierce rivarly between the north west clubs and the London clubs and those fanbase want results no matter what, so those English clubs have more pressure to deliver. Not to mention the sponsors that pay big bucks to the clubs so that they can make it to the top 4.

Of course there is pressure to deliver in France, but I doubt it is more than that of England's.

 

[Joan]

Playing against farmers often makes one's skills look better than they are.

 

[Jair Ventura]

Pressed for results as much as the likes of Man Utd, Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Man City and Tottenham? Those 6 English clubs have more fanbase globally and I bet it's more humiliating for them and for the fanbase to fall out of the top 4 than it would be for the likes of Lyon or Monaco. You got fierce rivarly between the north west clubs and the London clubs and those fanbase want results no matter what, so those English clubs have more pressure to deliver. Not to mention the sponsors that pay big bucks to the clubs so that they can make it to the top 4.

Of course there is pressure to deliver in France, but I doubt it is more than that of England's.

Are Italian clubs not pressed for results as well? They have similar fervency around their rivalries to England, but their academies are poor. And they’re a neighbor of France...

 

[soul24rage]

Are Italian clubs not pressed for results as well? They have similar fervency around their rivalries to England, but their academies are poor. And they’re a neighbor of France...

I don't watch Serie A much or their situation so I can't help you there.

 

[Jair Ventura]

I don't watch Serie A much or their situation so I can't help you there.

Maybe not, but you can follow basic logic:

If Ligue 1 is so bad(compared to Serie A), why are it’s players so much stronger than the players developed in Italy?

 

[soul24rage]

Maybe not, but you can follow basic logic:

If Ligue 1 is so bad(compared to Serie A), why are it’s players so much stronger than the players developed in Italy?

I know that they don't have a lot of money and do some third party deals. I'm guessing the following factors: bad economy in Italy leading to lack of money and low attendance (which leads to not able to afford/don't have good coaches), bad higher management, corruption, they just don't care about developing players or pressed for results. Again, I'm just speculating.

I don't think Ligue 1 is bad and I do think that it has a higher potential to be a stronger league in the future than Serie A with the new TV deal (or maybe it already is, idk). But as of right now, if a player wants to develop further as a player and challenge themselves, then either La Liga or the Premier league is a better league than in Ligue 1 (although I think Ligue 1 is a great league to develop in the beginning of your career).