FC Barcelona starts 11 Homegrown Players

Last weekend, all eleven starters against Levante were homegrown players.

http://www.fcbarcelona.es/futbol/primer-equipo/detalle/noticia/una-alineacion-de-135-temporadas-en-la-casa

Impressive or not?

In English….

http://www.fcbarcelona.com/football/first-team/detail/article/la-masias-xi-send-shockwaves-around-the-globe

way to go. This is impressive. A way forward to compete with the big money titans of soccer

and this is also why Barca is so impressive

omega striker wrote:and this is also why Barca is so impressive

Barca definitely represents the gold standard globally on player development.

However, it is alot easier to achieve the desired result when you have excellent raw material to work with.

We have access to more raw material than they do. They do a better job of selecting and developing than we do

go99 wrote:We have access to more raw material than they do. They do a better job of selecting and developing than we do

Guess it depends on what you consider 'raw material'.

Yes, we have more players. But they have more technically and tactically sound players than we do...in a very confined area.

In addition, they have a cultural advantage. They live and breathe the game. By and large, we don't.

yes but nobody is born technically and tactically sound. They are taught that way. They also push the Barca way regardless of results at a young age. Not everyone can get into the Barca academy and they make a choice to start with a better potential product than we do. So they don't have more techincally sound players than we do they make more

go99 wrote:way to go. This is impressive. A way forward to compete with the big money titans of soccer

It's impressive and its a way to get players without spending a zillion in transfer fees, however its farcical to pretend that Barca is anything but a big money titan of soccer. $220M a year in salaries. If they weren't a big $ team, they would be Ajax.

go99 wrote:yes but nobody is born technically and tactically sound. They are taught that way. They also push the Barca way regardless of results at a young age. Not everyone can get into the Barca academy and they make a choice to start with a better potential product than we do. So they don't have more techincally sound players than we do they make more

I read an article recently about Ajax and how they pick their academy players from a pool of young kids they have come in for tryouts. They don't care who scores or dominates in the scrimmages they set up, but look for the players that move properly in terms of balance and fluidity. They look for kids that "look the part" if you will of a smooth player with touch. They don't care at that age who can dribble, score etc. They are looking for the raw materials to work with.


I think we are headed in the right direction in NTX with all the residency programs popping up becuase i think the major factor is our kids don't train or play enough. I know the residency kids at IAD train about four to five days a week and that is a good start. If you have a few with the raw materials, see where they are in a few years. I think you do risk burning some of the kids out, but that is a risk you run when looking for a world class player. You put them in the heavy training and in few years a large percentage will burn out, but maybe one someday will come out the other end as a top world class player.

However, having said all that, World Class is a very small group.

the problem with all of the residency programs is that if you start with the wrong kids you still fail in the end. The selection process for IAD, texans is do you have a fat enough wallet. The selection process for FCD seems to be can you dominate the field "now" or do you have the right connections. Barca is a big money titan but filling their team without huge transfer fee's allows them to go after 1 or 2 big name stars (Neymar) and have the money to do so. So if I take FCD and say if you did even close to as good a job of producing talent that Barca did you would be dominating the MLS. Barca doesn't have magic soccer dust. The drinking water in Barcelona isn't special, and Catelonian kids aren't born with special soccer genes.

go99 wrote:yes but nobody is born technically and tactically sound. They are taught that way. They also push the Barca way regardless of results at a young age. Not everyone can get into the Barca academy and they make a choice to start with a better potential product than we do. So they don't have more techincally sound players than we do they make more

I agree with you. But, their culture lends itself to passion for technique and possession. Because all their players see it and attempt to emulate it. (The culture thing.)

So, in that sense they can select and develop the best players that already exist.

In other words, they get to select from a more qualitative pool of players that already have an idea (due to culture and upbringing)of what quality football should look like.

I believe Espanyol (another catalonian club) is also known for developing quality players. Just not on the same scale as Barca.

go99 wrote:the problem with all of the residency programs is that if you start with the wrong kids you still fail in the end. The selection process for IAD, texans is do you have a fat enough wallet. The selection process for FCD seems to be can you dominate the field "now" or do you have the right connections. Barca is a big money titan but filling their team without huge transfer fee's allows them to go after 1 or 2 big name stars (Neymar) and have the money to do so. So if I take FCD and say if you did even close to as good a job of producing talent that Barca did you would be dominating the MLS. Barca doesn't have magic soccer dust. The drinking water in Barcelona isn't special, and Catelonian kids aren't born with special soccer genes.

I agree but I think the residency programs are a good start simply because they will give the kids the "time on the ball" that is needed at the younger ages. If one of these kids has the right set of natural gifts, you never know what could happen.

I don't think we will ever get to a system where we have free training academies like in Europe. There has to be a way to pay for the training and the coaches. If they do not sell players, they have to charge for the training.

Another article from The Guardian from the UK, titled…

La Masia Dream Team: Barcelona field an all-homegrown side for the first time... but how do the English teams compare?

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2238539/Barcelona-field-La-Masia-team-time-La-Liga-game--does-Premier-League-compare.html#ixzz2DWqKDzdb

It's interesting to note that many of these eleven started in the academy program at age 10. Like the Ajax program, they are identifying them young while they can still have their technique molded correctly.

The fact the first team and all the lower division/age feeder teams all play the same formation and style makes the difference.

Anyone with much more local insight; can you tell us the FC Dallas pro formation, Vis-à-vis the FCD U18 Academy formation?

PG-Boy wrote:Another article from The Guardian from the UK, titled…

La Masia Dream Team: Barcelona field an all-homegrown side for the first time... but how do the English teams compare?

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2238539/Barcelona-field-La-Masia-team-time-La-Liga-game--does-Premier-League-compare.html#ixzz2DWqKDzdb

It's interesting to note that many of these eleven started in the academy program at age 10. Like the Ajax program, they are identifying them young while they can still have their technique molded correctly.

The fact the first team and all the lower division/age feeder teams all play the same formation and style makes the difference.

Anyone with much more local insight; can you tell us the FC Dallas pro formation, Vis-à-vis the FCD U18 Academy formation?

I believe that FC Dallas Pro Formation is 4-4-1-1 and I am not sure about the U18 formation.

Sprint wrote:

go99 wrote:the problem with all of the residency programs is that if you start with the wrong kids you still fail in the end. The selection process for IAD, texans is do you have a fat enough wallet. The selection process for FCD seems to be can you dominate the field "now" or do you have the right connections. Barca is a big money titan but filling their team without huge transfer fee's allows them to go after 1 or 2 big name stars (Neymar) and have the money to do so. So if I take FCD and say if you did even close to as good a job of producing talent that Barca did you would be dominating the MLS. Barca doesn't have magic soccer dust. The drinking water in Barcelona isn't special, and Catelonian kids aren't born with special soccer genes.

I agree but I think the residency programs are a good start simply because they will give the kids the "time on the ball" that is needed at the younger ages. If one of these kids has the right set of natural gifts, you never know what could happen.

I don't think we will ever get to a system where we have free training academies like in Europe. There has to be a way to pay for the training and the coaches. If they do not sell players, they have to charge for the training.

I understand that, so whats FCD's excuse?

krowdkontrol wrote:

PG-Boy wrote:Another article from The Guardian from the UK, titled…

La Masia Dream Team: Barcelona field an all-homegrown side for the first time... but how do the English teams compare?

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2238539/Barcelona-field-La-Masia-team-time-La-Liga-game--does-Premier-League-compare.html#ixzz2DWqKDzdb

It's interesting to note that many of these eleven started in the academy program at age 10. Like the Ajax program, they are identifying them young while they can still have their technique molded correctly.

The fact the first team and all the lower division/age feeder teams all play the same formation and style makes the difference.

Anyone with much more local insight; can you tell us the FC Dallas pro formation, Vis-à-vis the FCD U18 Academy formation?

I believe that FC Dallas Pro Formation is 4-4-1-1 and I am not sure about the U18 formation.

Not 4-4-1-1 the first team plays nothing like the academy team. I would actually rather watch the academy team rather than the garbage the first team puts out

go99 wrote:

krowdkontrol wrote:

PG-Boy wrote:Another article from The Guardian from the UK, titled…

La Masia Dream Team: Barcelona field an all-homegrown side for the first time... but how do the English teams compare?

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2238539/Barcelona-field-La-Masia-team-time-La-Liga-game--does-Premier-League-compare.html#ixzz2DWqKDzdb

It's interesting to note that many of these eleven started in the academy program at age 10. Like the Ajax program, they are identifying them young while they can still have their technique molded correctly.

The fact the first team and all the lower division/age feeder teams all play the same formation and style makes the difference.

Anyone with much more local insight; can you tell us the FC Dallas pro formation, Vis-à-vis the FCD U18 Academy formation?

I believe that FC Dallas Pro Formation is 4-4-1-1 and I am not sure about the U18 formation.

Not 4-4-1-1 the first team plays nothing like the academy team. I would actually rather watch the academy team rather than the garbage the first team puts out

After looking it up on google. FC Dallas 1st team uses a 4-1-4-1 formation and the 4-4-1-1 I stated earlier.

oh sorry I was saying the academy team does not play it. I believe you are correct on the pro team though

go99 wrote:

krowdkontrol wrote:

PG-Boy wrote:Another article from The Guardian from the UK, titled…

La Masia Dream Team: Barcelona field an all-homegrown side for the first time... but how do the English teams compare?

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2238539/Barcelona-field-La-Masia-team-time-La-Liga-game--does-Premier-League-compare.html#ixzz2DWqKDzdb

It's interesting to note that many of these eleven started in the academy program at age 10. Like the Ajax program, they are identifying them young while they can still have their technique molded correctly.

The fact the first team and all the lower division/age feeder teams all play the same formation and style makes the difference.

Anyone with much more local insight; can you tell us the FC Dallas pro formation, Vis-à-vis the FCD U18 Academy formation?

I believe that FC Dallas Pro Formation is 4-4-1-1 and I am not sure about the U18 formation.

Not 4-4-1-1 the first team plays nothing like the academy team. I would actually rather watch the academy team rather than the garbage the first team puts out

I agree with you there GO. Watching the U-18 team is more entertaining that watching the first team. I wonder do they ever let them play against each other. This could be used as a tool to see how they stack up to the first team.

I would love to see the u18 academy team play the pro team

So what if they are "homegrown" or not? Putting the best team you can get on the field is the name of the game for any pro sport. Doesn't make any difference where they were trained if you got them to play for you.

money is the difference. Homegrown you don't have to pay the huge transfer fee's. So to put it in terms you can understand. Messi was a free pick up for Barcelona because he was homegrown. Barcelona is looking at picking up Neymar for $45 million plus in transfer fees. See the difference now?

Based on what I have seen of Neymar, I have serious doubts that he would fit in well with Barca's system.

loks like it may not matter. Real seems to have swooped in with a better deal. I think he fits better with barca than real. He likes to play off the left and drop in to pick the ball up with combination passing. It's essentially the same thin messi is doing off the right. Where do you put him on real? Ronaldo is on the left in the space neymar likes to occupy. But either way which would you rather be. The club that developed him and just put him on the field or the club that pays $45 mil to put him on the field?

go99 wrote:loks like it may not matter. Real seems to have swooped in with a better deal. I think he fits better with barca than real. He likes to play off the left and drop in to pick the ball up with combination passing. It's essentially the same thin messi is doing off the right. Where do you put him on real? Ronaldo is on the left in the space neymar likes to occupy. But either way which would you rather be. The club that developed him and just put him on the field or the club that pays $45 mil to put him on the field?

Neymar's slashing and dribbing style seems to fit more for Real than Barcelona, but either would be a great place for him. I think he would do better in La Liga than the EPL. He would get worked over by the EPL teams.

I don't think the money matters much in terms of who developed him or who bought him. Santos will make 45 million of the transfer fees and Real will make 100 million off of ticket sales and jersey sales over the next five years with him in the team. At the end of the day, I would imagine the team that holds him in his prime would make the most money off of him.