Park Life

Prefer Tony Tench tbh.

The free markets unchecked ( in this case the PL and all the tv money) will destroy anyting they colonise, unless there is a counter balancing infrastructure of rules and ideas. This is pretty much what has happenned, the rush for CL money has practically completely ruled out bringing through native English players, infact it was only when the germans had the tv money crisis that they started ditching their foreign contingent for cheaper home grown.

We didn't even pay much attention to the Dutch academy system at Ajax when it and other Dutch clubs turned out quality players all more or less playing the same system at club level and international level.... And that was way back in the 80's. We paid no attention the French academy that turned out 20 odd internationls once set up in 1988 and produced the generation a decade or so later that won one world cup and appeared in another final. And now the Germans have gone and implemented it. I knew they had been really working the youth system here for the last few years, but never realised it was Howard Wilkinsons report!!!! It's either the big English clubs want to continue to cherry pick with international scouting systems, spoilt by TV money as they are or the FA are clueless, it's a bit of both really. 364 foreign players in the PL would have gone unnoticed if we'd have got to the quarters again I guess.

How Germany reinvented itself In 1997, German football was on top of the world. Borussia Dortmund and Schalke 04, the two powerhouses from the Ruhr area, had won the Champions League and UEFA Cup, respectively. A year earlier, Berti Vogts' Germany had triumphed in the Euro 1996 final against the Czechs. Below the radar, however, something strange and disconcerting was happening: Germany was running out of decent players. The influx from GDR-trained professionals that was supposed to make "Germany unbeatable for years to come" (according to Franz Beckenbauer after winning the World Cup in 1990) had dried up along with the funding for the specialized sports schools where they had been drilled from a very young age. In the Bundesliga, newly rich clubs awash with TV money had gone on a spending spree, doubling the number of foreigners from 17 percent (1992) to 34 percent (1997) in five years. Desperate for strikers in particular, national manager Vogts ensured that South-African born Sean Dundee, a Karlsruher FC player without any German background, was fast-tracked for German citizenship. Dundee received his passport in January 1997 but never played for Germany after picking up an injury before his first scheduled game, a friendly against Israel, and losing his form soon after. Vogts' successor, Erich Ribbeck, equally desperate, approached another Bundesliga import, Brazilian forward Paulo Rink (Leverkusen). Rink, it turned out, had German grandparents and was quickly introduced to the national team. He picked up 13 caps from 1998 to 2000. The cases of Rink and Dundee, both unprecedented in German football since the war, demonstrated that something was very wrong. The disappointing quarterfinal exit against Croatia at the 1998 World Cup then made it plain to see: not enough talent was coming through. In the Bundesliga, the percentage of foreigners had risen again, to 50 percent by the time the season kicked off in 2000. The German FA realized that something had to be done. It looked at the French system and decided that something similar was needed. In May 1999, FA vice president Beckenbauer, first-team manager Ribbeck, Bayer Leverkusen general manager Reiner Calmund and FA Director of Youth Development Dietrich Weise presented a new concept for producing young German footballers. All across the country, 121 national talent centers would be built to help 10- to 17-year-olds with technical practice. Each center would employ two full-time coaches at a cost of $15.6 million over five years. The second key point was a new requirement for all 36 professional clubs in Bundesliga and Bundesliga 2 to build youth academies. Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/socc...l#ixzz0sdiZmNaM

It's hell watching games here with the Germans in this kind of form.

Mr Lurve, as they kept calling him at the pre-match press conference, promises a "cut-throat fight" when Germany face Argentina in Cape Town. Here, in a combustible World Cup quarter-final, is the perfect test of the new German identity. Still strong in spirit, but now thrilling to the eye, the Nationalmannschaft want to be the most entertaining side in South Africa. Joachim Löw's employers are not declining any compliments. "It was very encouraging to see that victory against England in Bloemfontein was not necessarily due to the old 'German' virtues of running, fighting and grinding out a result," Wolfgang Niersbach, the DFB's general secretary, says, "but rather to a superiority of skills that, thankfully, even many England fans were ready to acknowledge." This response to the Guardian's questions about Germany's stylistic transformation under first Jürgen Klinsmann and now Löw conveys the bright new mood of England's nemesis. There might seem a predictability about the urge to laud the German system as Löw's men prepare to confront Diego Maradona's Argentina but the Bundesliga's output of young talent shames the Football Association and the Premier League. "Ranking and results are not the only criteria. We have to look at our style, our play, our intentions," Löw says. "We thought about what football we wanted to display, what philosophy we wanted to follow, and how we'd implement that. We had an emotional match against England and after the 4-1 win we were enthusiastic. But the joy over that win lasted for a short time only. We know there's more to come. We want to go further." The story of this World Cup team's surge to a reprise of the acrimonious 2006 quarter-final is Löw's ambitious coaching and the successful integration of the stars of last summer's European Championship-winning Under-21s: Mesut Ozil, Thomas Müller, Sami Khedira, Manuel Neuer and Jérôme Boateng. Niersbach says: "Frankly, we had not expected to be able to reap the rewards so soon. Last year's triumph at U21 level has visibly added strength to this senior side, but let's not forget that nothing comes by itself – our current U21 squad is having the hardest of times to even qualify for the 2011 edition of the tournament in Denmark." Müller and Ozil have added zest and ingenuity to the left-footed power of Lukas Podolski and macho foraging of Miroslav Klose, who wins his 100th cap tomorrow six days after scoring his 50th international goal, against England. Niersbach tries to define his country's archetype: "Not just German footballers, but any player representing his or her country at international level is expected to bring absolute fitness to the table. Top physical condition is the be-all and end-all, without which the most diligent talent spotting, the best tactical education, will mean nothing. "In terms of personal qualities, it is vital that players possess willpower, a sense of commitment, self-confidence and the ability to assert themselves, as well as a character beyond reproach." At the sharp end of an overachieving structure shines the Bundestrainer, "Yogi" Löw, who was Klinsmann's No2 in 2004-06 before guiding Germany to the Euro 2008 final. Löw, 50, is emerging as Europe's smartest tactician at international level. His masterstroke was to abandon 4-4-2 midway through the last European Championship in favour of a 4-2-3-1 formation that has turned Müller and Podolski into lethal wide attackers while Ozil floats in the No10 position and Bastian Schweinsteiger and Khedira offer deeper midfield solidity. Germany's quick evolution defies domestic expectations. In March despair accompanied the 1-0 loss in a friendly to Argentina and when Michael Ballack was ruled out through injury after the FA Cup final many German pundits talked as if it were now futile to board a plane to South Africa. This week Lothar Matthäus theorised that Ballack's absence has been a blessing because it quickened up Germany's attacking play. Niersbach says that after his country's early exit from Euro 2000 "the German FA has invested an annual €20m [£16.5m] earmarked for talent promotion in the widest sense of the word. At grassroots level, a nationwide network of 366 training centres has been set up, mostly using the infrastructure of local clubs with above-average facilities, where 14,000 youngsters aged 11-14 receive extra tuition by way of a weekly two-hour training session imparted by a DFB-appointed coach. This is in addition to the training they do with their respective clubs. It is more than likely that some of them will feature in the German national team eight years from now. rest here http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/20...0-germany-flair

Stevie's Waterloo? Why because you, another Asian and a lad from Burnley thought the ref had a good game? Because you're a racist cunt. How am I racist cunt for suggesting that in my opinion the referee was out of his depth YOU FUCKIN MASSIVE NOB. The only reason you're even suggesting that is because of your Asian heritage you fuckin arsehole. You're a bad as a scouser on the fiddler, or someone who cries rape when they haven't been. Indeed, anyone would have done the same in that situation, he rolled the dice, ultimately saved his team and will miss the biggest game his country have played in for 60 years. If a Ghana player had done it Chiles would be hailing his ingenuity. exactly "why do we do this to ourselves" he just said as if we're all fucking ghanain, just toss MD out of the studio and be impartial instead of a bunch of bandwagoning cunts If they'd got through to the semis, I guarantee Chiles would have blacked up for it. ahahahaha like Louie on Trading Places. A quick look at wiki states that he was voted best ref in Asia two years running. He otherwise referees in the Uzbek League, I've played for pub teams of better quality than some in that league no doubt, you can't have referees from minnow leagues refereeing games which could define a countries history. If Paraguay for example won the WC it would be the biggest achievement in the countries history, in any way shape or form, that's how big this competition is, again I use the example of Chelsea v Barcelona, Norwegian ref out of his depth, not used to high octane, high paced, high importance football, it's a total abomination of the sport asking someone to referee a life defining game in front of 1 billion people from a country with a monkey holding a melon slice upside down on its' flag.

This thread could define idiocy in the dictionary.

Freshest blart mind. Short skirs etc. Forearms like Hulk Hogan though.

Freshest blart mind. Short skirs etc.

Watching it at the hockey club with the posh Hamburg set, it's odds on I'll jump up if the Argies score. Really don't like the cunts at the hockey club.

The ref did stop the game too often, but on the other hand didn't fall for too many antics. Maicon carrying on like he's just found a dead body in the loft.

Brazil have got what they deserved the stupid fuckers. Dunga really has messed up here, what with an ocean of talent to pick from, he picks two midfield cloggers. Lovely watching it in the park with a beer and the Germans getting behind Holland for a change (casue they think they can win it now the sneaky fuckers). I said on NO 4/5 years ago that Van Marwicjk (then practically unkown) would make a good toon manager.

I'm sure the Kaizer was part of the mind games against England. Good spot.

Fuck off you fat faced cowardly mackem cunt, stick to wearing zany coloured wigs and licking arse. Pm me if you want your face smashed in.

Should have started worryng you two years ago.

Still not convinced why we didn't take Ashley Young, good techinical player with pace. He might have had an average season, but so did most of the others and some had inj issues to boot.

Not taking the piss here, but I genuinely thought he looked like he was sucking his gut in when he was walking round at the end of the game. He was complaining to management there were no local chippies near the England base apparenlty.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/06/magazine...t=cse&scp=4

“The first time limits are exceeded we are quite liberal,” Versloot told me. “Diet suggestions are made. But after that, we start a program with a dietitian. Parents are called in, and special exercise programs are started.” Ajax academy.