Friday, December 08, 2006

A subject that has seemed to creep into media reports as of…. well today is the quote from Jose Mourinho to do with reserve sides. Jose said that reserve sides should play at a higher level, just like they do in Spain.

Since the first time I read that, Rafa Benitez and Arsene Wenger have both come out to support the idea. On the other hand, Birmingham chairman
David Gold has come out against the proposed idea. Now an obvious point to make here is the three men who support the idea are obviously not English. Their experiences (particularly Rafa and Jose) are of European countries that do indeed follow this structure of professional reserve/feeder clubs. Now using Spain as an example, they have many sides (Barcelona “B”, Castilla etc) in division two and lower who are a breeding ground for youngster on the verge of the first team or squad players who are not getting a game. David Gold made a very good point in his argument against this reserve structure being implemented in this country. Gold said it is Chelsea’s fault that all their squad players cannot play in the first team and what is to stop Chelsea signing every single promising player in the country. Obviously not every single player would be on the books of Chelsea but I can see something along those lines happening. What’s to stop Chelsea signing Ashley Young, Kevin Doyle and Anton Ferdinand (as examples) for x amount of money and then sticking them in Chelsea “B”, to stop rivals having decent players and to have access to those players to call up for one or two games when needed and then drop them back down. However that also depends on the rules if this system is bought in. Teams in Spain have to register players for teams at the start of the season and then they can change this in January. Would that happen here or would it be a free flow of players between squads like we have now for first teams and reserve teams?

David Gold also made the point that the implementation of professional reserve sides would be disrespectful to the football league and he is correct. Chelsea and any other premiership club who make such a team are not going to accept a side starting off right at the bottom of the football pyramid, just like any other new club (AFC Wimbledon, FC United of Manchester) have had to play at. Shawn Wright Phillips and Obi Mikel in the league below the Rymans? Wont happen.

Going back to the point about signing up all the top players around, Barcelona is a good example here. Because they have a “B” and “C” side (the “C” side effectively a youth team) they could go out and splash the cash on promising players such as Maxi Lopez and Javier Saviola. The pair were either shipped off on loan or (in Lopez’s case) a cameo role in the champions league, were he scored against Chelsea. Is it a case of getting them to settle into the Spanish way of life before they fulfil their potentials or a case of signing them to stop Real Madrid getting their mitts on them? I don’t know but Seville is a winner out of this (having had Saviola on loan for a season or two). However having these professional reserve teams does have benefits like Mourinho has pointed out. Exposure to more competitive football can help develop a player. Recently it has helped Leo Messi. A product of the “C” and “B” side before making the step up to the full Barca side, he has stated before in interviews that playing regularly aided his development etc blah blah.

However I cannot get around the idea of seeing Chelsea “B” top the Championship but not being able to be promoted to the Premiership. Would make a hollow victory for the 2nd placed side gaining automatic promotion being “the top side”. Plus where do you fit these teams in? 46 games is plenty so what happens? Premiership “B”? If that was to happen, you know it would be so powerful and would have a TV deal tied in with Sky coverage and all that comes with so what then for the football league in that case? A downward spiral is what I predict. The top teams buy the best and those who aren’t the best at that moment in time play for the “B” side. The reserves would still be worth watching with such good players on display. Also with fixture build up (seeing as the G14 held UEFA to ransom over Champions League reforms) because of the increased amounts of games in European competitions, where do you put the reserve games in relation to those competitions? Also if say Reading have a “B” side and Reading proper get relegated from the Premiership and say Southampton get promoted and do not have a “B” side, do Reading “B” get relegated from the other Premiership? This is confusing and I do not see it working at all, as the whole nature of the football league would be at risk. Plus do you stage the games at the home grounds or the reserve grounds as they are at the moment? Most likely it would be as they’re at the moment but as said above, this whole idea I don’t agree with in principle. I would need to see a lot more to be swayed.

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