Insightful little article on Why English football will not produce a Messi.
http://whitehouseaddress.blogspot.co...r-develop.html
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The importance of culture and opportunity key to Messi’s rise to greatness
Lionel Messi has broken nearly every goal scoring record imaginable, and he is still only 27 years old. It is an incredible achievement and we are fortunate to be living and witnessing his mercurial talent. At times I think many fail to comprehend what he is truly achieving, what Messi has done is make us all believe that greatness is now commonplace, that every game he is to provide moments of genius and magic. That is the level he has set.
Messi is everything about the 21st century game, he is fluid, quick, skilful and intelligent. He has shown, along with his teammates at Barcelona that small can succeed, in a game where Olympic style athletes appeared set to dominate. What Messi & Co. prove is that intelligence allied with technical excellence can overcome strength and power. Post-Guardiola has not been as fruitful or beautiful for Barcelona yet Messi has continued to shine and impress, his individual talent will do that. Barcelona do miss Guardiola, and while Messi may not rely on Guardiola now, he did before. In fact the tale of Messi on the road to football greatness is filled with those key ingredients, luck and opportunity. And it is this reason why English football may never develop a Lionel Messi type player.......................
Why culture dictates the pathway
Why do I think that English football struggle to produce ‘small’ players? Because the culture for the most part dismisses technical skill and intelligence and favours brawn, strength and height. The culture has not changed significantly since the days of Charles Hughes. It appears embedded in our cultural beliefs, especially the ‘decision makers’ who are often products from that culture. By this I mean there is a new generation of coaches who have a different appreciation of the game, and player development. Yet often the choices of who 'progresses' is left in the main part to old school thinkers.
So why do Messi and Aguero prosper in Argentina? Well their culture has as their “God” figure Diego Maradona. Therefore their approach to developing players comes from the want and need to ‘find’ the new Diego. Hence the progression of players like Javier Saviola, Pablo Aimar, Ariel Ortega, Carlos Tevez, Lionel Messi and Sergio Aguero. All these players follow the similar pattern of type. Argentinian football has sought to develop a player based on their cultural beliefs.
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