As I stood on the touchline in Ipswich on Saturday lunchtime, 22 footballers were representing Ipswich Town and Crystal Palace respectively, in the U18s Professional Development League. All competing to earn a vital three points, Ipswich the top scorers in the league and looking to reclaim top spot, Palace were hoping to build consistency.
Yet, the overriding thought of mine was about the pressure on these players to play well, in order to maintain their hopes of ascending to the first team. A bad run of form, or worse, a long-term injury, could diminish the hopes a player had when first signing to an academy.
Football is a cruel game, not just based on the unpredictability of the game itself, but for how much perseverance it takes to make it from academy starlet to professional player. An article from The Guardian last year detailed the struggles of boys who have dealt with academy rejection. Gordon Taylor, chief executive of the Professional Footballers’ Association, said of the boys who make it to the elite scholarship programme at 16, five out of six are not playing professionally by the age 21.
When you consider the volume of aspiring footballers up and down the country, that is a startling percentage of players who find their hard-work has gone to waste. English football has evolved over the last two decades, the game is more technical and kids are expected to understand their tactical roles at a young age, to help embed a philosophy from top to bottom in a football club.
I overheard Palace coach Paddy McCarthy giving the instruction “inverted pressing”, to his players. Whilst making sure they adhere to the tactics McCarthy wants, they will be thinking what runs to make, how to create space and be aware of their positioning. Is that all too much at the tender age of 18? It might just be me, but it seems footballers who will reach the summit of professional football, will have a ‘football brain’, certainly in this new generation. The emphasis from pundits and fans a like is for teams to be more extravagant and adventurous in their play, lead on from the methods of Arsene Wenger, Pep Guardiola and more recently, Eddie Howe.
The demands on footballers are higher, to not just do the necessities of their position, a striker can not just score goals, a midfielder is required to do more than pass between lines and defenders must do more than just clear the ball away. Take Sergio Aguero, without a doubt one of the greatest strikers to grace English football and a relentless goal-scorer, world-class. However, Guardiola’s arrival brought doubts of Aguero’s ‘overall contribution’ and his future at the club was all of a sudden in doubt, as the new manager was unimpressed with how the Argentine fitted his style.
A tally of 149 goals in 216 Premier League appearances, eclipsing Eric Brook as City’s record goal-scorer and protagonist in three Premier League triumphs, enough? Not in this era and not for a perfectionist in his craft like Pep. This correlates to my perceptions whilst watching the action on Saturday. If players at the pinnacle of world football are under the microscope for reasons other than simply fulfilling their roles, what are the demands like for teenagers who are trying to prove they are the complete package to coaches and the powers that be in academies.
A local player who has made the grade is 18-year-old Tristan Nydam. Currently on loan at St Johnstone from Ipswich, Mick McCarthy brought the midfielder from academy star up to first-team prospect last campaign. Making 11 appearances, he started in the local derby against Norwich City, a fast rise for Nydam who was in front of the Sky Sports cameras before he had time to take it in.
“It was nerve-wracking, even more so than my debut just because it was a derby,” said Nydam.
“I’ve been at Ipswich since I was eight and played in mini-derbies, but this was the first team and it was crazy, don’t think I spoke before or after the game.
“Once you’re on the pitch it’s different though, I got into the game and felt good.”
He’s had to adapt fast, such is the demand of a youngster who is called into the first-team and wants to make their name known to fans. The England youth international recalled his academy journey and the increase of pressure as you move up the ages.
“When I was younger, I was just enjoying my football, there was no real pressure to succeed,” he said.
““Then as I got older, the pressure increased with the physicality and competitiveness, making it a lot harder. But this makes you realise you have a big opportunity.”
Nydam grabbed his chance and is reaping the rewards, but how many of these 22 players will be granted the same opportunity in a year or two?
Sam Tonks 