Robin1810

Hello, I am a third year sports journalism student. For my final project, I am writing a series of articles on Spanish football comparing it to English football. The articles will be considering how Spanish clubs exploit home grown talent, compared to English teams. I will also look at the recession, has it in fact helped Spanish clubs in their search for local talent rather than making huge transfer signings. I will also be looking at the recent quote by Angel Villa Llona, president of the Spanish FA who said “there is no racism in Spanish football" finding out if it’s true and comparing it to the levels of racism in English football.

At the moment I am only doing the market research to find out if there is an interest in these sort of articles from both Spanish and English readers but I’d appreciate any opinions that would help in my research. I have already emailed several editors to ask for their opinions but I also need to know if you would be interested in these articles. I am aware that this is not a football forum but I thought since the majority of you are living in Spain, you may have watched local level football. You may have been to matches where you have witnessed racism. Any opinions will be appreciated. There is also a questionnaire which I’d be grateful if you filled in, it’s only 10 questions http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/L9RJCYJ.

campomutt

No racism in Spanish football? Lol

Imo Spanish liga esp. Barca much over-rated.

agoreira

Who said that, Luis Aragonés?

Domino

the big secret is that in England they feel lucky to have to the end of the match without having fallen down with exhaustion.
In Spanish football they have the energy and desire to play two halves and still have the stamina to play another third half if a draw.

the next secret is they have a spatial awareness, know where they are on the field of play and where their team mates are.
it all comes from hours of practice instead of driving massively priced cars around town.

in the old days they used to call it Professionalism.

`

Pocaloca

Robin, you might be interested in this article about the Barcelona cantera (training school). According to Leo Messi, “As a kid they teach you not to play to win, but to grow in ability as a player. At Barca, we trained every day with the ball, I hardly ever ran without a ball at my feet. It was a form of training aimed very clearly at developing your skills.”

I don't know a lot about English football but it does seem that winning is the most important thing (to please the shareholders). That means forking out vast sums of money for foreign players, at the expense of this sort of investment in young players?

“The Success Behind Barcelona’s Cantera”

Robin1810

hola cheers for all your help with this, there is some great material here. I really appreciate all your help. Especially Pocaloca that's a interesting article thank you

cricketman

A few years ago when Rafa Benitez was at Liverpool he bought over a few promising Spanish 16 year olds to play for the Liverpool reserves

None of them made it - they said they were lured to England with money, as in Spain they have to officially get a first team contract in order to start making anything more than a very basic wage, even people like Tello, Cuenca have played for Barcelona first team recently on a youth team contract i.e. making about 500 euros per week

These youngsters said they couldnt believe how bad the system was in the UK for bringing through young players, there are no properly organised and competitive leagues for the young and reserve players. The reserve team league is like an unofficial kick around.

Also, Spain has the most trained coaches in the world, along with Germany. If an 8 year old goes to football training, anywhere in Spain they will likely be taught by a trained coach, in the UK, it is more likely to be somebody's Dad

From the youth system upwards the coaching and leagues are very well organised. Then there are 5 or 6 youth systems in Spain that have produced excellent player after excellent player i.e. those of Barcelona, Madrid, Oviedo/Gijon, Bilbao/San Sebastian, Sevilla/Betis and Valencia

I live in Oviedo, 3 of the best players in the English premier league came through the youth system here, Juan Mata, Santi Cazorla and Michu! Not bad for a small city with a club in the 3rd division Plus David Villa was down the road at Gijon

As for racism, the UK press make a big deal of it, and the Spanish press do not. That is the biggest difference

Pocaloca

Perhaps they should?

Dani Alves se resigna al racismo en España: "Me insultan y me llaman mono"
(Dani Alves resigns himself to racism in Spain - they insult me and call me a monkey)

Investigan gritos racistas a Balotelli en el España-Italia
(Racist shouts at Balotelli in the Spain-Italy game being investigated)

Koke, última 'víctima' de los símbolos fascistas de los ultras
(Koke, latest victim of the Ultras' fascist symbols)

cricketman

I'd rather they keep their noses out

Racism is something to be worked out through education within society, not through laws where people only express what they think in private.

The whole situation with racism and the FA in England is a farce. They banned Suarez 8 games for called somebody negrito (in Spanish, and especially in Latin America, this isnt racist), but people are allowed to call him a South AMerican tw*t

Does this mean the FA are racist? No, just a bunch of idiots

And I doubt a young lad like Koke knew what the symbol represented

campomutt

Ithink the whole point of the game is to win isnt it. I guess it pleases fans too when their team wins.

Barca pay big money too for good players. No Spanish club or club anywhere is in the game for charity.
Shareholders put in money tho and expect payback. Wouldn't you

rachelk

It might be worth looking at the impact UEFA's Financial Fair Play regulations will have when they are enforced.

Pocaloca

Personally no, I don't think winning is the whole point of sport. But even if it was, haven't Barça proved that investing in young players pays off? They win everything! Sure, they buy in foreign talent but they would still be pretty impressive with their home grown players.

Also, FC Barça is owned by members not shareholders, and the club donates €1.5 million a year to the charity UNICEF.

agoreira

But it all comes at a price, while most of Spain is on the bones of it's arse, football clubs are racking up huge debts and unpaid tax bills. When the Spanish Government suggested it would write these losses off, Germany was up in arms, "How much longer are we going to subsidise Messi and Ronaldo?" Pan y circo.

Madrid owes 590 million euros ($723 million) and its Catalan rival 578 million euros in unpaid tax alone ($708 million)
http://www.voxxi.com/spains-iconic-l...-unpaid-taxes/

cricketman

To be fair to the football teams, most of them have payment plans set up for their back taxes now

And only 3 teams have spent any money on players in the past few years, Madrid, Barcelona and Malaga, the rest have been net: sellers

The Barcelona model is a lot better than the Man City or Chelsea model, a plaything for a criminal billionnaire

steviedeluxe

Poor old Aggro, always upset at anything good that comes out of Spain

http://swissramble.blogspot.co.uk/20...eaders-of.html



However the situation at Valencia is another matter...

Edit: this is also worth reading http://swissramble.blogspot.co.uk/20...-and-real.html