http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/world_football/3847185.stm

Houllier blames foreign imports


Former Liverpool manager Gerard Houllier has said foreign imports are to blame for the early exit of Europe's superpowers from Euro 2004.
Italy, Spain and Germany never made it past the group stage, while England and France went out in the quarter-finals. Yet between them the five countries have the five richest and most highly-rated leagues and clubs in the world.

Houllier, who was in charge the France youth set-up in the early 1990s which went on to produce the side that won the 1998 World Cup and the 2000 European Championship, said that in influx of foreign players was restricting opportunities for home talent.

"It is a problem - this is why you need to work at the youth level, and really prepare your players," Houllier told BBC World Service's World Football programme.

"This is what we did well. We had a vision in France, and you had the generation of Zidane, Henry, and now Saha and Anelka, and behind that you've got the world champion Under-17s who are now the Under-21s.

"So it's a very strong follow-up. Then if they go to foreign clubs it doesn't matter."

'Fantastic' Czechs

Houllier added that most teams in Europe's top leagues had augmented their sides with a number of players from different countries.

But he also said that he did not feel players were now more focused on their club careers than performing at international level.


"All I know is that when it comes to the national team it's always something different," he explained.

"This is what brings on the likes of Wayne Rooney... it changes the capital of your talent. Suddenly you become world class."

Among the players who flourished under Houllier during his time in charge of French football were Zinedine Zidane, Patrick Vieria and Bixente Lizarazu.

At Liverpool, he developed both Michael Owen and Steven Gerrard, as well as buying Milan Baros - although the Czech striker recently attacked Houllier and said he would have left had Houllier not been fired.

Nevertheless, Houllier praised the Czechs for their performance so far, calling them "fantastic".

"They were the only team to get nine points out of nine, and did it in the right spirit and manner," he said.

"Three times - against Latvia, Holland and Germany - they were down, and came back. They showed great character, but also great skill."

Meanwhile he said that English striker Wayne Rooney had been "discovered" by Europe in the Championships.

"He plays like a youngster - he enjoys his football, he is not under stress, he just delivers what he is really," Houllier said.

"He plays well in the empty space between the back four and the midfield... he's not really a revelation to me, because he's got the talent, but he's a revelation on the world stage.

"I'd say the two strikers who have really hit the media are Milan Baros - he's scored in every game - and Wayne Rooney."

Houllier also offered some advice gleaned from his time in charge at the French academy in Claire-fontaine on how Rooney can keep his feet on the ground.

"The main thing is environment," he said.

"If he's mentally strong enough, he's got the right environment, keeps his feet on the ground, keeps working, keeps learning, he could really develop as a great talent.

"It is one thing to reach a level - to keep that level is something different. That will be done through not only his team and his team-mates, but also the people around him."

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Call for young players to stay at home


A top Uefa official has called for young players to be allowed to develop their skills in their home country rather than being poached by European clubs at an early age.
Many young stars from Africa, Asia and South America are snapped up early as local talent from domestic leagues can be expensive.

Fifa President Sepp Blatter last year condemned what he called the "social and economic rape" by European giants as they scour the developing world for talent.

And Jim Boyce, head of Uefa's youth and amateur committee, told BBC World Service's World Football programme that he believed players should be allowed to develop in the countries they live.

"The Arsenal youth team has only two or three English players, the rest of these kids are foreign players - this is the problem at the moment with national associations finding out that so many of their best players are playing abroad," he said.

"I don't think that at sixteen or seventeen these lads can handle the pressures and that's why so many of them fall by the wayside."

One-to-one

The pressures on young players have increased in many ways over recent years.

Top European clubs are keen to bring them in early to prevent having to pay millions for them later.

Meanwhile, many become instant media darlings should they score a good goal. This further raises their potential marketable status - and therefore cash value - in the eyes of agents, who are keen to get them the best deal.



Former Scotland manager Andy Roxburgh, who is now Uefa's technical director, said that he felt the Bosman ruling had allowed money to dominate football to such an extent that it had now affected youth players too.

"You have agents and parents and youngsters who are looking for the money and this has dominated the scene," he said.

He added that Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson, one of the most successful had said "when I look for a young player I want a player who can come and play here every week in front of 67,000 people and like it."

"In that one statement he says everything," Roxburgh added.

"Those with weak minds in a sporting sense will never play in a champion's league final. You have to be mentally very tough."

Roxburgh also said that when asked, young players said they actually wanted a coach who was "honest" - but that he had never heard coaches talk about that.

"I've never heard anyone say the first quality is that they need to be honest with young players, but that's what young players want, someone who's extremely open and honest with them," he stressed.

"They need to be approachable, a father figure who can motivate them and stimulate them, especially when they're down."

"They desperately want a one to one relationship."

No criticism

Generally, an approach which focuses on the individual, rather than the team, has been found to be more important in youth development.

Nowhere is this more evident than in Holland, which has a long and famous tradition of grooming talent from youth academies.

"We easily forget that we are dealing with individuals so we have to treat them as individuals," Wim van Zwam - the Dutch national youth coach, told World Football.


"That's why we appreciate contact with parents for example, so we know that they are in school and that they're doing well.

"Maybe that's one of the main reasons that we have always produced great players - we care for the individual in Holland."

But he added that it was dangerous for young talents who too often are only given praise.

Often young footballers can be lauded as international material after one or two good games. But van Zwam said that this was counterproductive.

"In many ways people create problems with these young players because they're always giving them accolades and awards and medals," he said,

"They often get them before they're ready to cope with that. This is why I think in children's football there shouldn't be cups and medals."

The dilemma coaches face is how to build a player's sense of self confidence without creating a monster ego in the process.

"They don't like to be criticised," Roxburgh said.

"In the old days you accepted criticism, that it was there to help you, nowadays if young players are criticised, they react negatively."