This is what we need to push in Greece

[evalagoal]

Everyone,

UEFA.com had this great article about Englands coach.

It goes to show you how important it is to have youth and to encourage youth to play.

Also this is why you see these 20 - 24 yr old stars emerging from these nations...

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Eriksson encourages England's youth

England's young players can look to the future with optimism, according to Sven-Göran Eriksson, despite suffering defeat in the final of the UEFA European Under-19 Championship.

French strength

The senior England manager was an interested observer as Martin Hunter's team went down 3-1 to France in Friday night's final at Windsor Park in Belfast and, despite his allegiance, Eriksson believes the right side were crowned champions. "It was a good football game," the England manager said. "France played very, very good football. Technically they were very good, physically very strong but England also played well."

"To get to the final of a European Championship is a great thing, something very few players in England have ever done "

Sven-Göran Eriksson

'Great thing'

England led 1-0 at the break thanks to Lee Holmes' deflected strike, but Eriksson believes their failure to hold on to that advantage should not overshadow their achievements in Northern Ireland. "When you're leading 1-0 at half-time and you lose, you're always disappointed but I think the team should be very proud of what they've achieved," he said. "To get to the final of a European Championship is a great thing, something very few players in England have ever done. Congratulations to the players and Martin Hunter."

Learning curve

The Swede is convinced that the experience gained throughout the competition will be hugely beneficial in the future, saying: "Playing a tournament like this, of course you learn. That's what football is all about. They've achieved something at U19 level, let's hope we can do it in the future at senior level. We talk in England a lot about too many foreigners in the Premiership, but you saw [on Friday] that English talent will always come through. That's probably thanks to the academy system we have in England."

You had to be impressed by France; they were strong, quick, technically fabulous

Sven-Göran Eriksson

Rewards reaped

The French academy system, with its headquarters at Clairefontaine, is more established than its English counterpart, and Eriksson was suitably impressed with the performance of Jean Gallice's side in Belfast. "I don't know the French academy system that well, so maybe they are more advanced than us and maybe we are still trying to catch up," he said. "You had to be impressed by France; they were strong, quick, technically fabulous. But it was a good game, England reached the final and we should be proud of that."

Senior hopes

Eriksson expects several of the English stars on show in Northern Ireland to break through to the senior side, but urges them to calm their expectations in the more immediate future. "First they have to qualify for the U21s," he said. "The way is long but I'm sure that in three or four years, you will see some of these players playing for England. I'm sure of that. I think that next season or the season after that, they will start to play regular football in the Premiership, but they are not ready for the World Cup yet."

Increasing qualities

With competition increasingly fierce and opportunities to break into the first team at a premium, the England manager says that the list of qualities a young player requires is growing ever longer. "Technique is important, as is pace; you have to be strong, tactically educated and those things will become more and more important in the future," he said.

Fair Play role

"But I think you also have to be educated in Fair Play, because of the interest from the press. Twenty years ago, if you did something stupid you could get away with it, today you can't, on or off the pitch. I think code of conduct and Fair Play will become increasingly important." With Eriksson's experience, England's young stars would do well to heed his words.

[Korisos]

try and push this idea of building/improving the academy system in Greece to the EPO and i doubt it will happen since they didn't even do anything about it last year.......for all i know they still didn't even pay everyone their euro bonuses yet :angry: so how can something like this be financed.

[evalagoal]

try and push this idea of building/improving the academy system in Greece to the EPO and i doubt it will happen since they didn't even do anything about it last year.......for all i know they still didn't even pay everyone their euro bonuses yet :angry: so how can something like this be financed.

How true is that!!!

Paying is another topic that we can talk about all day long...

I know there's several things that EPO needs.... OH I KNOW A KICK IN THE ASS!

I just believe that the youth is where we or they need to focus on....