Source: Daily_Mail
Sir Alex Ferguson calls for English academies to change and follow the Barcelona blueprint
ShareSir Alex Ferguson has claimed that English clubs will never reach the heights of football artistry reached by Barcelona in the Champions League final until the authorities change their philosophy about how youngsters are coached.[LNB]The Manchester United manager joined his squad on an open-top bus parade in the rain yesterday as the beaten European Cup finalists drew solace from winning a record 19th league title. [LNB] Addressing the crowd: Sir Alex Ferguson joined his team for an open top bus parade of the Premier League trophy[LNB]Thoughts remain with United's failure to get to grips with Barcelona at Wembley, though, and Ferguson called for change in the way youngsters are coached in England. [LNB]He said: 'We are only allowed to coach youngsters for an hour and a half a week. Barcelona can coach them every hour of the day if they want. It's a great philosophy.'[LNB] Star man: Xavi has come through the ranks at Barcelona and benefited from the education he received at La Masia[LNB]Ferguson's comments point to the fact that young players at Barca are coached regularly from an early age. In England the academy system, combined with the demands of mainstream education, means that between the ages of 10 and 18 a footballer will receive between 2,000 and 3,000 coaching hours. At Barcelona, youngsters receive about 8,000.[LNB] No answer: Ferguson said his team had never had a beating like the one given to his side by Barcelona[LNB]What will please Ferguson is the content of the Elite Player Performance Plan that will be voted on at the League's AGM next week. Premier League insiders claim the plan represents a radical overhaul of the way youngsters are coached and one of its key aims is to increase the time spent working on skills.[LNB]United's parade was more muted than it would have been had they beaten Barcelona, but Ferguson still led his players in a rendition of 'Are you watching, Merseyside?' as the club celebrated passing the 18 titles won by Liverpool.[LNB] You won't rain on our parade: United celebrate 19th title after Barca defeatLet me stay! Owen tells United that he wants to remain at Old TraffordMatt Lawton: It was a privilege to be at Wembley to witness beautiful tortureEXCLUSIVE: United target Modric as Ferguson plans to overhaul his squadAll the latest Manchester United news, features and opinion[LNB] Explore more:People: Alex Ferguson Places: Liverpool, Barcelona, United Kingdom
