EPL's lone Colombian gets on track

ConorC says on May 15, 2009, 00:20:

Few South Americans are an instant hit in the Premier League (although Juninho is an obvious exception). Most have issues getting used to the weather and the more physical style of play. I'm sure if he sticks at it though it'll all end up good.

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markobhoy says on May 15, 2009, 02:32:

it's true conor, but i'm sure you'll agree with me that they may be adapting quicker than before as the premier league is becoming more latin by the week.

for example, when juninho or asprilla arrived 10 years ago, they would have been the only one speaking spanish/portuguese in the squad. when rodallega arrived at wigan, he had figueroa (honduras), valencia (ecuador) and palacios (honduras) there. no doubt, he socialises with them and in general it help him settle. also on the football pitch, it will help as they may understand what he wants. when tevez first arrived at west ham they used to play to ball 10 yards in front of him to run onto...it was only when they played the ball to his feet that he started playing well.

most premiership clubs have a south american influence, probably most notably man utd and liverpool

it took english football more than 10 years to realise what italy, portugal, spain and germany had already known-that south americans can and will suceed in europe.

now, if only celtic would have a look down there and pick up edwin cardona and giovanny moreno :)

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ConorC says on May 15, 2009, 04:12:

More and more are arriving by the week and they are getting even younger, look at the Silva twins, under and arriving at a key phase in their development. Few of them are as successful as those two and so end sitting on the bench (if they are lucky). After a few years they give up and go home a few pounds richer, but football wise probably no better off.

I was reading the article in FourFourTwo recently about the Boca Juniors factory and how they, and many other teams produce the players with the expectation of selling them on. The core is built around those players who have returned from Europe or who are in the mid to late 20's and never went in the first place.

I'm very much for the youth academy's and a club's future being structured around this and particularly the Clairefontaine structure of having national academies and the players can maybe be split across the teams at a certain age but sadly the football world we live in isn't like that. Gone are the days when the Crazy Gang could reach an FA Cup Final and Ipswich could conquer Europe (back when the UEFA cup meant something).

I don't know how good the youth structure in Colombia but clearly they don't have the same results as those in Brazil and Argentina (population aside).

As for Celtic, you are only 2 goals ahead, all to play for...

Apologies a bit of a digression...

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utopiacowboy says on May 15, 2009, 04:30:

Go ahead and digress. I just like having a futbol thread out there for comments and thoughts.

Disclaimer: any comment I make is inane and is not to be taken seriously, and is so patently ridiculous that no one should take it seriously, even as an insult.

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ConorC says on May 15, 2009, 05:34:

For those who have the knowledge, do Colombian teams have the kind of youth infrastructure we've see in Europe? I presume they have all the youth teams at say U18, U16 etc. but do any of them have the academies in the same vein as Ajax where they recruit kids from the age of 8?

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markobhoy says on May 15, 2009, 10:14:

well that is a question for the Colombians here; why does Colombia underachieve?

you have 45 million people, football is clearly the national sport throughout the entire country, you have numerous large cities/famous and well supported clubs and at the risk of being accused of racism, Colombia has a large black population, a group that has been highly sucessful in neighbouring countries, e.g. brazil and ecuador.

there is an argument for saying that Colombia doesn't underachieve, but that Argentina (39m population) clearly overachieves...

the latter is undoubtedly true, but if you compare Colombia to their principal rivals; Ecuador (14m), Chile (16m), Uruguay (3.5m), Paraguay (6.5m), then you can start to get a pretty strong argument for Colombia underachieving.

So why is this? you guys will have more of an idea than us foreigners.

As a final point, how mexico (110m) is only at the level of ireland, scotland, denmark, croatia (who don't have particularly good teams just now and all have 5m or less) is beyond belief.

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Man Tequila says on May 15, 2009, 10:19:

Maybe it comes down to the number of fields, how much futbol is worshipped (and Maradonna is, beyond reason, still considered a god in Argentina... futbol in Colombia seems much less popular than in Argentina), what access to coaching and competitive play talented children have...

Aunque no me creas/ si me lo propongo/ lograre olvidarte/ porque a fin de cuentas/ no soy tan cobarde./ Y termino todo una de estas tardes/ no sera dificil buscar algún sitio donde refugiarme/ donde nunca mas vuelvas a encontrarme. (Polo Montañez)

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esanch36 says on May 15, 2009, 10:56:

theres a colombian in charge of the U-17 setup for the united states

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Sebastian Martinez says on Jul 23, 2009, 20:44:

The mentality and culture of the Colombian player is the problem. The kids are far more interested in super star status and money than they are in the game. They lack discipline and vision. Most young promises get corruptyed after their first taste of success. The media and traditional futbol institutions are also a gigantic cancer in Colombia. The institutions like federacion colombiana de futbol and dimayor are extremely corrupt and bureaucratic. They have little interest in educating the young players and investing in the long term of the sport, all they care about is making a quick return by selling young players that tend to come back a year later after failing.
The majority of Colombian stars from the late 80's/ early 90s (when we had a good team) are all broke and struggling.
I am a firm believer that the Colombian player is just as talented physically as the Argentinian and Brazilians, what they lack is uo in the head in deep in the heart.
It is uo to the institutions to analyze these systematic flaws and take a proactive approach by teaching these young kids strong values. This is what is done in Brazil and Argentina, the kids come from the fabelas, but once in the club they are fully schooled and become mature to some extent.
I hope to live and see a Colombian generation of players that respect the sport and are willing to give it all in the field

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