Why France has so many good young players
I've been posting and tweeting a lot about Ligue 2 football recently. It is probably the best value market for smart clubs around.
The reason for this can be neatly summarised in comparing the two major junior cup competitions in England and France.
The FA Youth Cup and the Coupe Gambardella.
The Coupe Gambardella is like the FA Youth Cup for U19 players. It is played on the same say as the Coupe de France and attracts large audiences.
To demonstrate why I think Ligue 2 is the most exciting league for talent let's look at the finalists for the last 10 competitions in both England and France
England:
Chelsea x 8
Manchester City x 3
Arsenal x 2
Manchester United x 1
Fulham x 1
Norwich x 1
Aston Villa x 1
Sheffield United x 1
Blackburn x 1
Liverpool x 1
10 different finalists in 10 years
France
Montpellier x2
Nantes
Metz
Sochaux x 2
Monaco x2
St Etienne x2
Nice
Bordeaux
Sedan
Auxerre
Reims
Lyon
RC Lens
Marseille
Troyes
Tours
16 different finalists in 10 years
So the French tournament has more variety of finalists. But also a wider variety of economic wealth. The FA Youth cup has 15/20 finalists from the richest 5 clubs in the Premier League. The richest 5 French clubs are PSG, Lyon, Monaco, Marseille...then a gap then currently Lille. Only 4/20 finalists are from these clubs. Last years final was between two Ligue 2 clubs.
There are cultural, sporting and geographic reasons for this. In France, players are restricted to training within 50km of their home and there isn't a culture of recruitment of players much younger than that. The amateur club scene is valued with youth development prized, and the country is really big which means big clubs can't just scoop up everyone.
This isn't to say the development process is better than England. The English system is rewarded by excellent international youth teams. It looks to me like England operates in a very capitalistic way with the best youth products attracted to the best coaches and the best facilities. This leads to around 5-10 clubs being able to attract whoever they like from wherever they like. The French system is more socialist with the talents more evenly distributed. You don't get the same Chelsea style dream teams winning UEFA youth leagues and youth cups back to back to back to back but you do get Ligue 2 teams having top class prospects in their ranks instead.
Leaving aside the megastars like Mbappe who will come through whatever the system we've also seen people like Lenny Pintor (now at Lyon) shine in this tournament. Bryan Mbuemo who is now playing well for Troyes scored twice in the final last year. Marcus Thuram won with Sochaux in 2015
Indeed of the Lyon 2015 side that lost in the that final, all the players are still playing at a reasonably high level including Cornet.
France isn't necessarily producing better young players than England, but you have far more chance of getting them for a reasonable fee than you do with their English equivalents. Which makes it the best place to scout at the moment.
The reason for this can be neatly summarised in comparing the two major junior cup competitions in England and France.
The FA Youth Cup and the Coupe Gambardella.
The Coupe Gambardella is like the FA Youth Cup for U19 players. It is played on the same say as the Coupe de France and attracts large audiences.
To demonstrate why I think Ligue 2 is the most exciting league for talent let's look at the finalists for the last 10 competitions in both England and France
England:
Chelsea x 8
Manchester City x 3
Arsenal x 2
Manchester United x 1
Fulham x 1
Norwich x 1
Aston Villa x 1
Sheffield United x 1
Blackburn x 1
Liverpool x 1
10 different finalists in 10 years
France
Montpellier x2
Nantes
Metz
Sochaux x 2
Monaco x2
St Etienne x2
Nice
Bordeaux
Sedan
Auxerre
Reims
Lyon
RC Lens
Marseille
Troyes
Tours
16 different finalists in 10 years
So the French tournament has more variety of finalists. But also a wider variety of economic wealth. The FA Youth cup has 15/20 finalists from the richest 5 clubs in the Premier League. The richest 5 French clubs are PSG, Lyon, Monaco, Marseille...then a gap then currently Lille. Only 4/20 finalists are from these clubs. Last years final was between two Ligue 2 clubs.
There are cultural, sporting and geographic reasons for this. In France, players are restricted to training within 50km of their home and there isn't a culture of recruitment of players much younger than that. The amateur club scene is valued with youth development prized, and the country is really big which means big clubs can't just scoop up everyone.
This isn't to say the development process is better than England. The English system is rewarded by excellent international youth teams. It looks to me like England operates in a very capitalistic way with the best youth products attracted to the best coaches and the best facilities. This leads to around 5-10 clubs being able to attract whoever they like from wherever they like. The French system is more socialist with the talents more evenly distributed. You don't get the same Chelsea style dream teams winning UEFA youth leagues and youth cups back to back to back to back but you do get Ligue 2 teams having top class prospects in their ranks instead.
Leaving aside the megastars like Mbappe who will come through whatever the system we've also seen people like Lenny Pintor (now at Lyon) shine in this tournament. Bryan Mbuemo who is now playing well for Troyes scored twice in the final last year. Marcus Thuram won with Sochaux in 2015
Indeed of the Lyon 2015 side that lost in the that final, all the players are still playing at a reasonably high level including Cornet.
France isn't necessarily producing better young players than England, but you have far more chance of getting them for a reasonable fee than you do with their English equivalents. Which makes it the best place to scout at the moment.
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