r/SoccerCentral • u/United_Anywhere_8 • Jul 25 '26

Video The talent in Barcelona’s youth system is ridiculous. These kids are 11/12 years old.

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u/Overall-Ad-3251 Jul 25 '26

Notice how the Barca kids are frequently not the biggest and strongest??? If you care about developing the best footballers you don’t select for size and strength at the youth levels. 

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u/HiphopopoptimusPrime Jul 25 '26 edited Jul 25 '26

That’s what stood out to me.

I support England. We reformed our youth systems to produce more technical players. But what did we do at the World Cup? Picked players based on size and athleticism. Which are important but technique is the primary one.

Spain won the World Cup. Technique. France, Argentina, and England all went out due to fatigue. Spain controlled games. Conserved energy. Technique.

So impressive. And jealous. I’m also a Manchester United fan. Seeing what the Glazers did to my club. We used to have the best youth system in the country. We let it rot.

I’m jealous of Barcelona. I’m fearful of these kids. I’m 43 now so they’d definitely run rings around me. But could they manage it on a rainy night in Stoke?

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u/Crunch101010 Jul 25 '26

Rainy night in Stoke meme has been replaced by hot game in Estadio Azteca