Barcelona field entirely homegrown team

[many a good man]

Barcelona's fabled La Masia academy scored another triumph on Sunday when the Liga giants fielded an entirely homegrown team during their 4-0 Liga victory against Levante.

History was made in the 14th minute when coach Tito Vilanova sent on Martin Montoya to replace the injured Dani Alves - completing a team full of La Masia products for the first time in the modern era.

Not even Vilanova's predecessor Pep Guardiola managed the feat, fielding a maximum of nine homegrown players at any time.

Brazilian substitute Adriano Correia broke the monopoly in the 75th minute, by which time Barca were four goals to the good.

Although every player was an academy product, that's not to say all were born within a stepover or two of the Camp Nou.

Lionel Messi hails, of course, from Argentina but moved to Barcelona aged 12. Pedro Rodriguez is from Tenerife, while Andres Iniesta's childhood home of Fuentealbilla is closer to Real Madrid's Santiago Bernabeu stadium than to Barcelona.

http://eurosport.yahoo.com/blogs/pitchside-europe/barcelona-field-entirely-homegrown-team-093237514.html


It's a quite a thing to be proud of - finding and developing such a rich vein of talent to sustain one's club. It is also something special that so many are natives of Catalunya or Spain.

[Upton]

1. Yeah, but a player like Cesc..

honed his talent in England, before Barca bought him back only after he became a star under Arsene Wenger. You act as if he went straight from the academy to Camp Nou..

[many a good man]

3. Article states clearly

And three of last night's players flew the nest - costing Barca a fortune to re-sign them.

Gerard Pique (Manchester United), Cesc Fabregas (Arsenal) and Jordi Alba (Valencia) all spent time away from Barcelona, who paid a combined £40 million to bring them back under their wing.

Nevertheless, it is a remarkable feat in an increasingly cosmopolitan game. By contrast, the Chelsea team that played Manchester City on Sunday contained just one Englishman (Ashley Cole) and no products of the club's youth academy.

I think its a striking contrast to most clubs that have to scarf talent from other teams and have at most one or two nationals. I also think that La Liga players who have spent a few seasons toughening up in EPL elevate the play.

[HuckleB]

2. All good and well.

I'm still not convinced that such academies are good for the majority of the individuals who participated, however. It may increase the quality of the game, but at what cost to the people who play it? I'm not saying the answer is negative, but I am saying it has not been answered.