The Problems of the Young

Real Madrid's coach Jose Mourinho has recently come under fire for his decision to play Michael Essien at left-back instead of giving youth academy product Nacho a chance to replace the injured left-backs. Despite starting Nacho, Alex and Morata in the Copa Del Ray game against Alcoyano, some fans and ex Madrid personnel are unhappy that Mourinho is not paying much attention to the development of the Castilla. With only two homegrown players in the first team in the form of Casillas and Arbeola(who left and returned only as a proven player), the critics might not be very wrong. Let's look at some of the possible reasons for this.

The biggest problem for Real Madrid and their young players is the lack of consistency of the manager. Jose Mourinho is the 7th manager to take charge of the team since 2005. In comparison to rival club Barcelona, who promotes managers from its youth set-up, Madrid sources its managers from outside the club. With such constant changes at the top of the helm, there is inevitably changes in tactics. Therefore, it is hard to align the B team's playing style with the first team and Mourinho himself has cited tactical differences in the teams as a factor why he is unwilling to promote the youth players to the first team. In his eyes, the youth players play a different style from what he desires and promoting them will run the risk of them being unable to adapt to a new formation and tactic.

Another problem that arises from the constant changing of the manager is that any manager that arrives at Real Madrid will not make any long term planning for the team. With the threat of the sack looming if there is no instant success, managers at Real Madrid tend to plan for the short term, which makes it more effective to buy players who can make a big impact for a few years instead of turning to the youth in the hope that they can produce the goods for the team eventually. Even if a really precocious talent pops up, it is less risky to play a player proven at the highest levels. Of course, Real Madrid has the cash and stature to get those players. Just ask Luka Modric.

A third reason is that the youth players have no chance to prove themselves at the highest level. In the English Premier League, top clubs often send their young players out to other EPL teams to prove their worth before they get promoted to the first team. Examples of this are Wilshere at Wigan and Welbeck at Sunderland. Both players showcased their abilities while on loan and then returned to their parent clubs to play a vital role. In the Primera Liga, things do not happen quite the same way. Top clubs generally have a B team in the lower leagues, where the youth players will play. This way, they get constant playing time. However, they are not exposed to the top tiers of football and are unable to fully demonstrate whether they will be able to play in a game at the highest level. Managers are then reluctant to call them up to the first team.

Quite why Mourinho will choose to ignore the youth players that Madrid is producing is understandable and not exactly his fault despite their history of producing more than decent players. Unless the Castilla really produces an obvious golden generation of players, I expect this trend to continue.