The NextGen Series (Champions League for Youth Football)

mike65

I though it would be a good idea to have a general thread even if some individual games have their own.

Probably the most exciting new tournament in years starts in August, NextGen features 16 youth club sides from across Europe in a CL type format. The top two go through to the knockout stages and the final is next January


Group 1

* FC Barcelona
* Celtic FC
* Manchester City FC
* Marseille

Group 2

* Sporting Lisbon
* Liverpool FC
* Molde FK
* Vfl Wolfsburg

Group 3

* Ajax
* Aston Villa FC
* Fenerbahce SK
* Rosenborg BK

Group 4

* FC Basel
* PSV Eindhoven
* Inter Milan
* Tottenham Hotspur FC

As you can see some 'top top' clubs are taking part while sadly some big names have chosen not to. Hopefully they'll do so next year when the competition is expanded to 24 clubs.

No word yet on TV coverage as far as I know (prays that 3e/ITV4/Channel5 type channels take a punt)

The fixtures for August are as follows

Group 1

Marseille VS Celtic 17.08.11 19.30 GMT Stadium Marcel Cerdan
Celtic VS Barcelona 31.08.11 Celtic Park

Group 2
Liverpool VS Sporting Lisbon 17.08.11 18.00 GMT (tbc) Anfield
Molde VS Wolfsburg 18.08.11 18.00 GMT Aker Stadion
Sporting Lisbon VS Wolfsburg 31.08.11 Sporting
Molde VS Liverpool 31.08.11 18.00 GMT Aker Stadion

Group 3

Ajax VS Aston Villa 17.08.11 18.00 GMT Venue to be confirmed

Group 4

FC Basel VS Tottenham Hotspur 17.08.11 18.00 GMT Stadium Rankhof
FC Basel VS PSV Eindhoven 31.08.11 18.00 GMT Stadium Rankhof
Tottenham Hotspur VS Inter Milan 31.08.11 18.00 GMT Spurs Lodge

dreamers75

So 678 clubs can get to see the players they nurtured and developed and who were ultimaltley stolen by these clubs ....maybe get a game.

Child slavery is alive and well.

MUSEIST

dreamers75 wrote: »

So 678 clubs can get to see the players they nurtured and developed and who were ultimaltley stolen by these clubs ....maybe get a game.

Child slavery is alive and well.

LOL:D:rolleyes:

dreamers75

MUSEIST wrote: »

LOL:D:rolleyes:

http://www.nextgenseries.com/


You honestly think these clubs had these players from underage.

They bought these players by offereing the fathers jobs selling programmes for 130k a year (Macheda)

Its child slavery and theres millions of willing parents dying to enter this game.

Seriously? you think this right or funny?

mike65

dreamers75 take it to another thread please.

flahavaj

dreamers75 wrote: »

http://www.nextgenseries.com/


You honestly think these clubs had these players from underage.

They bought these players by offereing the fathers jobs selling programmes for 130k a year (Macheda)

Its child slavery and theres millions of willing parents dying to enter this game.

Seriously? you think this right or funny?

I thibk you need to look up the meaning of the word slavery tbh.

Any link/evidence for the Macheda bit?

3hn2givr7mx1sc

dreamers75 wrote: »

http://www.nextgenseries.com/


You honestly think these clubs had these players from underage.

They bought these players by offereing the fathers jobs selling programmes for 130k a year (Macheda)

Its child slavery and theres millions of willing parents dying to enter this game.

Seriously? you think this right or funny?

It was David Petrucci's father that was offered the job, iirc.

And slavery my ass.

Mars Bar

Selling programmes so your son can travel the world playing a game for £130k a week sounds far from slavery.

dreamers75

flahavaj wrote: »

I thibk you need to look up the meaning of the word slavery tbh.

Any link/evidence for the Macheda bit?

Buy a programme at OT.

dreamers75

mars bar wrote: »

Selling programmes so your son can travel the world playing a game for £130k a week sounds far from slavery.

No it works into the KM rule.

Nice to see someone is aware of it,

5starpool

dreamers75 wrote: »

http://www.nextgenseries.com/


You honestly think these clubs had these players from underage.

They bought these players by offereing the fathers jobs selling programmes for 130k a year (Macheda)

Its child slavery and theres millions of willing parents dying to enter this game.

Seriously? you think this right or funny?

I'd love to be the parent of a slave and earning 135k a year when the slave himself is earning way more than that. Do you think the kids want to stay at the small clubs at 16/17/18 when they are offered a chance to develop at a club that can offer so much more in many ways? No one is forcing them to sign for clubs they don't want to.

Anyhow, on topic, hopefully lfc.tv will be showing the liverpool games anyhow.

tommyhaas

dreamers75 wrote: »

http://www.nextgenseries.com/


You honestly think these clubs had these players from underage.

They bought these players by offereing the fathers jobs selling programmes for 130k a year (Macheda)

Its child slavery and theres millions of willing parents dying to enter this game.

Seriously? you think this right or funny?

What age is Macheda, 20? He could probably retire next year comfortably. How exactly is that slavery?

POSSY

dreamers75 wrote: »

So 678 clubs can get to see the players they nurtured and developed and who were ultimaltley stolen by these clubs ....maybe get a game.

Child slavery is alive and well.

Hmmmmmm, slavery, football, huge sums of money being paid in wages.......


Sepp? Is that you?

Glico Man

5starpool wrote: »

Anyhow, on topic, hopefully lfc.tv will be showing the liverpool games anyhow.

I emailed them at the start of June and according to someone connected with NextGen, they're showing a selection of games online on their site, while club tv channels will carry some games.

everdead.ie

The spurs young team has been doing preseason in the Algarve and managed a 3-2 win over Forest and a 2-2 Draw with Brighton. There were an extra few "older" players involved like Andros Townsend and Jake Livermore but at the same time the likes of Steven Caulker probably won't be turning out for us given his loan spell a swansea.

United are also in line to join next year as are Real Madrid I think.

Likely Spurs squad for next Gen series

Mirko Ranieri GK
Jordan Archer GK
Nathan Byrne
Adam Smith
Tom Carroll
Ryan Fredricks
Ryan Mason
Kudos Oyenuga
Cameron Lancaster
Waller-lassen
Dean Parrett
John Bostock
Soulymane Coubili
Cristian Ceballos
Harry Kane

We are a bit short on defenders in the youth team but we recently had a young greek CB and srbian LB on trial in portugal so they could yet be signed. Of the players listed 5 were brought in from other clubs raneri, bostock, parrett, coubilli and Ceballos. The rest have come through our academy. Tom Carroll and Harry Kane are probably the most promising.

flahavaj

dreamers75 wrote: »

Buy a programme at OT.

I'll take that as a no.

opr

First game for Liverpool will be shown live on LFC TV and LFC TV Online.

http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/latest-news/watch-our-euro-starlets-live

Fixtures.









Opr

PHB

I'm intrigued as to why some clubs turned it down. I know United's management constantly complain about the standards in the reserve leagues.

opr

PHB wrote: »

I'm intrigued as to why some clubs turned it down. I know United's management constantly complain about the standards in the reserve leagues.

It was done on invitation basis this year with more clubs being added next near which is to included Arsenal and Man United.

A Champions League style competition for Under-19 club sides is in the works for next season. The tournament, dubbed the NextGen Series, will consist of 16 clubs in four groups, and FC Barcelona will be included among the teams chosen to participate.

As reported by British newspaper Daily Mail, FIFA has created a competition of clubs belonging to the European elite (similar to the Champions League) for Under-19, in which FC Barcelona will participate, ​​in order to show the world the future promise of European football.

The inaugural line-up has been determined by invitation and recommendation, influenced by the quality of each club’s academy. There is one more place to be confirmed. The sixteen teams will be divided into four groups and the top two from each group will advance to the final stage. TV rights are being negotiated and the finals could be staged in Abu Dhabi.

NextGen is the brainchild of former Watford academy manager Mark Warburton and will pit some of the best young sides in Europe against each other home and away in a tournament that will start in September with the knockout stages in January. Fixtures will be scheduled for two or three week intervals between the four groups of four teams who will play each other home and away. This means that Barcelona would play six games in the competition up until the end of November.

All the fixtures are yet to be finalized but it is understood that Barcelona will be paired with Manchester City, Celtic and Marseille.

The competition is seen as the ideal platform to improve the quality of opposition for younger players and give them valuable experience of an elite competition. The organizers wish to lay down strict guidelines for the Under-19 tournament but, similar to the Under-21 set-up, they will allow three players over-aged players (no older than 20) to join the squad.

It is expected that the competition will grow as more heavyweight clubs rush to join in. The early European Cup, launched in 1955-56, also started as a relatively small competition and then mushroomed.

Manchester United, Arsenal and Chelsea are among those waiting to come in next season, along with Ajax. If the first season of the tournament goes well, plans are in place to bring in other teams from next season to expand to 24 teams.

Opr

101001

the youth structures in England play an awful lot of football already compared to their foreign counter parts and has been used as an argument in the past* as to why the youth development in England isn't as fruitful as in other countries (germany/spain etc). I'm wondering if adding more games will have a further detrimental effect.

But on the other hand I really do like watching under-age sports....

as a matter on interest anyone know the age criteria? (edit: opr's post just answered that one for me) Is there a named squad requirement etc.

*any interesting article THFC turned me onto on Roger Spry http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/sport/football/middlesbrough/8266880.Monday_Spotlight__The_most_famous_English_coach_you___ve_never_heard_of/ if anyones interested

mike65

First round of games tomorrow night. Liverpools game is on LFCTV

Surprisingly upbeat blog article about the tournament in the Daily Mail

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2026578/NextGen-Series-blog--Liverpool-Celtic-Spurs-Aston-Villa-kick-ready-kick-off.html

LFC TV talk to the competition founder Mark Warburton.
http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/latest-news/nextgen-founder-chats-to-tv

opr

Another good piece in the Guardian.

Can the NextGen Series bridge gap between youth and senior football?

Aspiring professional footballers usually miss out on the globe-trotting gap years enjoyed by many of their 'civilian' peers but compensation has finally arrived in the form of a glamorous European Under-19 competition. Very much a junior Champions League, the NextGen Series, which kicks off across the continent on Wednesday, features 16 clubs including Barcelona, Aston Villa, Liverpool, Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspur and Celtic.

Between now and November they will compete in four groups, hoping to progress to the knockout stages in the new year. At this juncture, things deviate from the senior Champions League format as NextGen morphs into a mini, sudden-death tournament likely to be staged in the Middle East – Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Doha are possibilities – in January.

Liverpool begin against Sporting Lisbon at Anfield on Wednesday night when it is hoped ticket prices of £5 for adults and £2 for children will attract a sizeable crowd. Frank McParland, the head of Liverpool's academy and reserves, trusts such occasions will enhance the chances of more of his proteges following in the footsteps of Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher. "There's no doubt the boys are going to be stretched, which maybe can't always be said when it comes to more regular reserve football," McParland says.He hopes NextGen will capture the imagination of Liverpool fans facing up to a rare season bereft of first-team European competition.

With not only Barcelona but Internazionale, Ajax, PSV Eindhoven, Fenerbahce and Marseille among those involved, the technical bar is bound to be raised as Mark Warburton sees his brainchild finally spring into life. Warburton dreamed up NextGen during a previous incarnation as Watford's academy director. "I realised 18- and 19-year-olds needed a different challenge to help them make the transition to the first team," he says.

At the time McParland was scouting for Watford. "Three or four years ago Mark and I often discussed how we could improve and advance youth football," he says. "We used to throw ideas around and say how fantastic it would be to put kids from the biggest clubs in England against the giants of Europe. Now Mark's got NextGen off the ground and it's become a reality, it will only benefit our young players."

Defying widespread economic gloom, Warburton has found investors willing to finance the competing clubs' hotel and flight costs in the belief that payback will eventually come in the form of television and sponsorship deals. With broadcasters already in talks with the company, the plan is to expand the competition to 24 teams next season when Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal, Bayern Munich and Real Madrid are expected to join.

In time NextGen could not only widen the gulf between the Premier League's elite teams and the rest but potentially prove a more attractive broadcast proposition than the Championship. For the moment though, it is primarily about rectifying the growing disconnect between the demands of reserve and first XI football.

"We want to fill a void," Warburton says. "Apart from an exceptional few capable of jumping straight into first teams, many promising academy graduates have not been provided with enough consistent high-quality challenges. We think we can avoid wasting talent by helping more young players reach senior level.

"The FA Youth Cup aside, English youngsters don't have enough really competitive games; in many reserve fixtures the result isn't all that important. And our competition has educational benefits too; the players will learn a lot from travelling abroad. They'll be out of their comfort zones."

The exposure to big-match pressures allied to the debilitating effects of frequently flying home through the night are cheered by Mark Allen, the head of Manchester City's academy. "Our young players will now be competing against the best in Europe," he says. "The experience will give them a proper platform on which to prepare for first-team life. We see this as an important chapter in the development of Manchester City."

NextGen rules permit three under-20s to feature in an otherwise under-19 ensemble, an allowance Allen regards as eminently logical. "The average age of a Premier League debut is becoming older," he says. "It's 21 or 22 when it might once have been 17 or 18. We have to bridge the gap and prepare everyone for a better standard of football. And who knows you might see the next Lionel Messi at Hyde [City's reserve home]."

Chris McCart, Celtic's head of youth development, believes involvement confers the additional bonus of increasing his club's pulling power. "We're confident our youngsters' style of play will improve but NextGen should also be excellent in terms of youth recruitment," he says. "We can now offer the opportunity of overseas travel and games against the likes of Barcelona."

Few gap years can compete.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2011/aug/16/nextgen-series-youth-senior-football

Opr

opr

First game starts at 7pm.

Really looking forward to it and by all accounts Sporting have a strong youth team so should be a good match.

I don't think Flanagan or Robinson are likely to drop down tonight as the first team is without cover for both slots atm due to injury. Young Irish full back Ryan McLaughlin posted on twitter that he had been included in the squad but failed to get international clearance in time to play tonight.

Given all that this is the team I would like to see start.

---

Belford

---

Wilson

---

Wisdom----Sama

---

Smith

---

Coady

---

Suso

---

Silva

---

Adorjan

---

Sterling

---

Morgan

---

Full backs could be any of a few. I am not really expecting Suso to start in the middle and more hoping as I think he will more than likely start on the right of the front three like last season. Good few new faces have come in since the summer and another few have moved up from the u16's so hard to know if any of them will figure tonight. Nacho, Baio and Moli all have been particularly impressive from what I have seen.

Opr

5starpool

Looking forward to this one. I have zero idea how good Sporting Lisbon are, but I'd imagine they will be pretty decent anyhow. Hopefully there is a bit of a crowd there for it.

mike65

Early squad news from twitter

Torbjørn Flatin
Some players in the squad : Coady, Shelvey, McGiveron, Suso, Wisdom, Robinson, Sterling, Silva, Morgan, Ngoo, Sama, Belford.

Have to see if I can find some streams.

http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/opinion/blogs/mirror-football-blog/NextGen-Preview-The-U-19-Champions-League-kicks-off-with-Liverpool-Manchester-City-Tottenham-Aston-Villa-Celtic-Inter-Milan-Barcelona-and-more-article786580.html

for those wondering why certain big names are not taking part

However, the planning and development process seemed to grind to a halt around 18 months ago, before being revived. Chelsea, Manchester City, Liverpool and Celtic were among a number of outfits involved in trials last year, as more details began to emerge, such as news that participants would use the main stadium for games, instead of training centres.

A number of the biggest clubs in Europe were contacted, and an initial draw took place. Arsenal, Chelsea, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich were all included, but worries over UEFA taking a back seat and the costs of travelling, policing and perceived level of interest saw those parties back out and focus firmly on Reserve team football.

opr

mike65 wrote: »

Have to see if I can find some streams.

Couple of streams listed on myp2p.

http://www.myp2p.eu/broadcast.php?matchid=127206&part=sports#

Opr

opr

NextGenSeries NextGeneration
Liverpool team - Belford - Wisdom - Robinson - Sama - McGiveron - Coady - Sterling - Shelvey - Morgan - Suso - Silva

Opr

opr

From the talk before the game this is going to be a real test. Many seem to think Sporting Lisbon have one of the best sides in the competition.

Opr

eagle eye

I don't know if this will be a good thing for youth football. It could turn into a case where whatever is best for the team is most important and the development of the player becomes a secondary issue.

It could also lead to more plucking of youth players from smaller clubs at a younger age and less money for those clubs as a result of losing their talented youths earlier.

Glico Man

http://www.norwaysport.co.uk/Norgeidrett3/

Super stream for anyone interested

opr

Good start. Looks like Shelvey is play in the hole with Suso deeper as part of the two in midfield.

Opr

mike65

Lisbon are clearly a level better.

Glico Man

Good finish... Sama should've been out to him quicker though

murpho999

mike65 wrote: »

Lisbon are clearly a level better.

Did you post that before or after they scored?

G.K.

Nice there.

mike65

What a waste of a shot, Silva should have laid that back.

Glico Man

mike65 wrote: »

What a waste of a shot, Silva should have laid that back.

Bit of a glory hog alright. Morgan was clear through in the 2nd minute of so if Silva had passed it. Instead he went on a run and lost the ball

Pyjamarama

No support for the forwards at all... poor so far from pool. Sporting are a good side but this is a poor performance as well.

mike65

Silva looks like one of those showboaters

(murpho999 I posted that just as it went in on my stream)

G.K.

This Silva looks talented but a glory hog.

5starpool

A lot of misplaced passes from Liverpool after a bright enough start. Lisbon definitely the better, more composed side, but not many chances at all at either end.

murpho999

mike65 wrote: »

Silva looks like one of those showboaters

(murpho999 I posted that just as it went in on my stream)

G.K. wrote: »

This Silva looks talented but a glory hog.

Isn't that normal for a young lad though? Good coaching should improve that.

Glico Man

Great play down the left. Good run from Sterling, has some turn of pace on him

opr

Looked far better since Shelvey swapped positions with Suso. Suso now pulling some strings in the final third.

Edit - 2-0

Opr

murpho999

2-0.

Movement up front and precision fast passing is killing Liverpool!

mike65

Oh dear 2-0 way too easy.

Glico Man

Simply brilliant goal

5starpool

Should have scored there Suso.

Glico Man

Poor enough shot, should've gone to the keepers other side

JPA

Villa lost 2-0 to Ajax.

Glico Man

Suso and Shelvey have swapped positions, hopefully it gets him into the game more