\n<\/p>\n
Still, it\u2019s hard not to ask what the current state of the WSL means for the next generation. Just 42 homegrown players aged 23 or under played in the English top-flight last season, compared to 125 in the top-flight in Spain, 104 in Germany, 91 in France, 83 in U.S. and 53 in Italy. That\u2019s despite the latter being a nation that is new to the elite level of the women\u2019s game and, as such, has very low participation numbers.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe England national team is the best in Europe,\u201d said Chelsea boss Bompastor. \u201cBut now it’s how do you develop the young players to become one of the strongest countries in the world.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Some preach patience. Man City boss Andree Jeglertz knows all about good youth development as it is a trademark of his native Sweden. When talking to <\/span>GOAL<\/strong><\/b> about how much trickier it is in England, he noted that it is an area where the WSL is still \u201cgrowing\u201d, before adding: \u201cBut you need to start with the best league and then you can build the other things.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Speaking specifically about City\u2019s plans to bridge the gap between the U21s and the first team, Jeglertz is clearly encouraged, \u201cbut it takes time,\u201d he insisted. \u201cIt takes a lot of time and we need to be patient.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n It\u2019s a hopefulness shared by O\u2019Neill, the club\u2019s managing director. She spent eight years in City\u2019s boys\u2019 academy, watching talented youngsters try to break into the best men\u2019s league in the world and, as Pep Guardiola’s arrival went on to deliver seven Premier League titles in eight years, one of the best teams in the world. Her take is simple, telling reporters in May: \u201cThe best way to clear the pathway is to develop top players. There is no other solution. I’ve lived it and breathed it. The solution is to find and develop the world’s best players. If you do that, the path clears itself.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cYou look at Phil [Foden], Oscar Bobb, Rico Lewis, Nico O’Reilly, [James] Trafford. I took James Trafford to a tournament when he was in the U12s, to Paris, and saw how amazing he was and all the things we put around him to become one of the best goalkeepers in this country. So, for me, the focus is on creating the best academy in this country, if not Europe. If we produce elite talent, they will play.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Can every club in England do that? Probably not. Can things change to help the situation improve for all though? Absolutely. If the Lionesses want to continue to win major international titles and remain one of the best teams in the world for years to come, opportunities for young players to play in the WSL have to increase.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Still, it\u2019s hard not to ask what the current state of the WSL means for…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":25484,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25483","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sport"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25483","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=25483"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25483\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/25484"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=25483"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=25483"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=25483"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}