Could Premier League 'B' teams be the answer? United, City, Chelsea and Everton all want Spanish style academy revolution



The introduction of Barclays Premier League ‘B’ teams or feeder clubs into the Football League has begun to emerge as a serious consideration for several of England’s most powerful clubs.

Sportsmail can reveal that preliminary discussions have taken place at recent Premier League shareholders meetings over the current state of youth football, with an increasing recognition that more must be done to provide a pathway between the academy and first-team.

It is understood that Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea and Everton would all be receptive to varying degrees to further exploration into the proposals and would welcome the furthering of such a debate.



Making strides: Adnan Januzaj is one of the few youngsters to have broken through from a Premier League academy this season at a bigger club

At this time, all talks remain very much in an embryonic stage but there is a developing consensus among the Premier League’s elite clubs that the ‘B’ team model may provide the most effective solution to a malaise engulfing English football.

As a MailOnline Sport investigation revealed in February, there is growing concern that too many talented English teenagers are disappearing into what one academy chief describes as ‘a black hole’ between the ages of 18 and 21.



The frailty of the current system means that clubs must either risk sending players out on loan, thus losing control of their progression, or they must field the players in the Under 21 Premier League, which is deemed to be an insufficiently stimulating environment for young footballers.

This lack of faith in the youth league is illustrated by the striking statistic that Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool have a combined 69 players out on loan, the vast majority of whom would quality to play in the competition.

Spanish style: The Barcelona model is one that many Premier League clubs want to follow

The ‘B’ team system, which is valued in Spain and forms an integral part of the unparalleled Barcelona finishing school at the La Masia academy, has thus emerged as an increasingly attractive option to English teams.



When we consider that Barcelona defeated Manchester City at the Camp Nou in the Champions League three weeks ago with seven academy products in the starting line-up and a total of ten in their match-day squad, It is not difficult to understand why Premier League clubs are casting envious glances towards Catalonia.

Maturing: Andros Townsend had to go out on loan before making his mark for Spurs and England

In Spain, Barcelona and Real Madrid’s ‘B’ teams play in the second tier, without the right to promotion, but with the benefit of playing week-in, week-out as a group against professional teams.



The advantages are clear, as clubs are able to retain control over their youngsters’ development while also introducing the teens to the rigours of competitive football.



Details over how such a system could be implemented in England are yet to be broached among Premier League clubs but the leading voices are understood to be open to various suggestions, including the potential expansion of the Championship and League 1 to accommodate ‘B’ teams.



Highly-placed sources from the Football League have indicated to Sportsmail that the body would fervently resist any attempt by top-flight sides to crystallise such ideas, determined to prevent against any threat to their passionately supported member-clubs. In their eyes, it’s a none-starter. Upstairs must look after downstairs and protect the traditions of English football.

The Premier League privately share such reservations, although not quite as vociferously, and it is understood that the body are not centrally advocating a disruption of the pyramid of English football.



There is, however, a recognition that the views of its member clubs may differ. Should the clubs press on with the issue, it would require a vote from Premier League clubs and if fourteen or more were to support the proposal, then the body would be obliged to represent the views of its members, to do extensive research on the feasibility of the project and hold talks with the Football League.



Huge: An artists impression of Manchester City's new academy area when it is completed

Last Friday evening, Manchester United hosted Chelsea in one of the most eagerly awaited fixtures of the Under 21 league campaign, yet its competitive edge was rather diluted by the fact that the two clubs have a combined 43 players out on loan, offering a worrying snapshot of the esteem in which the league is currently held.



‘Listen, the Barcelona B-team playing in Spain works well,’ Chelsea reserve-team coach Dermot Drummy tells Sportsmail, expressing his private views on the issue, ‘If we had our club philosophy running in the Championship or League 1 without relegation or promotion, that’s as near as you are going to get.



Example: Chelsea reserve manager Dermot Drummy has said the clubs would benefit just like Barcelona

'There definitely is a difference in physicality between the Under 21’s league and the next level. Personally speaking, I would be in favour of doing something like that, if I’m being honest.

'I’m not so sure what’s wrong with the Barcelona model, other than how do you start it up with all the traditions in English football? Maybe you can make the league bigger, don’t drop another club out but just make the league bigger?



'For the English game, we have got to get to the next level because we haven’t got it right at the moment but we are certainly addressing it.’



Chelsea are not believed to be the driving force behind these movements but Sportsmail understands that they are very much willing to entertain the idea, with manager José Mourinho conscious of the need to nurture greater English talent for the health of the national team.



In December, Manchester United executive vice-Chairman Edward Woodward spoke with the ‘United We Stand’ fanzine, in which he made his club’s position clear: ‘If we could have a B team playing then it would solve a lot of issues. The reserves do deliver some of the objectives, the system just isn’t as good as it could be.’



Manager David Moyes, meanwhile, attempted to place a ‘B’ team during his time at Everton, only to be discouraged when he was informed that the club would have to start from the very bottom rung of English football.



Sportsmail understands that reform is also increasingly promoted by neighbours Manchester City.



Improvements: Roberto Martinez is another who has said youngsters would benefit from a change

They have been criticised in some quarters for what Sir Alex Ferguson coined as ‘kamikaze spending’ but within the walls of the Etihad Stadium, there is a genuine desire to push the agenda of youth football.



Within the next year, the Etihad Campus will be opened, where City will boast a 7,000 seater-stadium for the academy, 16 full-size football pitches and state-of-the-art training and medical facilities. At Under 13 and Under 14 level, City are national champions.



Patrick Vieira is heading up the Elite Development Side. With bold investment, though, comes grand expectations for homegrown talent and City are determined not to see such expenditure go to waste.



It is understood that City have been one of those more vocal on the issue but a senior figure was keen to stress that a ‘B’ team is ‘one of several potential ideas’ that they would consider.



The signs, they say, in the lower age groups are ‘brilliant’ but having placed such endeavour into the youth system, City are concerned that young talent may not be afforded the best possible route through to the first team under the current system and it is for this reason that they are keen to encourage the debate.



Moving in the right direction: Patrick Vieira is heading up City's academy revolution

Everton, also, are supportive of the discussion and manager Roberto Martinez went on record earlier this season to state the case for special relationships with lower-league clubs and the merits of a B team: ‘You could have feeder teams. Accrington, for example, could have 10 players from Everton.



'Financially there are many teams in League Two and League One who are having problems and it wouldn’t be a bad thing for them to have 10 players from one club.



‘Can you imagine playing at championship level with your group, in your environment, but having to win games, try to get promotion and avoid relegation? You know what it means to play against men.



'That’s what you develop — mentally, psychologically and in every aspect of the game — but we haven’t got that here.’

Presence: Steven Caulker has proved how useful the loan system can be when at Swansea

Tottenham Hotspur are also prepared to welcome a debate on the subject, although reports of a contracted special relationship with Swindon have been over-stated. Their link with Swindon, where three players are out on loan, is deemed to be the closest in English football to a nursery scheme, but it is facilitated by Tim Sherwood’s friendship with Swindon chairman Lee Power.



'Although Spurs insist they have no official stance on the notion of ‘B’ teams, there is sufficient anecdotal evidence to suggest they would be receptive to further talks. This it a club, who, lest we forget, withdrew from the reserve league in 2009 and have made full use of the loan system with players such as Andros Townsend and Steven Caulker going on to become England internationals.



Tottenham, like many Premier League clubs, are awaiting the findings of Greg Dyke’s special commission to improve the England national team.

