‘You think in France you can’t have players like Vitinha? You have them!’ – Paulo Fonseca criticises element of French youth development | OneFootball

France as a whole and French academies are renowned for their development of young players. Many of the world’s elite players in past decades have been French and the Île-de-France region in particular has been identified as a hotbed of talent with players from the area populating squads across Ligue 1 and the world. However, for Olympique Lyonnais manager Paulo Fonseca, the French system is not infallible and the Portuguese manager has identified a weakness, as he told L’Équipe in an interview published on Wednesday.

A recent CIES study looked at which clubs across Europe had brought on the most players over the past 20 years who have then gone on to feature within Europe’s top five divisions (Premier League, La Liga, Bundesliga, Serie A, Ligue 1). Unsurprisingly, French clubs feature prominently.

Real Madrid top the tree having brought 166 players through their academy within the time frame, whilst Barcelona, through their prestigious La Masia academy come second with 156. Paris Saint-Germain are ranked third (111), just ahead of French rivals Olympique Lyonnais. Overall, there are seven French clubs in the top 20 in this ranking.

‘Young French players are not used to working tactically and learning the game’ – Fonseca

However, recently in France, there has been a discussion about the lack of highly technical options in France’s midfield. PSG have a very technical midfield that features Vitinha and João Neves and Fonseca identified why France perhaps aren’t bringing through these profiles.

“Portugal is a small country that may seem to lack means but what is better is our way of teaching the game to players and that is why all the time we have lots of young players playing in the biggest clubs in Europe. Here (in France) you have more talents – there is an incredible pool, but young French players are not used to working tactically and learning the game,” Fonseca began.

Fonseca continued, “They like to be free, to play a bit like they do in the street and it is good because they have a lot of talent. You can’t deny that. But you have to push these players to analyse the game and think as a team.If we manage to get them to understand when are the good moments to do this or that then that could become magnificent. You think in France, you can’t have players like Vitinha? You have them! But you haven’t given them the ability to read the game as well as Vitinha. For me, the way in which you work with the young players, the way in which you learn the game, is what explains that.”

GFFN | Luke Entwistle