But I don’t know if one can blame the clubs putting on pressure though, because Barcelona has a great youth program, so somehow they found the balance. England aside, I think La Liga and Serie A do have good youth programs, it’s just that you rarely see kids play for the top teams because it’s unreasonable to expect a 17 year old to match the standards of a club like Chelsea. But I think in the next 15 years, we’ll see the other countries catch up. The Bundesliga is just now starting reap the rewards of patient development programs.

What frightens me is that France is the only major European country whose starting XI can be fielded by players overseas (assuming Landreau ever gets dropped for Frey). No other country – Portugal, Germany, Italy, England, Spain, Netherlands – can say the same.

Frey
Sagna – Gallas – Thuram – Abidal
Ribery – Makelele – Vieira – Malouda
Henry – Anelka

France is the new Brazil.

The only position that I think L1 will always have the advantage is in gk. I seriously believe that France has the best gk depth in the big 5, with even relegation clubs possessing gks that would be consider top class in other countries.

Now if they can just figure out how to keep the players in French clubs.

If you look at the two most successful and well-known leagues: EPL and La Liga, neither England or Spain have won or been close to winning a major international championship for a long time. Their high profile puts a lot of pressure on the clubs to win all the time and because they have means, they usually just buy the necessary players.

In contrast because the Ligue 1 clubs have relatively less money, they are forced to spend time developing local talent, which gives the French NT a lot of talent to choose from. The only exception is probably Italy, which has had a successful league and been able to win major championships/get to finals.

Coupled that with the fact that French clubs aren’t allowed to operate in the red – the reason that Chelsea can afford to dole out millions in paychecks while still possessing a massive debt.

You can say that Lyon and Marseille could afford a big salary (well, maybe not that big), and even have the cash on hand, but those players don’t want to come. Reyes turned down the chance to be the star of L1 and be one of the club’s highest earners to sit on the bench of Atletico, which has no CL prospects whatsoever. So sometimes, even if French clubs have the money, L1 doesn’t have the allure to bring in players.

And even with revenue – L1 is at a considerably advantage because it’s in French. English clubs are the most marketable because in Asia, for example, almost everyone knows English. Only Real and Barca can compete in that sphere because they’ve been around forever, at least ever since televised soccer made its way to China and India. Even Serie A clubs like Juventus and Milan have limited fanbases outside of Italy and its expatriate population.

Anyway, to get back to Gallas, he doesn’t want to talk about why players leave France because it will make him sound like an ass, and he really doesn’t need anymore help in that department. He left because he wanted more money. End of story.

If interested:
http://lequipemoustache.blogspot.com/2007/02/ligue-1-why-rest-of-world-doesnt-care.html

Written by a dual citizen with the unique perspective of both cultures, so I’ll take his word for it, seeing as Gallas won’t explain.

@+,

L’Américain