West Ham Stars of the Future

The Daily Mail has an interesting article today about the youth set up at West Ham. You just have to look at the current England team to see that West Ham probably produce more home grown talent than any other English club.

The Mail spoke to West Ham's academy director Tony Carr to find out why West Ham are so good at producing skilful players.

Some of the main points are:

• West Ham's juniors play small-sided games on smaller pitches with smaller goals up until the age of 12. Most other kids their age play on full-sized pitches.
• Carr and his team cajole their charges to express their talent, only steering them towards positions and tactics when technical proficiency is a given.
• Individuality is encouraged and the kids are allowed to express themselves in their play rather than coach it out of them.