Sunday, April 3rd, 2011 « Untold Arsenal: Arsenal News. Supporting the Lord Wenger; coach of the decade
Arsenal on Twitter @UntoldArsenal
Untold Arsenal on Facebook here
How the 25-man rule can be improved (And it is just my opinion)
By Nitesh Padhi
First of all, let’s just clear out the quite confusing 25-man rule. According to the rule,
A home grown player is defined as one who, irrespective of his nationality or age, has been registered with any club affiliated to the Football Association or the Welsh Football Association for a period, continuous or not, of three entire seasons or 36 months prior to his 21st birthday (or the end of the season during which he turns 21).
For the purposes of this rule, the season is deemed to run from the date the first transfer window closes until the final match of the campaign.
In keeping with UEFA guidelines, an Under 21 player is defined as one who is under the age of 21 on
The 25-man squads must be submitted to the Premier League by 5pm on the day following the close of each transfer window.
While the transfer windows are open, clubs may change their squads as many times as they want. However they will only be able to make alterations outside the windows if there are exceptional circumstances and the changes are approved by the Premier League board.
For example, if a club has two out of three goalkeepers injured they may be permitted to bring in a replacement under the guidelines drawn up by a specially formed working party.
Players in the 25-man squads who go out on loan to Football League clubs may not be replaced. However they may reclaim their place on their return.
Clubs do not have to name a full squad of 25 if they do not have that many contracted players and in this instance they may add free agents outside the transfer window. However if they have 25 eligible contracted players, they must be named.
Similarly, clubs do not have to name eight home grown players if they do not have that many but that would mean operating with a reduced squad.
Ok, now there are a lot of loopholes in there. But the main thing, it is very short sighted. For instance, in the next 5 years, 50+ players from Arsenal’s youth academy are going to graduate and only 4 or 5 will find a place in the squad list. The careers of the others will go downwards and will be destroyed if they don’t find a club fast enough.
Another downside is that the clubs lose a pool of talent every year because they are forced to send the players out on loan. Thus they cannot use them when they need to rest their players during the course of the season. As a result, the general level of the league goes down. Perhaps that is why we are seeing the most poor yet the most competitive league in decades. I am not complaining, but this has resulted in a lot of injuries to key players throughout the season and lengthy spells on the sidelines burned out.
Now how can we improve the situation? One way to do this is by allowing clubs to have a second team playing in the lower leagues. This is a tactic that has been successfully adapted in the La Liga, with Barcelona and Villareal succeeding with their respective ‘B’ teams. The ‘B’ team is not allowed to play in the same division as the first team and is always kept at least 1 division down.
This is a fantasy. There are teams in the premier league who don’t even have a reserve team, let alone manage another first team. Teams like the spuds will no doubt protest against this ruling if it
The best idea to improve the rule is not by setting up another rule, but by tweaking the present rule. Instead of integrating home-grown players into the 25 man-squad, we should separate them from one another. Clubs should be allowed to use any number of home-grown players if they have been affiliated with THAT club only. If they have got the player from another club but he is still home-grown (here home-grown according to the law) then they should be allowed to use any number of them till the age of 25. The other squad, or the ‘foreign’ squad, should be cut down to 20 players, who have been brought in by the clubs and are not home-grown. This does not only make the law eligible for the future, but it rewards clubs who invest in their academies, and don’t resort to cut-throat dealings in the transfer market.
The law was made for the betterment of the English team, but I cannot help but think that this only makes an English first 11, leaving no squad to call upon. Tweaking the law could make it better for the fans, the team and the clubs as one.
Next season’s new players – the complete guide (almost)