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Spain's La Liga clubs have utilised a secondary squad for many years and the country's national team has enjoyed the benefits with regular international success; can England adopt a similar setup?
Take a glance at the final Segunda Division table from the 2013/2014 season and you'll notice a few interesting names in the standings. Amongst them, Barcelona B and Real Madrid Castilla. In the past few seasons, Villarreal and Atletico Madrid have also had their second teams in the second division. Whilst there is no rule that allows the B teams to play in the top flight, exposing young players to top level professional teams has surely benefited Spain's national side.
Barcelona B came third this season, finishing ahead of the likes of Real Zaragoza, Real Mallorca, Alaves and Las Palmas. That gives you an indication of just how decent of a squad they had to compete at the top. Coming third meant they would have been able to take part in the promotion play-offs, and in previous seasons Barca's second squad has been even more successful. Could this be a reason why Spain has produced so many good quality young talents over the years, and specifically the reason why Barcelona have churned out so many midfielders over the past decade?
It has been suggested that a group of top Premier League clubs will be allowed to field a B team in either the 1st division or 2nd division in England. This will put them up against top clubs and will allow young players to showcase their talents outside of reserve and youth team games.
Who is going to benefit from such a setup? Pretty much everyone. The youth team players will be exposed to first team football, the clubs will be able to give their youngsters more experience and keep playing staff happier and the national sides of the UK will inevitably benefit with a larger range of young talent on show. In recent years, Germany's FA has also pushed top clubs' B teams, with Bayern Munich II often being the starting point for top German international talent.
England is falling behind and with such an innovative idea, English football is sure to benefit for many years to come.
Written by Ketan Patel
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