A look at La Liga
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The song Football’s Coming Home did prove to be accurate in the end!
The home of the trophy for the 2024 European Championship is ... now the same as the Women’s World Cup and Nations League. Spain rules supreme.
As the other leading countries stage inquests on what went wrong and their coaches consider their futures, España are lauding it and partying the week away.
All around Europe, they’ll be studying the Spanish and trying to work out their secret to success - or should that be successes?
There are many aspects. Talent is at the top of the list, along with a harmonious team that blended and a coach who has helped develope the players through the development system. One unexpected factor is FFP!
“Financial Fair Play” gets a bad wrap with fans who want clubs to break the bank to bring the best players to their stadia. At Barcelona, it blew up the bank. Liga clubs were hit with economic restraints a couple of years before other leagues. This has put an emphasis on promoting youth ahead of gambling millions on imported talent.
It’s unlikely that a 16-year-old would have been starring for Barcelona if they could have splashed the cash. Lamine Yamal is a sensation ahead of his time. It’s a sign of the times when he’s Barcelona’s only representative in the starting Spanish team. He will be joined by Pau Cubarsí in future years - plus Gavi and Pedri when they’re fully fit,
Real Madrid only contributed Dani Carvajal to the starting team which highlights the age. Contrast this to the World Cup winning team of 2010 when only Joan Capdevila broke the monopoly of the big two. Two years later, David Silva was the sole player never to don the shirt of Real and Barca from the 2012 Euros winners.
The spread of clubs in this vintage 2024 team is very impressive - 10 clubs were represented in the opening eleven; only Athletic Bilbao boasted two players in Unai Simón and Nico Williams. Basque rivals Real Sociedad ended up with four players on the pitch as Mikel Merino, Martin Zubimendi and Mikel Oyarzabal joined Robin Le Normand. This proves the point that the San Sebastián club has the best youth development system in Europe.
By default, Spain have stolen a march on the rest of the world by adhering to the unpopular FFP rules. Instead of looking across the borders for a new left-back or fresh attacking talent, they dig into the cantera. Cantera means quarry in English, and they have mined some diamonds.
As English clubs devise ways around signing foreign talent by spreading the cost with amortisation, Spanish clubs promote from within. At Athletic Club, it’s a necessity; at Real Sociedad, it’s an art, Barcelona have a history with La Masia and Valencia has an amazing crop of kids coming through.
So, there we go, the clue is in the song: To bring football home, you have to look at home and cultivate in your own back garden.
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