Gareth Southgate and the Football Foundation’s Paul Thorogood discuss the state of grass roots football

And they answer your questions on our live Web TV show. Show date: Friday 11th May Show time: 10:15am

With the domestic football season coming to an end and the 2012 UEFA European Football Championship fast approaching, football is once again gripping the nation.

And while the national team will carry the hopes and dreams of the country out to Poland and the Ukraine, a ground-breaking report has been published showing a burgeoning grassroots football scene in England.

The first of its kind Monitoring and Evaluation report from the Football Foundation shows the true impact of its twelve years of investment in state-of-the-art facilities, with football participation figures continuing to rise across the country at its sites.

Log on to our live Web TV show where DJ Spoony will put your questions to Gareth Southgate, Head of Elite Development at the FA and Paul Thorogood Chief Executive of the Football Foundation, as they discuss the importance of grass roots football in England, what it means for the future of the game in this country.

The Football Foundation is funded by The FA, the Premier League and the Department for Culture, Media & Sport.

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Jamie Redknapp described THAT utterly ridiculous Papiss Demba Cisse goal as “almost illegal.” With that in mind, here’s 5 of the best goals from the Premier League scrap book which do their best to break the law as well as the net.  Tony Yeboah (LEEDS vs Wimbledon, 1995) It’s worth mentioning the Ghanaian scored two goals which could [...]

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He may not be a familiar name currently but U21 Sweden international Alexander Milosevic announced himself on the worldwide football stage recently by smashing a shot in from 45 yards out, just outside the centre circle, in a Swedish domestic league game.  The highly-rated 20 year old was playing for last years runners up AIK against GIF Sundsvall [...]

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The Gunners are making waves again as the transfer window beckons.  According to the Daily Mail there’s already a new Gareth Bale. The man in question is Acharaf Laazar, who currently plies his trade for Serie B side Varese, and his agent’s already moving quick to tout him about to potential suitors. One of those [...]

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With rumours continually circling around the future of Napoli front man Edinson Cavani, a club who are frequently being linked with the Uruguayan are cash rich Manchester City.

As reported in the Daily Mail, the £40million rated Cavani has refused to rule out a move away from the San Paolo this summer, saying the club will deal with his future. He stated,

“Will I stay at Napoli even if we don’t qualify for the Champions League? I don’t know, the club will deal with this sort of thing.”

With Napoli battling for a Champions League qualifying spot currently in Serie A, the player may see his future somewhere else if Napoli fail to succeed as seemingly, he will want to continue playing amongst Europe’s elite in the competition next year. Chelsea and Real Madrid are also rumoured to be monitoring the situation to rival Man City’s interest.

So what would Cavani offer to City that they don’t already have? With Tevez surely leaving in the summer, Balotelli not possessing enough brain cells to keep himself on the pitch and Dzeko not producing anything of late – maybe ‘El Matador’ can provide some assistance to the immense Aguero and increase City’s firepower in the coming season. Here are 3 reasons why Mancini should make a move for him.

Proven Goalscorer

Since his move from Palermo to Napoli, Cavani has scored an impressive 47 goals in 67 appearances for the Azzurri in all competitions. He is a player who is capable of scoring any type of goal from towering headers, explosive 30-yard screamers, clinical tap-in’s and outrageous volleys. He also posses great movement which allows him to often find himself in the right place at the right time, a knack that shouldn’t be taken for granted in strikers which Napoli use to their advantage, as this allows their free flowing counter-attacks to progress. These attributes make him one of the most feared strikers present in Serie A.

Physical Presence

At 6ft 2in the 25-year-old would offer City a focal point and aerial presence which they sometimes lack upfront when the likes of Nasri, Silva, Aguero and Tevez are selected. Cavani’s style however is very unorthodox for a tall player, his dribbling style is very difficult to defend against and he is also surprisingly quick. This combination bemuses many defenders who come up against the Uruguayan powerhouse.

Top Flight, European and International Experience

What brought the attention of Italian giants such as Juventus and Inter Milan to Cavani before his move to Palermo was his notable performance in the 2007 U-20 South American Championships. He finished the competition as top goalscorer for a Uruguay side that finished third behind Argentina and Winners Brazil. His exploits in that competition led him to his move to Italy where he has featured since 2007, more prominently and impressively for Napoli – leading them to the Champions League qualification last term.

In this seasons Champions League he actually scored three times against potential suitors Man City and overall in the competition scored five in eight games. This takes his current tally in all European competitions to an impressive 12 goals in 18 appearances – showing he can produce on the grandest stage in football.

Internationally he has also won the Copa America with Uruguay for whom he has been capped 37 times, scoring 11 goals. He has struck a fearsome partnership with Premier League villain Luiz Suarez for his country who are currently ranked 3^rd in the FIFA World Rankings.

Reasons listed above will already be well known down at the Eithad. Any potential move for the player would have many of Europe’s finest taking City even more seriously as Mancini’s men desperately attempt to come out of the shadows of near neighbours Manchester United and become one of the elite clubs not only domestically but on the European stage in their own right

As part of the forth coming 20th Anniversary of the Premier League, a panel of experts  have drawn up various shortlists in several categories to commemorate the great and the good since 1992.  One of these shortlists is the Top 10 Premier League players of the last two decades.  Looking over the shortlist in The [...]

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Players on the continent who are sure to have scouts scribbling in to their notebooks at present. Javi Martinez After orchestrating the demise of Manchester United in the Europa League, Martinez has already started to attract attention from Sir Alex Ferguson. The Spaniard has consistently impressed for Bilbao this season, playing in a variety of roles including [...]

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Liverpool are looking to the future and chasing a promising youth team striker from Athletic Bilbao reports talkSPORT.  The young starlet has caught the eye of Spanish giants Barcelona and Real Madrid but Liverpool have apparently stolen the march on them and are already negotiating a deal states The Mirror, whose source is a Basque [...]

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Here are five graduates of Arsenal’s youth academy that will give Gunners fans around the world plenty to look forward to in the coming years.

Name: Martin Angha *Star prospect*

Squad number: 57

Age: 18

Nationality: Switzerland

Position: Defender

Angha featured 21 times for the youth team in his debut season before being promoted to the reserves for the last six games of the 2010/2011 campaign. This year, the 6’4 centre-back has been a regular for the reserves, and has come very close to breaking into the first-team.

Angha was being considered for Arsenal’s Champions League squad back in December for their game against Olympiakos, however the youngster failed to meet UEFA’s qualifying criteria as he had not lived in England for long enough at that point.

The 18 year-old, who captained his country at Under-16 level, has made great improvements over the last two seasons and goes down as my pick of the bunch.

Name: Thomas Eisfeld

Age: 19

Nationality: Germany

Position: Midfielder

Eisfeld joined Arsenal from Borussia Dortmund in January, after his six goals and six assists in 12 games caught the eye of Arsene Wenger.

The versatile German has captained his country at Under-15 level, and Wenger was full of praise following his capture in the winter transfer window.

He said: “Thomas is a player we have liked for some time. We’ve watched him closely this season, where he has excelled for Dortmund’s youth team.

“He is young but has proven to us that he can play, that he has the attitude and technical ability to be a valuable addition to our squad. We’re very pleased to welcome him to the Club and look forward to his contribution in the coming seasons.”

Name: Benik Afobe

Squad number: 33

Age: 19

Nationality: England

Position: Striker

Afobe has been touted as the next big thing for quite a while now and it’s only a matter of time before the England Under-19 striker gets his chance to shine in Arsenal’s first team.

The 6ft forward, who spent a successful season on loan at Huddersfield Town during the 2010/2011 campaign, was part of  the England Under-17 team that won the European Championships in 2011, and has been a prolific scorer at several national levels.

Afobe is currently on loan at Reading but has only managed two Championship appearances since joining Brian Mcdermott’s promotion hopefuls.

Name: Damian Martinez

Squad number: 59

Age: 19

Nationality: Argentina

Position: Goalkeeper

Martinez joined Arsenal from Argentine giants Independiente at the beginning of the 2010/2011 campaign and has looked the part since arriving in London.

The 19 year-old has played in both the youth and reserve teams where his form impressed Argentina national team manager Alejandro Sabella enough to earn him a call up to the senior team last year.

Martinez was an unused substitute however it shows just how highly-rated this young man is.

Name: Jon Toral

Age: 17

Nationality: Spain

Position: Midfielder

Toral joined Arsenal from Barcelona along with Hector Bellerin last summer and has impressed since making the move to England. The left-footed attacking midfielder has been a regular scorer in the youth team this season and looks an extremely exciting talent. The next Cesc Fabregas? Probably not. But the young Spaniard looks like he will give it a go.

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Diners…The five players whose over indulgence has led excessive weight around the midriff, and ultimately a tarnished career.    Benni McCarthy Former Porto striker McCarthy scored 18 league goals in his debut season for Blackburn in 2006-07, with Chelsea thought to be interested for a period over that following summer. But things went wrong very quickly for [...]

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