When everyone couldn't figure it out, he continued to speak, "Italy has a small territory and a small population, but once the stars were in the prime of the league. I think the basis is not the club's youth training mechanism, but the thousands of youth football games, and nearly a thousand football schools of different sizes, which has formed a huge football population base."

Saki kept nodding. Although he did not have serious research in this area, he understood this situation.

"But I don't know when the fees in football schools are getting more and more expensive. Even ordinary income families have to save money if they want to cultivate their children to go to football schools. A little lower-wage class will even lose money. But let's not forget that football has always been a high-elimination sport."

"It's right!" Saki clapped and clapped.

There was also a burst of applause at the scene.

"This is not the most important thing. The most important thing is that behind the high elimination rate, the operation of professional clubs is difficult, and the first-team performance is under pressure. Coupled with the large investment since the 1990s, many teams have fallen into business crisis and the first-teams are not caring about it. Who still cares about the youth team? Therefore, many youth team stars are not valued."

"You can imagine a new star who went to a football school and finally got his head out when he went to a professional club. The monthly salary for a contract is not enough for his minimum living expenses. Who is willing to do it? So some of them go to work as part-time caddies, while others leave football and find a living plan."

"In the long run, parents are unwilling to send their children to play football, and the number of football players in Italy is getting smaller and smaller, and the number of youth players is reduced. Football schools cannot receive students, and their business difficulties or even go bankrupt. It is difficult for professional clubs to obtain excellent star embryos. This has become a vicious cycle and a narrower path!"

Saki nodded constantly when he heard it.

"I don't agree with Caesar's words. At least Italy has performed well in the youth team's competitions in recent years. In the three U21 European Youth Championships, we won the championships, reached the semi-finals in 2000 and 2002, and in the U17 European Youth Championship, we won the championships more than other opponents."

Altafini seems to be in a fight with Yang Cheng.

Yang Cheng laughed, "This is indeed a very interesting phenomenon, but I can explain it."

"I have been in Germany for many years, so I'll take Germany as an example. When they register for the European Youth Championship, they usually choose children around 18 to play the qualifiers. When they reach the finals, they are about 20 years old, which meets the registration mechanism of u21. This is the industry practice. Every round in two years, everyone does not pay attention to the results, but pays attention to the value of training."

"But in Italy, this is not the case. In order to consolidate their official positions with their grades, many Football Association officials chose to play with their cleverness and take advantage of loopholes in the rules. In the qualifiers, they arranged players around 20 years old, forming a big fight against small things. In the final circle, these players are basically close to 23 years old."

"Don't believe it. Look at the 2002 European Youth Championship semi-finals. Italy's average age is 22 and a half years old. The average age of the Czech Republic is a little bit in its early 20s, but Italy still lost to the Czech Republic. Looking at the 2000 semi-finals, the opponent is still the Czech Republic. The average age of the opponent is less than 20 years old. However, the Italian national youth team is close to the average age of 23 years old."

Speaking of this, Yang Cheng spread his hands and said, "Look, how big is the gap?"

At this age group, the average age difference of 2 years old is definitely huge.

Yang Cheng made Altafini speechless, at least he is really not Yang Cheng's opponent in this regard.

"We in Inter Milan are adding additional investment in youth training every season, and this season is also the case. We focus on supporting outstanding football schools. After passing the assessment, they can join the Inter Milan youth training system. They can get a support fund. In contrast, they will reduce the admission fee and even give free or scholarships to certain outstanding players."

"We hope that this way can attract more star embryos. At the same time, we are constantly expanding the bridge between the first team and the youth team, so we have transferred Interrelo from Milan to the Pinetina base this season, all to give the youth team more and better opportunities."

There is another indisputable fact that Yang Cheng did not say, but everyone knows that in the Italian national teams, Inter Milan has more than 4 players at each level, of which u17 has reached 7. This group is exactly the group of players cultivated by Yang Cheng after joining the team.

This shows that Yang Cheng's role in promoting Inter Milan youth training.

From Kaiserslautern to Inter Milan, from Germany to Italy, Yang Cheng has always been promoting his concept of paying attention to youth training. However, in Italy, Yang Cheng can do very little, and he even feels that this guy is very much like his motherland.

In youth training, Yang Cheng was not the case, and Altafini changed the topic and turned to the most popular Italian derby and Milan derby.

As a AC Milan legend and Juventus fan, Altafini definitely supports AC Milan and Juventus. He believes it is difficult for Inter Milan to continue to win from Juventus.

"I think your Inter Milan win streak will end with Juventus, and unbeaten will end with AC Milan!" Altafini said with a smile. This was a wonderful result for him.

Yang Cheng was not angry either, after all, there was nothing to be angry about.

But he was laughing too, making Altafini feel a little furious.
Chapter completed!