I think the problem with English academies is that some clubs expect to sign a young lad to their academy and not have to improve their ability i.e. their ability was pre-cooked elsewhere and the academy just gives them a platform to perform. I live in Ireland. I know two lads who have went onto English academies in the past 2 years, one to Colchester United and another to Carlisle United. The one that went on to Colchester was always a good player but one that clearly needed to improve in some areas e.g distribution of the ball and strength. He went over very keen to learn. I recently heard, however, that he has not be offered a pro-contract. He partly blames the club as he says the training was inadequate and he himself admits that he dosen't feel like a better player despite being over their for nearly 2 years.
On the otherhand, the one who went to Carlisle has come on leaps and bounds. He was always a very good player and a natural born leader. He has since played in the Carlisle United first team and also play for the Northern Ireland U21s and U19s. Apparently, Carlisle are known to have very good facilities and great coaches and he feels that his game had improved drastically. As a result, i would argue that the development of a player depends mainly on the club the player goes to.
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