Northants Pie: Only one simple question need be asked when scouting players

There has been a big change in how some clubs assess whether any potential player could possibly make the grade, our own chairman recently commented on this very subject on his Twitter account.

Even a club the size of Manchester United have taken this new style approach which critiques a player's mainly physical attributes and that is the grading for whether or not a player is good enough.

They all forget the one golden question that you cannot coach into anyone.

Can he play?

You can coach explosiveness into a player, hire a sprint coach and do specific muscle training, same as strength etc etc but you cannot coach ability onto a player.

As a Football Association and football in general we seem to always be trying to recreate another country's system but with a fatal flaw, being smart about it.

Ask yourself how many of the Spanish, Dutch, Brazillian or Argentinian national sides would meet the frankly ridiculous criteria this country is adopting?

What do you think the first question Barca ask? Is he 6ft plus and an athlete? No.

Can he play? Yes.

The first question the Arsenal academy ask is can he play?

Our own Jimmy Sirrel asked this as a quality not being able to run around a lot.

Next time you watch kids playing whether in the street or on a pitch, just ask yourself one question.

Can he play?

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