If the intention of the debate is to have a team of players that have been brought through the football program in the UK & Ireland to represent Leeds, then yes I agree it is a shame that the general make up of the team does not represent this dynamic.

I would prefer the team to be made up of Academy Grads, UK/Ireland internationals with a few continental players, the types of players that produce those moments of magic we all like to see.

However IMO the FA have done absolutely nothing to prevent the richest Clubs, especially in the UK, poaching and stock piling all the talented youngsters in to their academies to the extent it starts to hinder their development and they rarely reach their true potential. I actually think it is detrimental to their development, talented youngster getting signed up and then being let go several years later to teams lower down the leagues when they get "too old" because they missed out on playing competitive matches, didn't gain from those experiences and quality opposition. The other side is that the stock piling of talent leaves a smaller pool of talent for the poorer clubs to be sieving through.

I would like to think Leeds signs players based on talent & potential, firstly and foremost. Yet how do you stop the big Rich clubs poaching any talented youngsters from your Academies?

Not sure what the answer is, maybe putting a cap on the number of players a club can have on the books in the various age categories, could possibly prevent the richest clubs mopping up and wasting all the talented youngsters?

Just think the FA could be doing a much better job in this regard.