My thesis is that when youth get to 17-20 they are in the death zone. This age group playing elite football has very little up side and a heap of downside. 

1. Virtually no 17-20 year olds consolidate themselves as professional footballers in the higher leagues. You might get a game or two, sit on the bench a lot but most of the time you will spending time in the youth leagues of dubious quality especially here in Australia. Think of the talent who have pretty much been beaten down in this age window (Arzani, Pasquale, patafta, de silva etc etc etc). There are too many to mention.

2. This happens for a few reasons. a) younger bodies 'can' take more time to mature into men and therefore cannot cope with the riggers of senior mens football. b) The system won't let you. Pro leagues are full of players who have 'served their apprenticeship' and teams rarely back a younger players with a full time spot. Its structural and political. 

3. By the age of 17 most players (who will eventually be elite) have already maximised skill development (golden years between 7 and 13) and mentally/tactically are pretty close the maximising potential. Any coaches will tell you that you never stop learning yada yada yada but truth is if a younger player listens, and takes instructions well - they can and should be able to fit into any system quickly (especially if they have been elite juniors). Point being the learning to a major expectant has already happened. 

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IMO the system doesn't want to acknowledge this because the machine depends on players between 17 and 20 'buying in' to the dream. It keeps teams and clubs going and haps pay the bills. 

Also there is the rare younger player that is physically ready at a young age. They are already men. The current system also is good for 'late bloomers' who were not elite juniors but as they have got bigger, and as others have dropped out, find themselves getting more game time in better NPL leagues. This will probably wane again once they hit 20 when the top teams only require players who tick 'every box' not just a physical few.

So what to do between 17 and 20 so that you might peak at 21, 22 and 23......????

School would be one thing. The other thing is to maybe acknowledge this time as being 'difficult' for young players and somehow take the pressure off for a few years. Easier said than done when the carrot remains allusively close to the stick. At least acknowledge that this time must be approached with 'extreme' caution by all involved (at elite level).

Bottomline is that maybe 'trying to be elite' at this age will destroy you mentally and therefore as a player. In psychology they reflect that motivation can take a massive hit when 'rewards don't meet expectation'. Do that for long enough and as we all know players drop out. 

Tell me I'm wrong....

I agree wit what you have posted Zoltan, and will offer you a different perspective that affects youth transition to Senior Footballers.

What is lacking for Australian Footballers is this;

A Club in Europe you have to develop talent, whether it's homegrown or from anywhere in the world, you have to develop talent.
From first Division Clubs to 5th Division Clubs.
You have to move talent into the first team, you have to give them a chance to succeed, to prove themselves.
hopefully they become a starter and ultimately become a National Team Level talent.
In Australia we are and will continue to struggle developing talent. Unless they move overseas to clubs that have a track record of developing talent.

For European and South American Clubs developing talent is part of their Commercial Operations.
The Board knows this, the Coaches know this and the fans know this.
Promoting a 18yo into the Senior team is accepted as part of the Commercial Operations. They know they have to give time to this player as the rewards in transfer fees has a huge upside.

In Australia at youth level we are struggling to develop talent due to a broken system.
There's a lot of talent in this country that is fading away from 14-15-16yo and accelerates 17-18-19-20 yo.
And we are failing as there is no financial incentive to develop talent in solidarity payments training compensation fees and transfer fees, as in the rest of the world.
If there's nor pathway or financial incentive the kids will fade away.
And as I said in another post players aren't scouted here, simply because there is no financial incentive.

What should be happening across the country, is Clubs should have robust academy system, they should be developing their own players, signing them to contacts, them moving them on to higher levels for more lucrative contracts.
Why this is not happening is partly due to no pro/rel to First Division and the stranglehold AL has on the market place. That other parts of the market, NPL and Community are boxed into a corner and told they are not allowed to do things. 
Of course not having a Domestic Transfer System for the last 17 years.

When I was at PEC Zwolle in 2019 they told me of a NZ kid who just rolled up to the Club for a trial, they gave him one, signed him up and sold him a few years later for 6Mill Euros. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ryan_Thomas_(footballer)
Theres no way an 18yo kid in Australia can roll up to Melbourne Victory and ask for a trial. There's no financial incentive for MVFC to do so.

At the end of the day this is a sport about competition, and if you are restricting competition at any level,your disenctivising investment.

Great post Arthur. So the system has some real structural issues as you have pointed out. Heck brisbane decided to have no youth teams at all. Imo that should be written in contract. No youth no a league team. 

Arthur quoted :
When I was at PEC Zwolle in 2019 they told me of a NZ kid who just rolled up to the Club for a trial, they gave him one, signed him up and sold him a few years later for 6Mill Euros. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ryan_Thomas_(footballer)
Theres no way an 18yo kid in Australia can roll up to Melbourne Victory and ask for a trial. There's no financial incentive for MVFC to do so.

Its not just about the possible financial gain in the futre its just about giving a kid a go out of the blue - nothing ventured nothing gained.