Trouble at Pescara and Watford – The Dangers of the Loan System

Last season, the seaside club of Pescara underwent a dramatic change in fortune as they soared to the top of Serie B. Under coach Zdenek Zeman, the Delifini were all the talk of Italy as they boasted their star trio of Marco Verratti, Lorenzo Insigne and Ciro Immobile. A season on and none of the three youngsters are with Pescara. While it is true Verratti was sold on purely financial grounds, Immobile and Insigne were both on year-long loan spells.

The striker loaned from Juventus was the top-scorer in Serie B with 28 goals and seven assists while the Napoli forward by comparison provided 18 league goals and 14 assists. These statistics show just how important the Italian duo were to Pescara and would undoubtedly have been missed the following season. As it turned out, they were, and Pescara’s brief stint in Serie A came to end with just 22 points accumulated in the whole season.

The purpose of loaning these players was to reinforce the squad and offer them opportunities to play. It was not however a means for creating a team for the future.

Pescara have discovered this to their detriment as both Immobile and Insigne rejoined their parent clubs; their association with Pescara well and truly over. Regardless of whether they stood a chance of signing the youngsters permanently, it is never a method of building a team. Pescara found they were  lacking up-front as they had no striker comparable to Immobile’s quality. The acquisition of Vladimir Weiss went some-way toward replacing Insigne but it didn’t have the same results. Indeed, it was actually the Slovakian who topped Pescara’s score sheet this season and not a recognised striker.

The strategy Pescara used to get to Serie A is simply not viable. Loaned in as support for the first team, they quickly became key players who the team relied on too greatly. The idea was to create a squad that would remain united with a prolonged place in Serie A the ultimate goal. As it turned out, the Pescara team became fragmented and those all-important players packed their

Ciro Immobile excelled under Zeman at Pescara scoring 28 goals for the Delfini.

bags and returned to where they came from. With coach Zeman’s departure only compounding their problems, it’s hardly surprising Pescara have returned to Serie B.

Pescara are not the only culprits. This season has seen various clubs try their luck with a multitude of loan signings. The most prominent of which is Gianfranco Zola’s Watford side, which consists of 13 loaned players, a majority of which come courtesy of Udinese and Granada owner Giampaolo Pozzo.

The experiment has seen the Championship side reach the play-off final with only Crystal Palace standing between them and Premier League. The plan is very obvious: gain promotion and hope the appeal of playing in the top division provides enough incentive to keep the loaned players at Vicarage Road.

So far the only player Watford have secured permanently from Udinese is Fernando Forestieri, with the future of top-scorer Matej Vydra still unclear. However because Pozzo owns all three clubs, it seems logical that the businessman can move his players around at will. For this reason, the loan status of these players is nothing more than a formality. In fact Pozzo could send yet more players to Watford to reinforce the side looking to take on England’s finest.

The scenario faced by Watford is totally unique as they find themselves part of a football empire. Pozzo is free to move players around to suit their ambitions, with the Italian more than likely to concentrate his efforts on Watford next season should they gain promotion. However it is not something that has gone unnoticed in England, as many have voiced their criticism of Watford’s methods and labeled them a ‘feeder’ club for Udinese.

Some Watford fans have become disillusioned by what has happened to their side; a side that was able to produce fine examples of footballing talent. John Barnes and Ashley Young are just two in a long list of gifted players that emerged from the Hornets youth ranks. The club risks diluting it’s prestigious academy with Udinese’s young crop and ultimately losing the independence of their own youth system.

Their academy represents a key contributor for the English game and making any kind of change is ultimately bad news for England. Watford is an exception to what is a flawed method of gaining instant promotion. Back in Italy, Serie B side Pro Vercelli who had just returned to the division after 64 years, were relegated despite borrowing as many as 18 players during the course of the season. Some returned to their parent clubs following a lack of playing time or simply poor results. This is proof that this tactic lacks logic and is a mark of a side that doubts it’s own abilities.

From a player’s perspective, loaning can be the maker or breaker. Take Arturo Lupoli, who shared the same potential as Italian international Giuseppe Rossi, going on numerous loan spells with increasingly ambiguous prospects for his future. Now playing for Grosseto in Serie B, the Italian’s situation is a striking contrast to that of Rossi. It can be concluded from this that some players, not all, require continuity in their footballing lives. However there are those who benefit from loan spells.

We have already touched on Immobile and Insigne who have both enjoyed regular Serie A action this season; spring-boarded by their spells with Pescara. Milan full-back Ignazio Abate went on several loan spells before his return to the club and has since established himself as a first team player. The loan opportunities handed to players can be essential toward launching their careers.

One of the vital elements of gaining promotion is to create a squad capable of lasting in the league above, something that Pescara did not seem to understand. Ambitious clubs should dismiss this strategy in the future and in Watford’s case, rules should be developed to stop bigger teams creating their own reserve teams abroad.

Follow Louis Gibberd-Thomas on Twitter: @mercutio156