By Nicholas Baldacchino
I have followed the English football team since I was a young boy. I fell in love with the Italia 90 team and was ecstatic during the wonderful performances of Euro 96 on home soil; I also endured Euro 92 and missing out on the World Cup in the USA. These tournaments were, in my opinion, the major high points and upsets for this great nation during the past 35 years.
All the other major tournaments were all a reflection of a very hectic campaign which always saw the England team players very tired and showing no true cohesion and fight within them; not to say that the team was based around 2 or 3 star players and the other components were under par.
Euro 2016, for different reasons, has left me very perplexed at how a manager with so much experience in professional football and who has also managed in continental Europe did so poorly with a talented team which most certainly should have done much more.
It is not nice to criticise a fellow coach and I do not want to do this as it is surely a very difficult task managing any team and football is a simple game but very complex as everyone sees things differently and has different opinions on every aspect of the beautiful game.
What I shall do is ask a number of questions and give my view on how things seem to run in the best way and maybe I can get some answers from someone.
First of all, when you take a job there must be a cohesive and comprehensive plan which is both short-term and also long term. Each and every coach is identified through his style and how he is able to convey his style through his team of players which he assembles in order to engineer his game plan. This is not such a straight forward task with a national team as the man in charge has an identified group of players which he needs to mould into a winning team, at club level the manager can identify particular players which may fit into his style to work with.
Everyone talks about different systems of play; 4-4-2, 3-4-3, 4-2-3-1, etc.... but the system is only a tool which is used to express your style of play and should facilitate your team depending on the type of players you have.
In this respect, which style of play did Mr Hodgson intend to stamp on the English National team? As I take it, during the 3 major tournaments England played in with Hodgson at the helm I saw a very compact and defensive team during Euro 2012 which tried to counter, during the World Cup in Brazil a very offensive team which tried to keep the ball as much as possible and during Euro 2016..... it is still a mystery till this day.
Let us take Antonio Conte’s Italy team as an example; Mr. Conte was appointed National team coach by the Italian Football Federation due to his style of play and his tactical prowess. The Federation had a clear picture of the material available and appointed Antonio as he had shown that he could mould a winning group with these players. He focused on a very solid style of play which has at its centre compactness and organisation and mixed it with the inventiveness and the strength and speed in his forward line. Did Mr. Conte do anything different throughout his tenure? No, he set up his team worked hard through qualifying and did not change for anyone or anything even when his team seemed to be under par. Did he change the players he worked with and believed in throughout the qualifiers? Neither because he had a plan and he stuck to it leading to a clear success despite the elimination at the hand of Germany.
This is the same for the German National team and their great manager Mr. Joachim Lowe. Although some of his stalwarts have grown older and are not on the same level of many younger players who are establishing themselves in the Bundesliga, he has decided to keep faith with them and his style of play. The likes of Bastian Schweinsteiger and Lukas Podolski still are an integral part to his team even though they have had abject and injury prone seasons lately and this shows that planning on the long run and believing in your players can reap benefits.
With this in mind I go to the next question to Mr. Hodgson: why did you decide to make such radical changes to the Squad you took to the Euros as you were able to qualify through the group stages with a defined nucleus of players?
Players like Dier, Alli, Vardy and Kane all had a great season and should have been in the England Squad but not at the expense of not playing in the same balanced way the team was set up through qualifiers.
England qualified with ten wins out of ten with 31 goals in favour and 3 against which is a pretty good result. The set up of the team was formed through a strong back line which included Clyne at right back, a good number of different left backs and Cahill together with either Jagielka or Smalling at Centre back, three in midfield with Henderson at the heart of midfield and the likes of Wilshere, Milner and Delph creating the much needed cover and balance, the captain Rooney up front and a number of quick and talented forwards working around him; Sterling, Oxlade Chamberlain, Sturridge, Walcott and Andros Townsend, to name a few.
With a style which was a possession game attacking through the flanks and with combinations through the middle England looked the real deal through qualifying and had a very good balance in the middle of the park allowing the team to defend well and concede only 3 goals in 10 matches. What happened during Euro 2016 is bewildering and I would truly like someone to give me a reasonable explanation to the changes made before such an important tournament.
Why was the midfield and defence torn apart to make way to players who had limited involvement previously? Was this pressure from the media? How can one expect a midfield with Dier taking the role of the additional defender he truly is and players like Alli and Rooney being the two midfield maestros. Rooney as a midfielder getting the ball from the defenders? Oh my! Who decided that? What style was the team based on and what were the movements the players had practiced and worked on? Could anyone identify any coaching in the team? And most important of all what was the game plan and did the England team have a plan B?
All I noticed was that when England were either loosing or couldn’t break down the opposition substitutions took place to put more strikers on and pray that something just happened! Is it just me who could see these things or am I still to learn some special traits in the simple game of football which I need to discover through magical sources?
Another thing which is bewildering and elusive to me and many other is the work done on set pieces. I cannot understand how one of the most dangerous players in and around the box was given the responsibility to take free kicks and corners. How does this even make sense? And to top it up how does a manager which should be the leader and a person of strong character and one who should be able to take prompt and effective decisions not be able to take crucial decisions like leaving players who have not performed out of the team.
With all due respect, playing Kane and Sterling and not omitting Hart shows a lack of true leadership and decision making which is the main aspect of football today on and off the pitch.
I augur that the FA does not make a shambles of the upcoming managerial appointment as the present and future bauds well as the talent necessary to perform is in place. The next England Manager needs to be a strong character that has a strategy and is able to lead a group of players who he believes in and who believe in him. No more excuses just smarter decisions.
Hope Mr. Hodgson has the time to give us some type of explanation on his decisions prior to and throughout the tournament. He was bright enough to prepare his resignation letter prior to the Iceland match and surely did the same by preparing an explanation to all these questions that I have raised!
Nicholas Baldacchino is a UEFA A Coach and Director of Youth Coaching qualification, currently Head of Coaching and Development at Valletta FC's Youth Development Sector.
Showing posts with label England. Show all posts
Showing posts with label England. Show all posts
Monday, July 11, 2016
Wednesday, August 28, 2013
Book Review: The Way Forward
If you care about football in England this is a book that you have to read. The author Matthew Whitehouse has managed to cover from A-Z the failures that have had an extremely negative effect on the game and generations of footballers. It also puts forward a wide array of solutions and ideas that can bring out the very best results for the game in the country and develop the most skilled footballers on a global scale.
Youth development might not be a subject that every football fan has taken interest in but this book gives you an excellent opportunity to learn about one of the most important aspects of the game if not the most important aspect of football and enjoy the process at the same time.
This is a must read for coaches. Some will without a doubt be familiar with the contents of the book to others it might be a wake up call. And if so a necessary one. I would say the same for parents whose children have chosen to play the sport and want to give their child the very best opportunity to thrive at it and enjoy what they are doing. The knowledge in this book will give you a very good idea of how to meet those requirements for your child.
In the past those in charge of setting out a blueprint for the English game have been following a method that can only be described as the definition of insanity. Which is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. Decades of forced implementation from the FA of the kick and rush method style of play has had terrible effects on the game. It has served as a net which catches the skillful technician and tactician who turns the game into an art-form which football fans marvel at for making the game truly beautiful.
Some players have escaped that net and on to the pitch and into professional teams in England over the past decades and have thrived in teams which have used methods that suited their skills. If they were picked to play for England however they mostly suffered and were left chasing shadows and were mostly ineffective.
Which is not a surprise when they enter a team which does not follow the methods of most successful teams. As Matthew put so well in his book is that England have not learned from teams that lift trophies . Even when they are lifted by domestic teams.
The stubbornness on display for such a long period of time is almost unfathomable. And I shudder of the thought of all the talented players that never escaped that net and the positive effect they would have had on the game. You can only imagine how different the history of the game would have been if more of the so called magicians of the game would have been able to make their mark on it. Of course these players are not magicians as we often call them but a product of correct coaching methods and dedication to their craft.
I´m by no means condemning a direct method of playing football but using it as a sole method of coaching players is extremely detrimental to the their development. Ignoring so many important aspects of what the game consists of is foolish. It ignores far too many attributes which make a good all around footballer. It´s like building a race car which has speed and power but has major difficulties steering on a track which is curved and requires great maneuverability of it´s steering mechanism in order to not go off track time after time in the middle of a race. The car that England built was designed to go mostly in one direction and it has driven of the track far to many times without to many adjustments being made to the design. The FA and the Premier League are trying to make some alterations to the design however with the implementation of the Elite Player Performance Plan which aim is to put the players development as the number one priority and giving them a higher standard of coaching as we see in many other countries. This effort is very positive one which will of course take some time to bear fruit before the players developed in that plan will make it to a professional level.
In this period the people in charge of implementing it will have to take great care and consideration into the planning in order for them to be as successful as they want it to be. As for any long term project there will always be new challenges to overcome which cannot be foreseen at the start of such an ambitious project. There is at least one aspect which has to be addressed and that´s that the changes don´t deal with these issues outside of the academies. And if these measures are not applied to football which is not at academy level I fear that the project will not be effective enough.
I would strongly recommend that The Way Forward would act as a guide for the Elite Player Performance Plan as the variety of issues it addresses all need to be carefully contemplated.
Each chapter highlights something that needs to be corrected and offers an idea or ideas of how to find a solution so it can be corrected. How to improve the technical skills of players by putting emphasis on how to control the ball from an early age. Technical skill development is something that England lacks and various suggestions are made in the book on how to improve that. From street football, futsal to the philosophy of Wiel Coerver for example.
How to stamp out the results above creativity and development mentality. The questions of early specialization and if diversification might be the more sensible approach to making a more well rounded individuals. Developing game intelligence which can make the difference in developing mediocre players and world class players were the ideas and methods of Horst Wein and John Cartwrigth are introduced.
What academies are neglecting which includes the introduction of Anders Ericsson and Michel Bruyninckx ideas on putting more emphasis on cognitive development along with individualized training, physical development and the art of defending.
How England need to invest in coaching as it´s probably one of the most important aspects of youth development to have as many highly qualified coaches for every level to get the most out of the pool of players who are in the game at any given time.
Bridging the gap is another excellent chapter about how not nearly enough players from academies are taking the step up to the professional level. From hoarding talent to poor development loans. The academies have to improve so much on their decision making on whether and when they bring a player into their academy and which club they choose to loan them to. A system has to be developed which puts the players needs as the number one priority.
Finding the talent is another very interesting part of the book where the issue of how important the environment which a player is in is for his success. Malcolm Gladwell and Matthew Syed have made some excellent observations on how much opportunities and environment will play a big role in a players future success. The age advantage is also very well tackled along with how important a scouts work is. This is a demanding job which requires a very analytical mind with a great attention to detail. And far too often physical attributes have been chosen over talent and maybe most importantly intelligence . Sometimes to the point where it becomes a depressing farce. Mental toughness is one the most important attributes that a footballer needs. Carol Dweck and Dan Abrahams idea´s are introduced in these regards and shed a good light on the subject. The attributes that scouts look for need to be given more consideration from every scout in order to find more well rounded players.
The author also points out how the FA and the Premier League have failed English football. The lack of many combining factors like a clear vision, organization and trust. And to much greed, self interest and almost total disregard for youth development have damaged the game greatly.
Many nations have acted to ensure that their youth development is well managed, Holland, Spain, Germany and Belgium are good examples. There have been calls for a change in direction in the past in England like the Charter for Quality when Howard Wilkinson was Technical Director but the implementation was not successful due to a number of reasons mentioned in the book.
The Elite Player Performance Plan is now being implemented along with that the Future Game proposals having been approved by the FA which are very positive steps. The Future Game makes small sided games mandatory for youth teams up to the age of 13. Youth footballers will no longer be allowed to play on full size pitches, teams will play with fewer players on the pitch(5V5 and 9V9) and the goals will not be adult sized goals. The madness of youth players going out on the pitch playing 11v11 on a full size pitch will be a thing of the past. And the rule changes will be more focused towards development rather then winning at all costs.
Most of the money made from football in England is distributed to the top level of football and only a small fraction goes to youth development which makes little sense as it´s the foundations of football. While I find the changes that the FA have started to implement to be very positive and I have come across many coaches with the right mindset to make these changes . More needs to be done and I urge coaches, parents and football fans in general to read this book and become aware of the situation in English football. To provide more then just hope that these changes will be implemented but pressure if it will be needed. Being aware of the situation will help a great deal.
It will be a real shame if a league based in England will be void of players from it and the league will have to rely almost entirely on purchases from abroad where nations are developing world class footballers and the league game looses it´s roots to the nation.
I would like to thank Matthew Whitehouse for the time, effort and care he has put into writing this book and I hope as many people possible read it.
Arnar Steinsson writes about youth development for The Tomkins Times. A review copy of this book was provided by the author.
For more about Matt Whitehouse, read an interview here.
Wednesday, August 7, 2013
England's Way Forward
If you’ve got any interest in the development of talent, particularly in England, then the chances are that you have come across Matt Whitehouse at some point or another. The author of the hugely popular blog The Whitehouse Address owes a lot of his success to his hard hitting; no hold barred style of writing that doesn’t shirk from criticising those that he feels are failing football in England.
What few people know, however, is that Matt is also a qualified coach who has worked for professional academies and for whom writing about the game is a way of understanding it better.
Perhaps that is why he has written ‘The Way Forward’. But, more likely, it is an attempt to try and influence a system that - as seen this summer – seems to be failing at producing players who are good enough for the highest level. As he admits in this interview with Blueprint for Football, the aim is to “to give a comprehensive insight into the issues which have plagued English football in the past and the concerns of what is holding us back in the present and future.”
Yet Matt’s views make interesting reading for a wider audience then those who are interested in English football. “My objective as a coach is to develop coaches who are able to produce players with high technical excellence and strong tactical intelligence,” he says.
As with any good writer, his methodical and detailed analysis of any situation opens up to discussions and further thought about the issues. One might not always agree with what he says – or how he says it – but there’s no arguing that he is exhaustive in the way he goes about analysing the different arguments. And his views, such as those expressed in this interview, never fail to elicit a response.
How did you start writing about football, particularly about systems and styles of football?
Football tactics and systems have fascinated me for a long time yet there was no doubt that reading Inverting the Pyramid by Jonathon Wilson as well as being a daily visitor to zonalmarking.net got my passion for writing flowing. Before that I was a coach who would read and learn as much as possible.
The writing started after I attended the Uefa A licence course with Dick Bate in 2010, I was motivated to put down my thoughts and beliefs on the game and as you know, I am not unwilling to express my opinions or offer my thoughts.
As a coach I see the need to ‘know’ the game in terms of technical, tactical and psychological elements and writing The Whitehouse Address blog allows me to put down my thoughts in a clear way which aids my thinking towards coaching and player development.
What are your personal experiences of coaching?
Coaching is a real passion for me which I have had since I was teenager when I helped my dad coaching the young sides at my local club. At university I really got into coaching working with the university teams and a local youth team. From there I moved out to America and worked in Arizona.
In those early years I was keen learner and reader of everything to do with coaching and player development. This ‘self-learning’ certainly helped me put together my philosophy to football and developing players.
The major influences for me came when I returned to England started working with Coerver Coaching. This gave me a real insight and focus into the development of technical skills and how important it is for modern football.
As well as this I started on the Uefa A licence and learnt from one of the best coach educators in the world Dick Bate. This experience gave me such knowledge and insight into the game.
Working with a Premier League academy gave me the ability to learn and work from better players and coaches which again aided my development and took my coaching and understanding to new levels.
I would say these various experiences, levels and people I have encountered in my coaching ‘pathway’ has helped mould me as the coach I am today yet it is important for me that I am constantly learning and trying to improve what I am doing to become a better coach and teacher.
What is your coaching philosophy?
My philosophy as a youth development coach is to develop skilful and intelligent players who possess technical and tactical excellence both in and out of possession. My belief is that if you develop talented individuals who are masters of the ball and who are great in 1v1 situations then then you can create a strong and positive team.
I am a strong believer in developing game intelligence in players and therefore seek to put players in environments which promote decision making and problem solving.
As a coach I seek to encourage my teams to play out from the back and through the thirds with secure and confident possession with the aim to play positive, attacking football which incorporates individuality, skill, creativity and support play.
As well as this I put a strong emphasis on transition, using counter attack practices regularly to stress the importance of quick counter attacking play, along with promoting the understanding of defending in transition.
I am keen to stress the importance of defending and I make sure that defending is a key focus of the sessions and games which my players and teams partake in. I believe it is neglected by too many coaches, particularly in England which is hampering the development of top level players. Watching sides like Barcelona and Bayern teaches coaches that success comes from putting value into the defensive side of football as well as the attacking part.
Do you think England have one (a philosophy)?
English football was unfortunate to have two men in charge of the English FA in Allen Wade and Charles Hughes, men who had little understanding of the game of football and who used analytical judgements to create a philosophy of how English football should be played.
Both men dismissed teams who kept possession of the ball, believing they were playing the ‘wrong way’. As well as this they were not keen about players who possessed any kind of skill or creativity and believed in ‘functional’ players. This philosophy ruined English football for decades.
While Brazil, Holland and Argentina were winning trophies and developing players and teams who played with craft and skill, English football was becoming more barbaric and archaic. This was highlighted most in the early 1990’s under Graham Taylor, a major proponent of the Wade/Hughes philosophy.
Imagine the amount of English coaches who attended the FA courses between the 70’s and 90’s and the mentality they were being taught. It has been extremely difficult to change something which was so ingrained in our national game for so long. Of course the FA did not think to learn from Shankly, Paisley or Clough who were proving that keeping the ball on the floor was a successful style of playing the game.
Howard Wilkinson saw the errors of the FA and in 1997 sought to change things with his Charter for Quality. It made a change yet it was not the development of a national playing style, more an open invitation for the professional clubs to setup their own academies and develop players as they wished.
The past decade was therefore one lacking true guidance and leadership which is a reason why England is failing to produce a higher quantity of players capable of competing in the ever globalised world of football.
Although the FA came out with The Future Game document which outlines an ideal way of developing players and playing the game, it is a long way off seeing this implemented and taught to coaches, especially at the grassroots level. Unfortunately the coaching courses are failing to educate and persuade coaches of how to develop talented players, winning football is still seen as the priority and this is damaging future players.
Without a national playing style and philosophy English football at youth level is disjointed and fragmented. However we have to ask, can we trust the FA to implement a philosophy for the modern game? Would it not be better to look at what academies like Southampton and Arsenal are doing and seek to replicate their philosophy across the country instead?
What do you consider to be the biggest problem in England?
There is some excellent work going on all through the English game, at all levels. Yet there is clearly a problem in regards to English players breaking into the top levels of professional football. The issue appears to be that these players are lacking the necessary skills and ability which foreign players have at the ages of 15-18. Therefore the issue comes with what is happening before that.
In my opinion there is a multitude of issues which are having an effect on the development of talented footballers. Firstly I would argue that our young players are being let down by a lack of quality in sports at school, particularly in primary schools. The lack of quality teaching of P.E. is failing to develop children with good movement and mechanics which is being seen to effect the long term development of footballers.
As well as this grassroots clubs and academies are not doing enough to develop the skills of young players between 5-11 years old, key years in neural development. Personally I would like to see a greater number of young children playing futsal, whether in organised situations or even better, on their own in their local community. The ‘death’ of ‘street soccer’ has certainly affected the development of players because they don’t practice and play as much as young children in other countries, playing futsal can help increase those hours and enhance players skill on the ball.
Moving into academies and a key issue which needs improving is the quality of work being done between 12-16 years. Personally I believe the quality of ‘teaching’ is not good enough at this key development period and this is where players are being let down most. If this is the elite level then it must be considered ‘elite’, unfortunately there is a culture of mediocrity in this area which needs improving.
Finally I would argue that the players that are being recruited are not of the required level; a short term view on size and strength has seen a neglect of players with intelligence and importantly the correct ‘mentality’ which is needed to progress to be a professional. These areas and more are covered in my new book The Way Forward, which as you can see there is much to consider and improve on.
Why are some countries better at producing technical players than others?
As I mentioned above, the issue is that players are not playing as much as they should be in order to develop their skills in game situations. ‘Street soccer’ developed skill, decision making and competitiveness which happens very little now. The participation in futsal will aid the development of players too and it is up to the FA to create more centres which offer more children this opportunity.
As well as this is the level and knowledge of coaches working with players between 5-11 who are not developing technical skills in players but who are instead dismissing them! This culture of ‘skill destroyers’ needs to end, right now coaches are more concerned with winning than developing and this meaning that players are being told off for trying to use skill in games.
A need for better coaches of young players is vital, if we don’t get the foundation right how can we expect to produce players in the future?
Yet when you say ‘technical players’ then we cannot ignore the tactical element of being a good technician. You see England possesses some very good technical players yet very few intelligent decision makers. Game intelligence is something which many players lack and this is because too many sessions and coaches use isolated technical practices which do not seek to develop the intelligence and decisions of players.
The reason Spain and Brazil produce so many technically good, intelligent players is that they develop their skills in environments which promote decisions as well as ball handling. Both countries value futsal highly and this is no coincidence.
The development of game intelligence is required for English players to be better ‘technical players’ and this will require coaches putting players into game realistic environments which develops ‘smart’ decision makers.
There is a disconnect between the ages of 18 and 21 where players do not get enough games. What needs to be done?
Well as mentioned there is an argument to say our players at 16-17 simply aren’t good enough. However it is important to consider development up to 21, even 23 years of age. Therefore players who are denied the chance to play between 17-21 are stunting their development.
Unfortunately many Premier League sides are not willing to integrate their academy players into the senior set up and provide them with key experience and development. Instead these players stagnate in the youth side and fail to push on further. Of course the other issue is that clubs buy in foreign players at 16+ and often neglect the English players.
The solution to this problem has been sought to be addressed by the EPPP and the creation of the Under 21 league which will see players between 17-21 play regular ‘competitive’ football. This is important for their development and progression, especially because they will play in a similar way to the first team.
As Barcelona have shown the key to developing players is to provide consistency and continuity of style and philosophy so that the players learn the tactical element of the clubs style and system. Therefore the Under 21 league may provide this to more players.
Yet if we wish to see more English players coming through the academy system then it may be necessary to do what Germany have done and make sure there are at least 12 players in each academy side up to Under 21 who are eligible to play for England. At this time the ‘home-grown’ is too ambiguous and damaging to English player development. A change in this rule will limit the amount of foreign players clubs are allowed to bring in and would hopefully see more English players coming through.
A worrying trend however is that there are talented youth players at clubs like Chelsea, Arsenal and Man City who are not being given the ‘opportunity’ to progress. It would appear that moving to one of these clubs gives players a healthy wage yet denies them the opportunity for playing time and thus fails to push their development forward.
It may be necessary for players to leave these clubs between 17-21 and move to sides where they will get regular first team football. A player like Tom Ince, who moved from Liverpool at 19 years old has excelled while playing over 80 first team games for Blackpool in the Championship, his development has certainly excelled by moving.
How do you judge the level of coaching at academies?
As mentioned earlier, in my opinion the level of coaching in academies lacks the quality and teaching which players need to excel. An acceptance of mediocrity and lack of challenging practices, often which involves too many isolated technical sessions has resulted in low standards and the failure to develop intelligent players which the modern game needs.
A need for tactical education of position specific and team roles both in and out of possession will be required for academies to develop ‘elite’ level players. If these players are the ‘elite’ of English football then they must be treated like this.
Personally I believe that every coach working in Academies should have or be working towards the ‘A’ licence coaching qualification. The gap between the B licence and the A is significant and our young players deserve to be educated by the most educated coaches in the country.
If a player works with a poor and uneducated coach at any point during their development years it could have a serious impact on their future development, therefore Academies should be providing their players with the best teachers of the game.
This opens up the issue that if we want the ‘best’ working with our elite players, then clubs need to see the value in these coaches and start paying wages which reflect the quality of the coaches work. Too many talented coaches are leaving England to work abroad in North America, Qatar or Asia because the pay is much better. This cannot be the case if we wish to produce better players.
Is the FA doing enough to help coaches?
Personally I believe that the FA need to focus their efforts and resources on the grassroots game and develop a larger number of better coaches for young players in order to develop more talented and confident players who can move into the academy game possessing more skill and intelligence.
The focus for the FA should be on making sure the foundation levels have a higher number of quality coaches who in turn can develop a larger number of talented young players. The concern I have is that the Level 1 and 2 awards are of a poor standard and if the majority of English coaches only have these awards then they will be affecting the development of young players.
Yes the new youth modules show an improvement and coaches will certainly benefit from this but these are still not mandatory for coaches to ‘coach’ players and the truth is that the Level 1 and 2 courses are not good enough to give coaches licence to work with young players.
The FA has set up a coach mentor scheme and the hope is that these mentors will help work with coaches who require help and guidance yet the attendance of the courses will certainly aid coaches knowledge and delivery.
Yet if the FA wish to have a higher number of quality coaches working in the grassroots game they need to offer their courses at a lower rate and make the youth modu
les a mandatory part of being a coach. By increasing the level and quality of coaches across the country, English football can develop a higher number of talented players.
What can you tell us about your book?
In The Way Forward I aim to give a comprehensive insight into the issues which have plagued English football in the past and the concerns of what is holding us back in the present and future.
The book is split into four parts; part one discusses the ‘Golden Generation’ and their failings as well as the FA’s failed ‘direct football’ philosophy which was destructive for the future of English football.
Part two aims to give an extensive view of a player’s development between the ages of 5-21. My intention here was to look at what happens between a young players ‘career’ and assess the numerous factors which can aid or destroy the development of a potential professional player. I have discussed some of those factors already with you already and there is clearly much more work to be done from schools, grassroots, academies and the pro clubs.
In part three the book looks at the importance of ‘opportunity’ looking at how birth date has a massive bearing on the future of a young footballer. As well as this I look at the issue of scouting and talent identification in England and how this affecting the lack of quality players becoming professionals. As well as talent identification the book focuses on sport psychology and the development of mindset, highlighting that the neglect and ignorance of sport psychology is hampering the development of players.
In the final part I look at what the future holds for English football, putting particular focus on the FA and the new Technical Director Dan Ashworth and the importance of his role in shaping the future of English football.
The final chapter seeks to offer solutions to the issues and concerns brought up in the book. It is easy to criticise and blame people and I wanted to offer more, I wanted to lay down solutions to the issues holding English football back and the extensive list at the end is my belief in what is needed for English football to develop a large quantity of quality players.
Why should people read it?
Good question. In my opinion there is not a book which offers as comprehensive an analysis of the issues which are affecting English football as The Way Forward. It is a well-researched examination which has taken evidence from research, experts and the experiences and opinion of coaches and parents as well my own personal experiences and opinions.
Many may argue the book is controversial and highly critical of many areas in youth football yet I believe that it is a fair account of what is needed for England to improve standards and quality across all levels.
For those who read The Whitehouse Address blog they will know that I am passionate and opinionated and attempt to be thorough in my analysis. The Way Forward offers an even deeper and comprehensive analysis account of English youth development and I believe it is a must read for all coaches, parents and anyone with an interest in youth development, in England and abroad.
What's next for you?
The hope is the book makes an influence to coaches across the country and the need for improved standards and investment in youth development is made. As much as I have loved writing The Way Forward my love and passion is first and foremost to coach and improve players.
I am currently working with a number of individual players and coaches developing their skills and knowledge and this summer I have been recruited by a professional club to come in and instil a philosophy for their Academy which seeks to develop players a greater number of quality players for their first team.
My objective as a coach is to develop coaches who are able to produce players with high technical excellence and strong tactical intelligence. Through my coach education clinics I focus on these elements and seek to give coaches ideas which help improve their players.
Personally I wish to keep learning and improving as a coach and an educator of players and coaches. The love of learning is something I have always had and this will never stop.
What few people know, however, is that Matt is also a qualified coach who has worked for professional academies and for whom writing about the game is a way of understanding it better.
Perhaps that is why he has written ‘The Way Forward’. But, more likely, it is an attempt to try and influence a system that - as seen this summer – seems to be failing at producing players who are good enough for the highest level. As he admits in this interview with Blueprint for Football, the aim is to “to give a comprehensive insight into the issues which have plagued English football in the past and the concerns of what is holding us back in the present and future.”
Yet Matt’s views make interesting reading for a wider audience then those who are interested in English football. “My objective as a coach is to develop coaches who are able to produce players with high technical excellence and strong tactical intelligence,” he says.
As with any good writer, his methodical and detailed analysis of any situation opens up to discussions and further thought about the issues. One might not always agree with what he says – or how he says it – but there’s no arguing that he is exhaustive in the way he goes about analysing the different arguments. And his views, such as those expressed in this interview, never fail to elicit a response.
How did you start writing about football, particularly about systems and styles of football?
Football tactics and systems have fascinated me for a long time yet there was no doubt that reading Inverting the Pyramid by Jonathon Wilson as well as being a daily visitor to zonalmarking.net got my passion for writing flowing. Before that I was a coach who would read and learn as much as possible.
The writing started after I attended the Uefa A licence course with Dick Bate in 2010, I was motivated to put down my thoughts and beliefs on the game and as you know, I am not unwilling to express my opinions or offer my thoughts.
As a coach I see the need to ‘know’ the game in terms of technical, tactical and psychological elements and writing The Whitehouse Address blog allows me to put down my thoughts in a clear way which aids my thinking towards coaching and player development.
What are your personal experiences of coaching?
Coaching is a real passion for me which I have had since I was teenager when I helped my dad coaching the young sides at my local club. At university I really got into coaching working with the university teams and a local youth team. From there I moved out to America and worked in Arizona.
In those early years I was keen learner and reader of everything to do with coaching and player development. This ‘self-learning’ certainly helped me put together my philosophy to football and developing players.
The major influences for me came when I returned to England started working with Coerver Coaching. This gave me a real insight and focus into the development of technical skills and how important it is for modern football.
As well as this I started on the Uefa A licence and learnt from one of the best coach educators in the world Dick Bate. This experience gave me such knowledge and insight into the game.
Working with a Premier League academy gave me the ability to learn and work from better players and coaches which again aided my development and took my coaching and understanding to new levels.
I would say these various experiences, levels and people I have encountered in my coaching ‘pathway’ has helped mould me as the coach I am today yet it is important for me that I am constantly learning and trying to improve what I am doing to become a better coach and teacher.
What is your coaching philosophy?
My philosophy as a youth development coach is to develop skilful and intelligent players who possess technical and tactical excellence both in and out of possession. My belief is that if you develop talented individuals who are masters of the ball and who are great in 1v1 situations then then you can create a strong and positive team.
I am a strong believer in developing game intelligence in players and therefore seek to put players in environments which promote decision making and problem solving.
As a coach I seek to encourage my teams to play out from the back and through the thirds with secure and confident possession with the aim to play positive, attacking football which incorporates individuality, skill, creativity and support play.
As well as this I put a strong emphasis on transition, using counter attack practices regularly to stress the importance of quick counter attacking play, along with promoting the understanding of defending in transition.
I am keen to stress the importance of defending and I make sure that defending is a key focus of the sessions and games which my players and teams partake in. I believe it is neglected by too many coaches, particularly in England which is hampering the development of top level players. Watching sides like Barcelona and Bayern teaches coaches that success comes from putting value into the defensive side of football as well as the attacking part.
Do you think England have one (a philosophy)?
English football was unfortunate to have two men in charge of the English FA in Allen Wade and Charles Hughes, men who had little understanding of the game of football and who used analytical judgements to create a philosophy of how English football should be played.
Both men dismissed teams who kept possession of the ball, believing they were playing the ‘wrong way’. As well as this they were not keen about players who possessed any kind of skill or creativity and believed in ‘functional’ players. This philosophy ruined English football for decades.
While Brazil, Holland and Argentina were winning trophies and developing players and teams who played with craft and skill, English football was becoming more barbaric and archaic. This was highlighted most in the early 1990’s under Graham Taylor, a major proponent of the Wade/Hughes philosophy.
Imagine the amount of English coaches who attended the FA courses between the 70’s and 90’s and the mentality they were being taught. It has been extremely difficult to change something which was so ingrained in our national game for so long. Of course the FA did not think to learn from Shankly, Paisley or Clough who were proving that keeping the ball on the floor was a successful style of playing the game.
Howard Wilkinson saw the errors of the FA and in 1997 sought to change things with his Charter for Quality. It made a change yet it was not the development of a national playing style, more an open invitation for the professional clubs to setup their own academies and develop players as they wished.
The past decade was therefore one lacking true guidance and leadership which is a reason why England is failing to produce a higher quantity of players capable of competing in the ever globalised world of football.
Although the FA came out with The Future Game document which outlines an ideal way of developing players and playing the game, it is a long way off seeing this implemented and taught to coaches, especially at the grassroots level. Unfortunately the coaching courses are failing to educate and persuade coaches of how to develop talented players, winning football is still seen as the priority and this is damaging future players.
Without a national playing style and philosophy English football at youth level is disjointed and fragmented. However we have to ask, can we trust the FA to implement a philosophy for the modern game? Would it not be better to look at what academies like Southampton and Arsenal are doing and seek to replicate their philosophy across the country instead?
What do you consider to be the biggest problem in England?
There is some excellent work going on all through the English game, at all levels. Yet there is clearly a problem in regards to English players breaking into the top levels of professional football. The issue appears to be that these players are lacking the necessary skills and ability which foreign players have at the ages of 15-18. Therefore the issue comes with what is happening before that.
In my opinion there is a multitude of issues which are having an effect on the development of talented footballers. Firstly I would argue that our young players are being let down by a lack of quality in sports at school, particularly in primary schools. The lack of quality teaching of P.E. is failing to develop children with good movement and mechanics which is being seen to effect the long term development of footballers.
As well as this grassroots clubs and academies are not doing enough to develop the skills of young players between 5-11 years old, key years in neural development. Personally I would like to see a greater number of young children playing futsal, whether in organised situations or even better, on their own in their local community. The ‘death’ of ‘street soccer’ has certainly affected the development of players because they don’t practice and play as much as young children in other countries, playing futsal can help increase those hours and enhance players skill on the ball.
Moving into academies and a key issue which needs improving is the quality of work being done between 12-16 years. Personally I believe the quality of ‘teaching’ is not good enough at this key development period and this is where players are being let down most. If this is the elite level then it must be considered ‘elite’, unfortunately there is a culture of mediocrity in this area which needs improving.
Finally I would argue that the players that are being recruited are not of the required level; a short term view on size and strength has seen a neglect of players with intelligence and importantly the correct ‘mentality’ which is needed to progress to be a professional. These areas and more are covered in my new book The Way Forward, which as you can see there is much to consider and improve on.
Why are some countries better at producing technical players than others?
As I mentioned above, the issue is that players are not playing as much as they should be in order to develop their skills in game situations. ‘Street soccer’ developed skill, decision making and competitiveness which happens very little now. The participation in futsal will aid the development of players too and it is up to the FA to create more centres which offer more children this opportunity.
As well as this is the level and knowledge of coaches working with players between 5-11 who are not developing technical skills in players but who are instead dismissing them! This culture of ‘skill destroyers’ needs to end, right now coaches are more concerned with winning than developing and this meaning that players are being told off for trying to use skill in games.
A need for better coaches of young players is vital, if we don’t get the foundation right how can we expect to produce players in the future?
Yet when you say ‘technical players’ then we cannot ignore the tactical element of being a good technician. You see England possesses some very good technical players yet very few intelligent decision makers. Game intelligence is something which many players lack and this is because too many sessions and coaches use isolated technical practices which do not seek to develop the intelligence and decisions of players.
The reason Spain and Brazil produce so many technically good, intelligent players is that they develop their skills in environments which promote decisions as well as ball handling. Both countries value futsal highly and this is no coincidence.
There is a disconnect between the ages of 18 and 21 where players do not get enough games. What needs to be done?
Well as mentioned there is an argument to say our players at 16-17 simply aren’t good enough. However it is important to consider development up to 21, even 23 years of age. Therefore players who are denied the chance to play between 17-21 are stunting their development.
Unfortunately many Premier League sides are not willing to integrate their academy players into the senior set up and provide them with key experience and development. Instead these players stagnate in the youth side and fail to push on further. Of course the other issue is that clubs buy in foreign players at 16+ and often neglect the English players.
The solution to this problem has been sought to be addressed by the EPPP and the creation of the Under 21 league which will see players between 17-21 play regular ‘competitive’ football. This is important for their development and progression, especially because they will play in a similar way to the first team.
As Barcelona have shown the key to developing players is to provide consistency and continuity of style and philosophy so that the players learn the tactical element of the clubs style and system. Therefore the Under 21 league may provide this to more players.
Yet if we wish to see more English players coming through the academy system then it may be necessary to do what Germany have done and make sure there are at least 12 players in each academy side up to Under 21 who are eligible to play for England. At this time the ‘home-grown’ is too ambiguous and damaging to English player development. A change in this rule will limit the amount of foreign players clubs are allowed to bring in and would hopefully see more English players coming through.
A worrying trend however is that there are talented youth players at clubs like Chelsea, Arsenal and Man City who are not being given the ‘opportunity’ to progress. It would appear that moving to one of these clubs gives players a healthy wage yet denies them the opportunity for playing time and thus fails to push their development forward.
It may be necessary for players to leave these clubs between 17-21 and move to sides where they will get regular first team football. A player like Tom Ince, who moved from Liverpool at 19 years old has excelled while playing over 80 first team games for Blackpool in the Championship, his development has certainly excelled by moving.
How do you judge the level of coaching at academies?
As mentioned earlier, in my opinion the level of coaching in academies lacks the quality and teaching which players need to excel. An acceptance of mediocrity and lack of challenging practices, often which involves too many isolated technical sessions has resulted in low standards and the failure to develop intelligent players which the modern game needs.
A need for tactical education of position specific and team roles both in and out of possession will be required for academies to develop ‘elite’ level players. If these players are the ‘elite’ of English football then they must be treated like this.
Personally I believe that every coach working in Academies should have or be working towards the ‘A’ licence coaching qualification. The gap between the B licence and the A is significant and our young players deserve to be educated by the most educated coaches in the country.
This opens up the issue that if we want the ‘best’ working with our elite players, then clubs need to see the value in these coaches and start paying wages which reflect the quality of the coaches work. Too many talented coaches are leaving England to work abroad in North America, Qatar or Asia because the pay is much better. This cannot be the case if we wish to produce better players.
Is the FA doing enough to help coaches?
Personally I believe that the FA need to focus their efforts and resources on the grassroots game and develop a larger number of better coaches for young players in order to develop more talented and confident players who can move into the academy game possessing more skill and intelligence.
The focus for the FA should be on making sure the foundation levels have a higher number of quality coaches who in turn can develop a larger number of talented young players. The concern I have is that the Level 1 and 2 awards are of a poor standard and if the majority of English coaches only have these awards then they will be affecting the development of young players.
Yes the new youth modules show an improvement and coaches will certainly benefit from this but these are still not mandatory for coaches to ‘coach’ players and the truth is that the Level 1 and 2 courses are not good enough to give coaches licence to work with young players.
The FA has set up a coach mentor scheme and the hope is that these mentors will help work with coaches who require help and guidance yet the attendance of the courses will certainly aid coaches knowledge and delivery.
Yet if the FA wish to have a higher number of quality coaches working in the grassroots game they need to offer their courses at a lower rate and make the youth modu
les a mandatory part of being a coach. By increasing the level and quality of coaches across the country, English football can develop a higher number of talented players.
What can you tell us about your book?
In The Way Forward I aim to give a comprehensive insight into the issues which have plagued English football in the past and the concerns of what is holding us back in the present and future.
The book is split into four parts; part one discusses the ‘Golden Generation’ and their failings as well as the FA’s failed ‘direct football’ philosophy which was destructive for the future of English football.
Part two aims to give an extensive view of a player’s development between the ages of 5-21. My intention here was to look at what happens between a young players ‘career’ and assess the numerous factors which can aid or destroy the development of a potential professional player. I have discussed some of those factors already with you already and there is clearly much more work to be done from schools, grassroots, academies and the pro clubs.
In part three the book looks at the importance of ‘opportunity’ looking at how birth date has a massive bearing on the future of a young footballer. As well as this I look at the issue of scouting and talent identification in England and how this affecting the lack of quality players becoming professionals. As well as talent identification the book focuses on sport psychology and the development of mindset, highlighting that the neglect and ignorance of sport psychology is hampering the development of players.
In the final part I look at what the future holds for English football, putting particular focus on the FA and the new Technical Director Dan Ashworth and the importance of his role in shaping the future of English football.
The final chapter seeks to offer solutions to the issues and concerns brought up in the book. It is easy to criticise and blame people and I wanted to offer more, I wanted to lay down solutions to the issues holding English football back and the extensive list at the end is my belief in what is needed for English football to develop a large quantity of quality players.
Why should people read it?
Good question. In my opinion there is not a book which offers as comprehensive an analysis of the issues which are affecting English football as The Way Forward. It is a well-researched examination which has taken evidence from research, experts and the experiences and opinion of coaches and parents as well my own personal experiences and opinions.
Many may argue the book is controversial and highly critical of many areas in youth football yet I believe that it is a fair account of what is needed for England to improve standards and quality across all levels.
For those who read The Whitehouse Address blog they will know that I am passionate and opinionated and attempt to be thorough in my analysis. The Way Forward offers an even deeper and comprehensive analysis account of English youth development and I believe it is a must read for all coaches, parents and anyone with an interest in youth development, in England and abroad.
What's next for you?
The hope is the book makes an influence to coaches across the country and the need for improved standards and investment in youth development is made. As much as I have loved writing The Way Forward my love and passion is first and foremost to coach and improve players.
I am currently working with a number of individual players and coaches developing their skills and knowledge and this summer I have been recruited by a professional club to come in and instil a philosophy for their Academy which seeks to develop players a greater number of quality players for their first team.
My objective as a coach is to develop coaches who are able to produce players with high technical excellence and strong tactical intelligence. Through my coach education clinics I focus on these elements and seek to give coaches ideas which help improve their players.
Personally I wish to keep learning and improving as a coach and an educator of players and coaches. The love of learning is something I have always had and this will never stop.
Friday, September 7, 2012
Making Second Chances Work Better Than The First
Those of Paul McCallum, Quade Taylor and Michael Chambers might not be the most familiar of names apart from, perhaps, to the more avid among West Ham and Crystal Palace fans. Simeon Jackson and George Elekobi might be more widely known but, even so, they're not exactly household names.
For the people at A.S.P.I.R.E. however, every one of those names signifies a success story; a player whose career they managed to kick-start.
A.S.P.I.R.E (Academic and Sporting Inspired Routes to Excellence) is a football and education programme for 16 -18 year old males which is based in London (and, as such, is not to be confused with the Qatar foundation that bears the same name). The programme was set up in July 2002 to enable young people to pursue their dream of playing professional football whilst also enjoying the advantages of furthering their education whether that is in a vocational or academic capacity.
"Ten years ago I felt that young players were being overlooked once they had gone past the age of sixteen and not in the professional academy system," Gavin Rose, a man behind a lot of what goes on at A.S.P.I.R.E., explains as he talk about what led to the academy's existemce.
Despite enjoying a very sucessfull schoolboy career, by his own admission he felt that he struggled with the physical strength to play at professional level. So started a career at non-league level that saw him go among others to Gravesend and Northfleet (later renamed Ebbsfleet), Bromley, Dover and Dulwich Hamlet.
Meanwhile he had also started coaching, an activity that he found soothed the disappointment of not making it as a professional. It was also at this time that he began feeling the need a for a way to get back into the game those players dropped by professional clubs.
"Well before we set up A.S.P.I.R.E up it was proven that there are late developers who come into professional football and in that era Ian Wright and Les Ferdinand were the biggest ambassadors for this," he explains. "The feeling myself and Junior Kadi [co-founder at the academy along with Rob Mapp] had was if these young kids were given more time to work on their game understanding, technique, fitness there could be a lot more making the grade."
"From the outset, the area where we predominantly recruited players was from my local area in Peckham, where I had a group of players I had coached for six years who had all represented their district and county sides respectively."
"Along the way a few gained professional scholarships and, in Anton Ferdinand, eventually a professional. But we still had a surplus of at least 14 quality players without clubs and not much direction of alternative vocation or career path, so those guys along with another 10 strong players in the surrounding area made up the first years intake. We now recruit all over London."
That recruitment process is a very focused and specialised one where the aim isn't necessarily to pick those who are the best players for the simple reason that such players often opt to go somewhere higher up the scale.
"We may see something in a player that others may not have picked up on," Gavin explains. "Some players have excellent ability, but maybe lack the personality to show it so we would see that as a worthwhile challenge. Enthusiasm at a young age is always something that we look for, as well as a will to listen and learn. Technique and movement on and off the ball are also key aspects to what we look for."
Often such players come from professional clubs; players who are cast aside from the system. Some are disillusioned by how they've been treated and many come with shattered confidence. Meaning that it can be hugely difficult to get them to a point where they can perform to the best of their abilities.
"When players have been released by bigger clubs the issue of our humble surroundings is the first thing the boys need to acclimatize to. It often helps when our former players such as George Elokobi come down and train with them in the summer to show them he is not to big to train with them."
"Confidence is a bigger problem, many clubs release players with terrible feedback about why they are not being taken on by the clubs. Boys are being left with the reality of not only them being released and out of the pro game but with the parting shots of "your not big enough" or " your too soft to become a footballer". So you can imagine these young lads are quite deflated by the time we get to work with them. Whilst we empathise with their feeling of rejection, we don't endorse a "feel sorry for me" mentality. Instead we try to fire the boys up into reverse these negative comments into positive ones with hard work."
Having dealt with so many kids who have been 'burnt' by the academy system, one would expect Rose to be critical of it. Yet this isn't the case. "It's easy to criticise on the outside looking in, because you are not privy to the constraints or fortunes of each academy up and down the country."
"I've noticed there seems to become changes happening in terms of quality assurance and producing more top talent for the highest level of the game, so it will be interesting to see how that develops. I've noticed at academy level in the main coaches are encouraging young players to express themselves and pass the ball in tight areas and so on."
"The problem is the transition into the first team. I don't feel young players are getting their chance and we lose a lot of promising talent to lower league football where, largely, the emphasis is not as much on the technical side of the game thus making it harder for these talents to make their mark."
Pleasingly, Rose states that his coaching philosophy "is to try to play attacking attractive football, with players who are comfortable taking the ball in tight areas and able to express themselves. I like players to back their ability and not to fear making mistakes. Of course this message is not easy to convey when trying to chase points in big games, but I believe if your players stick to their principles they stand more chance of being successful."
What makes the project a success, however, is the holistic view that it adopts, where the focus isn't exclusively on football. "We try to build the young men as well rounded people on and off the field, and place a high level of importance on their academic progress via our partnering education provider."
"There are different levels of success for each young man who is apart of our academy. Of course, to become a professional is the highest on the list for them all, but we try to make them aware of the different exit routes that can be achieved in and out of the game such as non league football, coaching, education (university). We try to fuel their ambition to be successful people."
There is also a practical aspect of such an approach. "We have noticed the boys who have gone onto professional football from our academy were either very intelligent academically or very diligent academically. So we believe it's places great significance to young players development."
That desire to give their graduates as many opportunities as possible saw them look to partner with a senior club with the decision ultimately falling onto Dulwich Hamlet.
"The relationship first started 10 years ago when we first started the project," Rose explains. "After 3 years we moved onto Fisher Athletic at a time we probably felt we needed more of a challenge in that I could manage the team there, even though I was only 28 at the time."
"I was offered the chance to manage Dulwich Hamlet three seasons ago and it was a perfect fit to re-establish our old partnership with the club."
Naturally, as the manager, Rose's main aim is to ensure the on pitch success of Dulwich Hamlet, something that he has done to a degree with two play-off final defeats in the Isthmian League Division One South. "Honestly the Football Club have benefitted from our Academy in a big way because with such a tight budget, we are able to blood young promising players who don't come at a great expense and balance the budget quite nicely. Also we have managed to sell three of our academy products in the past 18 months from which both parties have benefitted financially. The partnership offers young players coming in at 15 with the clear vision of a pathway to some sort of achievement."
"If a young player continues to excel in the academy set up I believe they should be rewarded to keep them motivated to continue challenging themselves and how far they can go. I will introduce tho train with the senior team to see how they cope and take from there really. If you're good enough you're old enough."
All of this bears testament to the success of the A.S.P.I.R.E. system. Yet despite that success, sadly it is still something of a struggle to ensure the academy's financial well-being. "The academy was financed by Southwark Council for the first three years of its existence. Due to funding cuts, however, the council were unable to sustain its support."
"This coincided with an approach from then Ryman Premier League side Fisher Athletic for A.S.P.I.R.E to give the club an academy set up from 10 years old up to 18 year olds. This lasted for two years with many of the academy players going on to represent Fisher in the Conference South league."
"Unfortunately Fisher came into hard times and the whole club had to be folded, with the senior side relegated three leagues. For the following years Rob Mapp, Junior Kadi and myself paid for the running costs out of our own pockets with no return."
"In recent times we have been funded by our education providers formerly London Nautical and our current partners Sedgehill school in Sydenhamcome."
"We have also come under the umbrella of the Rio Ferdinand Foundation, an initiative which is still in its infancy to help young children in inner city backgrounds to access various Sports, Arts and Crafts, Music, Media and so on. Having grown up with Rio we always discussed the issues we encountered as youths and how easy it would have been for us to turn to crime, as the wider opportunities to develop a career away from an academic background was somewhat non existent. The love and passion to chase a football career was enough to keep us at bay, but we were naturally gifted so there was no real input given to us."
At the moment, there are 46 players at the academy "as we just started an under 16 age group as well" Rose says. The potential is there, however, to serve three times as many kids. "With the correct facility and funding we could easily look after 150 players from a wider range of age groups, as we have many promising coaches to call on who have come through the academy over the years and taken their badges."
Inevitably, expanding the academy's reach is one of Rose's main hopes. "I would love the academy to be able to expand in numbers as I mentioned earlier, as well as having a permanent facility of which the boys can develop and hone their skills. I'm 100% certain that if we had these luxuries we would be producing a lot higher number of players performing in the premiership. Having said we feel scouts have missed out on some top talent worth developing over the 10 years we have existed."
"Personally I would like to challenge myself to working at the highest level in the game as my ability will take me, as manager and a coach. I place no limit to what can be achieved with hard work and continued personal development."
The Success Stories
A.S.P.I.R.E.do not necessarily measure success by the number of players for whom they manage to get a professional playing contract, but even so, they're very good at it. Here are some of the success stories:
George Elokobi
Elokobi joined A.S.P.I.R.E. after arriving in England from Cameroon in 2002, where he was a valued member of a successful youth team before stepping up to league football with Colchester United in 2004 after being spotted by scouts whilst representing us in a Kent Youth League fixture. He eventually moved to Wolverhampton Wanderers making it to the Premier League. The defender maintains regular contact with the staff at A.S.P.I.R.E. and attends training sessions with the academy's young graduates.
Paul McCallum
McCallum was playing Sunday league football well into his teens before being given a chance at Dulwich Hamlet. He scored eleven goals as Dulwich made it to the Third Round of the FA Youth Cup in the 2010-11 season which attracted a host of clubs, as did his scoring record in the Ryman League Division One. Eventually he opted to move to West Ham for a figure of £40,000, disappointing the likes of Chelsea and Arsenal who were also interested.
Simeon Jackson
Born in Kingston, Jamaica but raised in Ontario, Jackson moved to England as a fifteen year old and immediately caught the attention of A.S.P.I.R.E. From there he was able to land a successful trial and Rushden and Diamonds before moving to Gillingham and, eventually, Norwich for who he has scored in the Premier League.
Michael Chambers
As with many players on A.S.P.I.R.E. and Dulwich Hanmlet's roll call, Chambers was released by a league club - in his case Reading - and told he had no future in the game before he had even turned sixteen. The staff at A.S.P.I.R.E. saw that he had talent, however, and nurtured it up to the point that eighteen months later the defender moved to Crystal Palace having even caught the attention of Sir Alex Ferguson's Manchester United.
Quade Taylor
On Fulham's books from the age of eight, Taylor was realeased at fourteen and could have drifted out of football if he hadn't joined Dulwich Hamlet through A.S.P.I.R.E. There he impressed with the ease with which he played either in defence and in midfield. Both West Ham and Crystal Palace invited him for a trial and eventually he opted for the latter despite the late interest of Stoke City.
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For the people at A.S.P.I.R.E. however, every one of those names signifies a success story; a player whose career they managed to kick-start.
A.S.P.I.R.E (Academic and Sporting Inspired Routes to Excellence) is a football and education programme for 16 -18 year old males which is based in London (and, as such, is not to be confused with the Qatar foundation that bears the same name). The programme was set up in July 2002 to enable young people to pursue their dream of playing professional football whilst also enjoying the advantages of furthering their education whether that is in a vocational or academic capacity.
"Ten years ago I felt that young players were being overlooked once they had gone past the age of sixteen and not in the professional academy system," Gavin Rose, a man behind a lot of what goes on at A.S.P.I.R.E., explains as he talk about what led to the academy's existemce.
Despite enjoying a very sucessfull schoolboy career, by his own admission he felt that he struggled with the physical strength to play at professional level. So started a career at non-league level that saw him go among others to Gravesend and Northfleet (later renamed Ebbsfleet), Bromley, Dover and Dulwich Hamlet.
Meanwhile he had also started coaching, an activity that he found soothed the disappointment of not making it as a professional. It was also at this time that he began feeling the need a for a way to get back into the game those players dropped by professional clubs.
"Well before we set up A.S.P.I.R.E up it was proven that there are late developers who come into professional football and in that era Ian Wright and Les Ferdinand were the biggest ambassadors for this," he explains. "The feeling myself and Junior Kadi [co-founder at the academy along with Rob Mapp] had was if these young kids were given more time to work on their game understanding, technique, fitness there could be a lot more making the grade."
"From the outset, the area where we predominantly recruited players was from my local area in Peckham, where I had a group of players I had coached for six years who had all represented their district and county sides respectively."
"Along the way a few gained professional scholarships and, in Anton Ferdinand, eventually a professional. But we still had a surplus of at least 14 quality players without clubs and not much direction of alternative vocation or career path, so those guys along with another 10 strong players in the surrounding area made up the first years intake. We now recruit all over London."
That recruitment process is a very focused and specialised one where the aim isn't necessarily to pick those who are the best players for the simple reason that such players often opt to go somewhere higher up the scale.
"We may see something in a player that others may not have picked up on," Gavin explains. "Some players have excellent ability, but maybe lack the personality to show it so we would see that as a worthwhile challenge. Enthusiasm at a young age is always something that we look for, as well as a will to listen and learn. Technique and movement on and off the ball are also key aspects to what we look for."
Often such players come from professional clubs; players who are cast aside from the system. Some are disillusioned by how they've been treated and many come with shattered confidence. Meaning that it can be hugely difficult to get them to a point where they can perform to the best of their abilities."When players have been released by bigger clubs the issue of our humble surroundings is the first thing the boys need to acclimatize to. It often helps when our former players such as George Elokobi come down and train with them in the summer to show them he is not to big to train with them."
"Confidence is a bigger problem, many clubs release players with terrible feedback about why they are not being taken on by the clubs. Boys are being left with the reality of not only them being released and out of the pro game but with the parting shots of "your not big enough" or " your too soft to become a footballer". So you can imagine these young lads are quite deflated by the time we get to work with them. Whilst we empathise with their feeling of rejection, we don't endorse a "feel sorry for me" mentality. Instead we try to fire the boys up into reverse these negative comments into positive ones with hard work."
Having dealt with so many kids who have been 'burnt' by the academy system, one would expect Rose to be critical of it. Yet this isn't the case. "It's easy to criticise on the outside looking in, because you are not privy to the constraints or fortunes of each academy up and down the country."
"I've noticed there seems to become changes happening in terms of quality assurance and producing more top talent for the highest level of the game, so it will be interesting to see how that develops. I've noticed at academy level in the main coaches are encouraging young players to express themselves and pass the ball in tight areas and so on."
"The problem is the transition into the first team. I don't feel young players are getting their chance and we lose a lot of promising talent to lower league football where, largely, the emphasis is not as much on the technical side of the game thus making it harder for these talents to make their mark."
Pleasingly, Rose states that his coaching philosophy "is to try to play attacking attractive football, with players who are comfortable taking the ball in tight areas and able to express themselves. I like players to back their ability and not to fear making mistakes. Of course this message is not easy to convey when trying to chase points in big games, but I believe if your players stick to their principles they stand more chance of being successful."
What makes the project a success, however, is the holistic view that it adopts, where the focus isn't exclusively on football. "We try to build the young men as well rounded people on and off the field, and place a high level of importance on their academic progress via our partnering education provider."
"There are different levels of success for each young man who is apart of our academy. Of course, to become a professional is the highest on the list for them all, but we try to make them aware of the different exit routes that can be achieved in and out of the game such as non league football, coaching, education (university). We try to fuel their ambition to be successful people."
There is also a practical aspect of such an approach. "We have noticed the boys who have gone onto professional football from our academy were either very intelligent academically or very diligent academically. So we believe it's places great significance to young players development."
That desire to give their graduates as many opportunities as possible saw them look to partner with a senior club with the decision ultimately falling onto Dulwich Hamlet.
"The relationship first started 10 years ago when we first started the project," Rose explains. "After 3 years we moved onto Fisher Athletic at a time we probably felt we needed more of a challenge in that I could manage the team there, even though I was only 28 at the time."
"I was offered the chance to manage Dulwich Hamlet three seasons ago and it was a perfect fit to re-establish our old partnership with the club."
Naturally, as the manager, Rose's main aim is to ensure the on pitch success of Dulwich Hamlet, something that he has done to a degree with two play-off final defeats in the Isthmian League Division One South. "Honestly the Football Club have benefitted from our Academy in a big way because with such a tight budget, we are able to blood young promising players who don't come at a great expense and balance the budget quite nicely. Also we have managed to sell three of our academy products in the past 18 months from which both parties have benefitted financially. The partnership offers young players coming in at 15 with the clear vision of a pathway to some sort of achievement."
"If a young player continues to excel in the academy set up I believe they should be rewarded to keep them motivated to continue challenging themselves and how far they can go. I will introduce tho train with the senior team to see how they cope and take from there really. If you're good enough you're old enough."
"This coincided with an approach from then Ryman Premier League side Fisher Athletic for A.S.P.I.R.E to give the club an academy set up from 10 years old up to 18 year olds. This lasted for two years with many of the academy players going on to represent Fisher in the Conference South league."
"Unfortunately Fisher came into hard times and the whole club had to be folded, with the senior side relegated three leagues. For the following years Rob Mapp, Junior Kadi and myself paid for the running costs out of our own pockets with no return."
"In recent times we have been funded by our education providers formerly London Nautical and our current partners Sedgehill school in Sydenhamcome."
"We have also come under the umbrella of the Rio Ferdinand Foundation, an initiative which is still in its infancy to help young children in inner city backgrounds to access various Sports, Arts and Crafts, Music, Media and so on. Having grown up with Rio we always discussed the issues we encountered as youths and how easy it would have been for us to turn to crime, as the wider opportunities to develop a career away from an academic background was somewhat non existent. The love and passion to chase a football career was enough to keep us at bay, but we were naturally gifted so there was no real input given to us."At the moment, there are 46 players at the academy "as we just started an under 16 age group as well" Rose says. The potential is there, however, to serve three times as many kids. "With the correct facility and funding we could easily look after 150 players from a wider range of age groups, as we have many promising coaches to call on who have come through the academy over the years and taken their badges."
Inevitably, expanding the academy's reach is one of Rose's main hopes. "I would love the academy to be able to expand in numbers as I mentioned earlier, as well as having a permanent facility of which the boys can develop and hone their skills. I'm 100% certain that if we had these luxuries we would be producing a lot higher number of players performing in the premiership. Having said we feel scouts have missed out on some top talent worth developing over the 10 years we have existed."
"Personally I would like to challenge myself to working at the highest level in the game as my ability will take me, as manager and a coach. I place no limit to what can be achieved with hard work and continued personal development."
The Success Stories
A.S.P.I.R.E.do not necessarily measure success by the number of players for whom they manage to get a professional playing contract, but even so, they're very good at it. Here are some of the success stories:
George Elokobi
Elokobi joined A.S.P.I.R.E. after arriving in England from Cameroon in 2002, where he was a valued member of a successful youth team before stepping up to league football with Colchester United in 2004 after being spotted by scouts whilst representing us in a Kent Youth League fixture. He eventually moved to Wolverhampton Wanderers making it to the Premier League. The defender maintains regular contact with the staff at A.S.P.I.R.E. and attends training sessions with the academy's young graduates.
Paul McCallum
McCallum was playing Sunday league football well into his teens before being given a chance at Dulwich Hamlet. He scored eleven goals as Dulwich made it to the Third Round of the FA Youth Cup in the 2010-11 season which attracted a host of clubs, as did his scoring record in the Ryman League Division One. Eventually he opted to move to West Ham for a figure of £40,000, disappointing the likes of Chelsea and Arsenal who were also interested.
Simeon Jackson
Born in Kingston, Jamaica but raised in Ontario, Jackson moved to England as a fifteen year old and immediately caught the attention of A.S.P.I.R.E. From there he was able to land a successful trial and Rushden and Diamonds before moving to Gillingham and, eventually, Norwich for who he has scored in the Premier League.
Michael Chambers
As with many players on A.S.P.I.R.E. and Dulwich Hanmlet's roll call, Chambers was released by a league club - in his case Reading - and told he had no future in the game before he had even turned sixteen. The staff at A.S.P.I.R.E. saw that he had talent, however, and nurtured it up to the point that eighteen months later the defender moved to Crystal Palace having even caught the attention of Sir Alex Ferguson's Manchester United.
Quade Taylor
On Fulham's books from the age of eight, Taylor was realeased at fourteen and could have drifted out of football if he hadn't joined Dulwich Hamlet through A.S.P.I.R.E. There he impressed with the ease with which he played either in defence and in midfield. Both West Ham and Crystal Palace invited him for a trial and eventually he opted for the latter despite the late interest of Stoke City.
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