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The Future of Scottish Football

by Craig Easton

This is the first installment of a three part series about the future of Scottish football.

I might be stating the obvious here, but the standard of Scottish football is not good enough. Scotland last qualified for a major championship in 1998.  Even then, they finished bottom of their group at the World Cup in  France. Over a decade spent in the International wilderness of non- qualification, equates with not producing enough talented individuals to enable the national team to compete at the top level.

Fortunately Stewart Regan, the Scottish FA Chief Executive, understands where the country is in terms of the standard of the national game and the players playing it.  But his vision extends further than the development of Scottish footballers.  He thinks there are  more basic underlying issues that need to be addressed, before trying to tackle grass roots development alongside the problems faced at a professional level.  “The areas I think Scottish Football really needs to look into for the future are the things like Physical Education,” said Regan.  “On a weekly basis there are fewer  than two hours a week of P.E. which is just not enough for kids.” He’s not the only person to link the demise of the nation’s footballing talent with the lack of emphasis on sport in the Scottish school curriculum.

A DIFFERENT CULTURE
The sportswriter and broadcaster, Jim Traynor, has made two definitive documentaries on the state of the Scottish game, and he believes that the problem is deeper than the parlous state of school sports.  Social factors can also contribute to fewer kids making the grade.  “Social depravation is rife and it’s not like a couple of generations ago  when people didn’t have a lot but they had a community spirit, now you don’t have that.” He believes such  deprivation has contributed to a society where many of today’s working class parents, often struggling with  alcohol and drug problems  themselves,  lack  both  the  parenting  skills  and  money  to  support  young  aspiring footballers. Those living below the poverty line don’t have a chance, as sport and football is the last thing on a parent’s mind.

Traynor understands that in the past the lifeblood of the Scottish game was kids playing on the streets.  Top talent like Johnston, Baxter and Dalglish honed their skills in the housing schemes, but he dismisses the continued romanticism attached to that era as “sentimental tosh”.  Those days will never be recreated, partly because there are too many cars on the streets nowadays.  The cul-de-sac in the Airdrie council estate where I grew up played host to  some truly epic games of football involving kids who lived two or three streets away, but Craighead Street now resembles a car park. It’s hard enough finding a space when I visit my mum and dad, never mind having a kick about. Traynor himself notes that, “The only way we can get back to that sort of street environment where everyone is included is in taking it back to schools and making it a proper part of the curriculum”. He adds, “You need to give  these kids something they can believe in. If a kid can get into his school’s  football  team  then  it  gives  him  something  to  aim  for. I  think  football  has  got  a responsibility”.

GOVERNMENT INFLUENCES
The Scottish Government recognises that responsibility must be shared, especially when a  healthier generation could benefit society way beyond the realm of sport.  In his Review of Scottish Football, former First Minister Henry McLeish called for “local government, Scottish football and the private sector to work together to create a powerful investment vehicle”. A large part of those funds will go toward addressing the problem of our woefully inadequate  football facilities. Stewart Regan is confident the “powerful relationship” the SFA are building with the government (Sports Minister Shona Robison in particular) will make a big difference.  Holyrood has certainly made a substantial commitment, contributing £25m toward the creation of a National Performance Centre which has football at its core.  It will be home to the National Football Academy, and the commitment to the project  by  both  the  Government  and  the  Scottish  FA  (who  have  earmarked  £15m  for  the performance strategy over the next four years) is an encouraging example of people in power acting on McLeish’s recommendations.

FACILITIES

That sort of investment is a step in the right direction, as are the three full-size 3G indoor pitches built since 2009.   These provide vital, year round access for youngsters and teams right up to the professional level, specifically when  the weather is not conducive to outdoor football. But as a nation with football as its first sport,  it’s not enough. 

We are embarrassingly ill-equipped, as Stewart Regan explains.  “In Iceland, the population is around three hundred thousand people, and they have 22 full size indoor football facilities.  In Scotland, we have three for a population of six million.  With a winter that seems to be getting worse and lasting longer, we need to be trying to look after our kids’ development”.  Kids aren’t the only ones who benefit.  Our professional clubs struggle for adequate training facilities whenever the Scottish weather  turns  ugly, and will often travel great distances to use one of these centres; but in my opinion, whilst a useful tool  in the development of young players, there’s no substitute for playing on grass.

That said, when the cold weather comes in, these facilities are worth every penny. The overall standard of astro-turf pitches has certainly improved.  However, the Toryglen facility, situated yards from Hampden Park in Glasgow, doesn’t come up to scratch.  It was the first of its kind and while the pitch has the same  dimensions  as Celtic Park, the surface has deteriorated badly. A major advantage in having an artificial surface is that the ball runs truer and more predictably. There should be no bobbles like you often get on grass. Hence the Scottish FA’s willingness to coach more of our youngsters on 3G or 4G pitches.

Having played a bounce game for Dunfermline Athletic on the Toryglen pitch in January, I can tell you that is not always the case.  It was one of the poorest astro-turf pitches I’ve ever played on, and it didn’t do the calf injury that I was recovering from at the time any good whatsoever.  So while we do need more of these facilities, and there are  plans for more to be built in the near future, the authorities and our governing body must make sure they are of a high standard and are maintained properly.  Otherwise the money spent will be going to waste.

The lack of good facilities was highlighted in his review, but Henry McLeish also noted that there is a problem with  access to some existing infrastructure. That’s why Stewart Regan wants to use schools to their full potential.  He’s challenged the government to make school playing fields and sports halls available to use after 3 o’clock.  It’s a basic idea of how to get better use out of existing facilities. Obviously there might be concerns over staffing issues, but it’s  a  sensible short-term attempt to alleviate the problem.

PROPOSED SOLUTIONS & BEST PRACTICE
The report  acknowledges  there  have  been  improvements  at  a  grass-roots  level,  but  the  focus thereafter has to be on the development of young players that can come through and benefit our game at both club and national  level. Starting this August, the Scottish FA aims to do this by enrolling 20 of the best 12 to  16 year olds from seven regions across the country into Regional Performance Schools. Over a four year period, the  youngsters will receive a minimum of five coaching sessions a week, focusing on skills and development.   Prominent youth coaches and four ex-players make up the team of seven coaches, each assigned to an individual school.   They are tasked with the development of these players during this vital stage of their progression, working together with  clubs and the school to provide the kids with more quality time with a football alongside their normal education.   The idea was borne from a successful pilot in Falkirk, and the first ever Performance Director, Mark Wotte, hopes that after the seven schools are up and running, they can increase that to 10 or 12.

The fact that the Scottish FA have created a position specifically to monitor the direction of player performance  shows  how serious they are about tackling the youth development issue. It’s not surprising, considering the Review recommends applying the 10,000 hour rule (popularised by author Malcolm Gladwell) as the quality practice time needed over ten years to become an expert in your field.  Mark Wotte breaks it down: “You need to give kids six to eight training sessions a week if you want them to improve”...“10,000 hours is  for  athletes in individual sports, but I think in football, if you can give them 6,000 to 7,000 hours of quality contact time with the ball in ten years (which is 12 to 15 hours a week) then that’s already an improvement”.

Fulfilling the recommended number of practice hours is all well and good, but the standard of coaching the players receive is critical.  When I was younger, coaching schools were rare.  I  went to football training with my boys club, Boys Brigade team or school team, and was lucky enough to have managers, coaches and a father who placed emphasis on ball skills and passing.  However, a widely held criticism of youth coaches is that too many neglect the technical side of the game in favour of success and winning trophies.  Mark Wotte explains the SFA’s coaching philosophy:  “I want the coaches to encourage them to play more as a free player - especially the 6 to 12 year olds. You can’t put an eight year old in a harness, he has to be free to do what he thinks is best, and when a  player  doesn’t  make  the  right  decision  you  can  ask  them  what  else  they  might  have  done differently. Coaches need to know  the  ages and the stages”. He expands, “Focusing on the technical side and playing small-sided games with not much space will allow them to develop their skills in a natural way for a game situation - let them play forever”.

According to the Scottish FA’s player pathway, at 13 years of age competition will kick in and trophies will be  contested, but I think this is a little bit too late. I would argue that a winning philosophy should be fostered from an earlier age to encourage kids to aspire to be the best.   As long as it doesn’t take over from the main focus, which has to be the technical development of the player, I can’t see anything wrong with nurturing a desire to win.   Jim Traynor agrees.   He says, “Firstly you have to make it enjoyable, then introduce incentives and the natural instincts will come through.  You won’t achieve unless you want to be a winner, don’t curb that.  The Scottish FA keep saying that winning is not important, but it is important”.

LESSONS FROM THE BEST
It’s a radical programme, similar to some of the most successful academies on the continent, and although Wotte wasn’t the man to come up with the idea (that was Jim Fleeting), he feels his past experience makes him an excellent choice to oversee this new venture.  The Dutchman has worked at just about every level in various capacities. He’s managed in most tiers in Holland including numerous seasons in the Eredivise, was Director of Football at Feyenoord, and Academy Director at Southampton before taking over the reins at the St. Mary’s Stadium for a short spell in 2009.   But it’s his earlier experiences with youth that Wotte notes as standing him in good stead for his current role.  He said, “In my early years I was a P.E. teacher as well as academy manager, and I linked the two together in a sort of performance school twenty years ago, where the boys trained six or seven times in a week, which was revolutionary back then, and that idea was also adapted by other clubs in Holland.”  The Dutch FA, the clubs and the education authority work together to school the elite players close to the clubs they are attached to.  For example, Feyenoord take the best players in an 80km radius and have a school close to their ground where they educate them and coach them on a daily basis.   They’ve been voted the best youth Academy in The Netherlands two years in a row, and Assistant manager Giovanni Van Bronkhurst proudly states that 80% of his current first team are products of the youth system.

It’s not only Holland that has a reputation for consistently producing world-class players through an academy system.   Germany’s humiliation at Euro 2000, where they finished bottom of their group, prompted their clubs and the DFB (German football’s Governing body) to get together and tackle the problem head on. They focused on youth, and  are now reaping the rewards with young homegrown players populating the Bundesliga and also contributing to the rebirth of the National team.  In his BBC documentary, ‘A Match For Europe’, Jim Traynor uses Germany as an example of the benefits of focusing on youth, but notes that it was also down to necessity as well as choice. He said,  “Despite financial hardships caused by faltering broadcast deals, significant funds were devoted to youth development even at the expense of wages in the Bundesliga, which in turn helped reduce the number of foreigners  playing in the top division, and created opportunities for young players to play in the first team”.  He cites Werder Bremen as a particular success story with wider reaching benefits for Germany’s domestic game.   40 teams are linked to Werder Bremen and 100 players from that academy are scattered throughout the Bundesliga and Bundesliga 2.   He states: “That’s what an academy should do.  The players who don’t make it at a particular club should be populating a lower league”.

A NEW APPROACH

While the performance schools are in their infant stages and it’ll be years before their worth can be fully evaluated (the benchmark being how many players go on to play professionally) I think it’s an overdue step in the right direction.   I still remember my trip to Clairefontaine in France as part of the Scotland Under 16 squad in the early 90‘s.  We stayed and trained on the lush green pitches at the French  Football Federation’s elite academy, and the experience opened my eyes to a proper football education partnership.
While we always had Largs as a training base for our national teams, I always wondered what it would be like to have a set-up for our best players that not only educated them, but where the daily routine revolved around structured football coaching.  I can only imagine what the standards are like at today’s most famous youth academy, Barcelona’s new Masia (the Oriol Tort Training Center) and whilst our clubs are keen to follow this and similar models, it’s not so simple.  Stewart Regan explains: “It’s more the principles than a carbon copy.  I think in an ideal world we’d love to have our own Clairefontaine and our own premier schools of excellence at club level, but it’ll come down to cash and availability.   We can’t be responsible for every single child playing football in Scotland, but we can develop an elite pathway for those who are going to play for the National team.”

Making sure the best players are selected is key to the whole programme, and Regan recognises this. “Around  the age of 11 years old we’re identifying the most talented kids in Scotland. In addition to that we’re organising Regional Performance Squads as well as the schools to bring the best of the best together across the seven regions.”  He continues,  “They will then play inter-squad matches which will allow us to pick our national squad at that age group.”  Mark Wotte adds, “It’s our obligation to the talented players.  From the trial games, we’ve selected an A and a B squad with 22 players in each, because at 15 years old you’re inconsistent or you’re growing.  We will continue to work with those 44 players  before deciding on the team because maybe next week you will see one of those players and he might  surprise you”. Regan concludes, “That squad will meet regularly at the new National Performance Centre and will get support in terms of coaching, but we’ll also look at things like diet, sports psycology, biomechanics, nutrition - the whole package, to try and make a rounded athlete”.

Those sort of aspects were only touched upon when I was coming through the national framework, and I think that  with the importance now placed on fitness and athleticism in the modern game, they’re more important than ever.  Hopefully the Scottish FA will fully commit to their strategy, and I think they will, but the players also have to buy into that philosophy.  I think the selection process has to be based not only on skill and natural technical ability, but also on the dedication and attitude of the individual, something from my experience that doesn’t always happen in football.  If I was a coach, I would rather work with individuals who are fully committed, but may not be as technically gifted, than players who have great ability but not the application to use it effectively.

HOPE
A good coach working within a driven development programme is essential, but there are so many other factors that go into producing the next top player.  The increased focus on sport and fitness at a young age along with the Scottish FA’s new Performance strategy will hopefully give our kids the tools to make it in the professional game at the highest level.  It’s essential for the future of Scottish football that the national side are able to qualify and compete at major championships again.  I’m hopeful that with the overwhelming realisation by our governing body and others who can influence our game that we have a lot of work to do, we’re able to take that vitally important step on a long road to making the goal a reality.

Craig Easton is a professional football player with more than two hundred appearances in the Scottish top flight - most of them with Dundee United - and with 22 Scottish Under 21 caps.  Currently at Torquay, he has just finished a degree in Professional Sports Writing and Broadcasting at Staffordshire University.  He can be followed on Twitter.

Academy Challenges

There have been a lot of opinions expressed about the Being: Liverpool documentary with one of the most common view being that it largely takes a superficial look at what goes on at a club of that size.

That might be the case - after all the documentary is aimed largely at American audiences who might not be familiar with the club or the game - but that does not mean that there aren't moments that provide insight.

One such instance came in the second episode where Steven Gerrard talks about the challenges faced by the players at the academy.

"The kids at the academy have massive challenges ahead of them because they don't only have to be the best in the academy and the best in the country, they have to be as good as the best players around the world," he said.

"So when you're breaking through and you're close, you've got to be better then whoever is in your position in the first team and that is a massive challenge."

"I've been in their situation and I realise how difficult it is to play for Liverpool FC, the standards you have to set day are tough."

There are those who believe that the step between reserves and first team is an easy one to make.  Clearly, however, it isn't particularly at the highest level.  Players don't simply have to be good but they have to be exceptional to get an opportunity.

Gerrard also touched on another important matter which is the expectations that are place on these young players' shoulders.  They are labelled  stars before they make the step up and are expected to perform as such when they do.

"The difference between when I was at the academy from now is that the fans already know about the kids at the academy, they watch them on the TV whereas when I was coming through no one knew anything about me, it was a surprise.  Which helped as there was no pressure, there's more pressure on the kids now as people are already aware of them before they get close to the first team. It is even more difficult now to get close to the first team."

Bursting the Specialisation Myth

There is something terribly saddening in the way fans tend to talk of young players at their clubs.  The finality with which verdicts are delivered, and their brutality, is often of an incredible harshness especially considering that it involves individuals who are still in their teens.  It leaves you in no doubt that even at this level most fans see that success as the only objective.  Anything else is rubbish.

What is even worse is that some clubs act in the same manner.  Education delivered to the players is minimal with little care being given to whether enough attention is being given.  There is little empathy when players are released or an attempt to help them sort their future.  All that matters is whether that player will make it at the club and, if not, whether he is good enough to be sold on to someone else.  That is what defines success for them.

Yet that shouldn’t be the case says Dr. Martin Toms, Senior Lecturer at the University of Birmingham.  “It is my firm belief that we should measure success not by the number of kids who make it to a high level from the club, but that it should be done on a basis of legacy and enthusiasm.”

“The best argument for success is around numbers of kids from all levels who want to be involved, have fun and play the game, so the best indication of success is that these kids are involved the next year.”

“Clubs (at whatever level) have a moral obligation to act as safe, nurturing environments for all levels, talent and participation.”

First of all can you explain what your area of expertise involves?
As a Senior Lecturer in Sports Coaching in the world renowned School of Sport & Exercise Sciences at the University of Birmingham, I look at the development of talent from a socio-cultural perspective across many sports. For example, whilst we know that there are biological and psychological characteristics in sporting talent, we often forget that what underpins all of this is the social. Where you live, what sports you play as a youngster, what your family background is, what sports they play(ed) are all massively influential on both participation and also the development of talent. Getting a better understanding of this is crucial – as there are interventions we can use to help support talented young players. One of the greatest things we can do is look more at the number of sports young people play at various ages. We’ve just completed a study of 1,000 sports people and identified that the longer you play a number of sports (i.e. sample), the more chance you have of being successful at an older age. This suggests that specialising in one sport at a young age is actually detrimental to success – and this seems to go across all sports in the UK.

It’s an interesting dilemma with the Olympic legacy where they want children to be enthused and participate in a particular sport – whereas it could be argued that they would be better playing many sports!

What you're saying goes against the popular belief of the 10,000 hour rule. Is there any truth in this rule? And does that mean that one can take up any sport and excel in it even without long years of training?
I think the best thing to say about the 10,000 hour rule is that it is a popular ‘belief’ (as is Father Christmas and the Tooth Fairy!). Yes, there is a lot of common sense in the notion that it takes a long time to gain the skills to become an elite performer, but the idea of it taking 10,000 hours is fundamentally flawed. At this juncture it is worth pointing out an excellent blog written about this issue - http://tinyurl.com/cpejwzh - and also highlighting that the main research behind the 10,000 hour rule is in music (difficult to argue that expertise in a repetitive skill is the same as that in a dynamic skill). It also ignores the biological, psychological and social aspects of development – can ANYONE who does 10,000 hours of work become elite? Quite clearly it is much more complicated than that! The problem we have with the 10,000 hour rule in sport is that some people have taken it far too literally – I just love the idea of the clock ticking on from 9,999 hours, 59 minutes and 59 seconds and then ‘bingo’....... I’m now an expert!! Now, in a closed skill (like juggling), then the more you practice the better you get, but in an open skill it is clearly very different.

On the second point, the answer to that is not that simple. Yes, it is possible (but not easy) to excel in a sport without 10,000 hours of training – but this very much depends upon what your sporting background is!  Take many of the people who are involved now in talent transfer (from one similar activity to another), have they actually worked at the second sport for 10,000 hours? Rebecca Romero is an interesting example, she went from an elite rower to an elite cyclist in less than 2 years, which begs the question what do we mean by the 10,000 hours of deliberate practice needed? More importantly, what do we mean by deliberate practice and how does that work in a dynamic and open skill like sport. Quite clearly, going from a zero to hero in sport depends much more on the individual and their bio-psycho-social background than anything, but it also depends upon the competition they come up against as well. Unfortunately, there is no simple answer here!

You've worked a lot with golf. Are there any lessons there that can be exported to other sports like football?
My background is actually in both cricket (my PhD is in socialisation of young people into club sport) and golf, and there are probably more lessons from cricket that can come in here because of the club environment and structured organisation/training that is so important as young people start playing the game. The biggest thing I would advocate (and a lesson I have learnt) is that we need to allow young people to focus upon sampling sports as much as we can. Regardless of that, the key lessons are actually now NOT to just play football, but to play lots of other sports as well (until at least 16-17).

Over the past few years I have been lucky enough to focus research on over 1,000 PGA golf Pros, and the biggest finding we have had is the commonality of certain other sports being played at certain ages which really seems to help future performance (I’ll not mention them here, but the evidence is over-whelming). On top of that, we know over half of those who have played at the highest level by the age of 18 were late specialisers in the game. (On a slight tangent and most remarkably, the data also suggests that to have the best chance of being a top player you need to be the youngest of at least 2 siblings – and have an older sister!). It is this social profiling that we need to do more in sport, as we now have the answer to what (we think) are the best sports for future golfers to do and at what age they should do them...........

What sort of responsibility do football clubs have to the community and the kids they train?  And does this change across the levels / divisions?
They have a huge responsibility to the community and the kids. Grass roots clubs should all act as they would a surrogate family – they offer opportunities for kids to socialise, learn emotional and social skills, interact with adults and are a ‘safe’ environment. The only danger is that the focus tend to be on the better players – and the old adage that “the skilful excel but the mediocre become disillusioned with the game” comes to the fore, and often these kids are the ones who are indirectly pushed away from sport. The most exciting clubs I have come upon are ones who are now doing multi-sports in one place, so the kids can have smooth transition to try other activities. One of the problems we have in the UK is often the fragmented structure of clubs, and the fact that they do not link across sports. As coaches, it can be too easy for us to forget that the key thing is the child not the sport. In a small town near me there are 5 entirely independent clubs (football, cricket, rugby, hockey and tennis) all vying for the same kids, and there are stories of them ‘stealing’ kids from each other – what an absolutely crazy situation!

So clubs (at whatever level) have a moral obligation to act as safe, nurturing environments for all levels, talent and participation – especially at grass roots. Even better, if they can ALSO provide links to other clubs (and/or offer other sports) then they will be massively successful. With the likely cuts to sports funding post 2012 then this is going to be important – and the idea of a “family club” becomes vital in every way.

It strikes me as odd that so called 'minor sports' do not work harder to attract youths who won't make it to the top in football.  Isn't this a waste of talent?
Absolutely! It is such a huge pity that very often people who do not make it to a high level drop out and live off their dreams. I’ve been lucky enough spending time talking to players who almost made it to a Pro contract, and once dropped from the system some never play again. Oddly, they almost refer to it as a bereavement (the loss of their dreams if you like), and give up. All that is needed (and this is beginning to happen more now) is careful counselling and the opportunity to ‘talent transfer’ to another sport.

The other crazy thing is that the odds on making it to a Pro level in soccer are so small (statistically less than 0.15%) then there are 99.85% of these fit, healthy young players who can make a huge difference in others sports.......... (which goes back to my earlier point about multi-sports). I will always remember a young player who was ‘released’ (an interesting word to use when you think about it – he referred to it as being a 19 year old “thrown on the scrap heap”) who was very bitter about the club/academy he played in. He said that he had been institutionalised in football with no opportunity to play other sports (because of the risk of injury) so felt he was 8 years behind his mates in sports like cricket, rugby and basketball. All this at the age of 19!

On a similar but slightly different point, has there been any study on the impact on players once they are released from a football club's academy or youth system?
Not yet (that I am aware of), and it is a problem with most research in sport. We only focus on those who did make it (because they are easy to find and access) rather than those who leave/are released. Yet these are the key people to understand what they can do beyond this. I’d love more clubs/academies to link up with other sports and offer ‘tasters’ in other activities. For those sports most of the hard work is done already – all they have to do is focus upon developing the technical and tactical of that sport in particular. The only issue here is that these young players may not have had the experience of that sport in the first place (which brings me back to my earlier point on multi-sports clubs!).

If you think about it, soccer clubs/academies put all of their effort into the (potential) 0.15% who will make it – rather than the 99.85% who will have a damn good try, but might be released and have a future in other sports.

Often, club's success is measured by the number of players they produce.  Should this be the case?
Absolutely not! I do worry quite what club’s are trying to do when they do this - is it advertise their ‘indirect’ success or use it as a marketing/money making tool. When you think about it, there are no doubt clubs who have excellent coaching and facilities who will produce good players – but is it that simple? If there is a good young player, and there is a club with a good coaching reputation nearby then they are more likely to go there – so it becomes a self fulfilling prophecy. I doubt there is much difference here, apart from ‘luck’ playing a part (and luck can be mediated in your favour – better schools, coaching can be influenced, but genetics can’t!). It would be interesting to measure them more on the basis of the enjoyment and success of ALL of the players who went there, but sadly this is not feasible. One way of looking at it is that these clubs are “custodians of talent” as the good players go through them and to better things, but that is not the be all and end all.

Some people say that talented kids are lucky to be in good clubs – I say that good clubs are lucky to have talented kids. Measurement on success is difficult and participation at junior level does not link to participation at adult level. Take the England Under 17 UEFA football squads from 2002-2004, only 4 of the 54 have played at full International level, and only 9 played in the Premiership last season. So to actually base your success on the number of players you happen to produce (or who happen to have played through the club’s systems) is not necessarily the best measurement.

What is the most important metric by which clubs' development programs should be measured?
It “ought to be” measured through the number of those who go on to play the game at EVERY level once they have left the club, i.e. it should focus on the 99.85% as much as the 0.15% who make it. We’re currently working with the FA on beginning to look at this (as well as other projects) at Birmingham and my firm (and altruistic belief) is that we should measure success NOT by the number of kids who make it to a high level from the club, but that it should be done on a basis of legacy and enthusiasm. The best argument for success is around numbers of kids from all levels who want to be involved, have fun and play the game, so the best indication of success is that these kids are involved the next year.

Clubs, especially those at the higher level, are bringing foreign youths into their academies.  First of all, what kind of message does this send to the local community?
First up, this is a huge problem for developing our own ‘in house’ soccer talent, but it is a relatively cheap way for clubs to explore talent from elsewhere. Whilst I am more than happy for competition it does make it harder for very good British youths to get into the academy sides, and as we have seen before the correlation between age and ability vary greatly. I think the overall problem is that as youths grow and develop, their sporting ability changes, so many ‘good’ players at 16 are dropped because they are not as good as others at the same age, but may develop into far better players at 18 (by then they are on the scrap heap). The rules on the number of home player per squad are important, and in order to develop this we need top clubs to stick to it – unfortunately the top level clubs will currently not reflect this because of the pressures of top level competition and competitive success. We need a generation of young players to come through the ranks before we can make much difference here.

Secondly, what should clubs be doing to ensure that these players don't suffer from a culture shock?
I don’t think there is anything that can really be done about this, apart from some very clear advice and support structures for those coming to the UK from abroad. Education (formal, informal and advisory) is very important for these young players. In other words: formal education to help stretch them mentally and academically (more than just language lessons if they need them!); informal education to help with practical issues, and advice (such as mentoring and support) to help them professionally.  The best practice I have ever come across is to provide them with support by placing them in a supportive family environment/home where there is another young player. It’s never easy moving country or culture, so the best way to nurture these young players is carefully and through a number of different approaches – all based around the sport and sporting environment.

Thanks to Dr Martin Toms for his time in carrying out this interview.  Anyone who would like to discuss the items touched upon in this interview with him can get in touch on his Twitter page.

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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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On Learning With The Kenyans

Ever since Blueprint for Football was launched, we've been surprised by the level of support that we've found.  Not just in terms of hits - which have at times exceeded our wildest expectations - but also in people willing to help out.

Through Blueprint for Football we've also made a good number of friends.  One of these is Craig Easton, the former Dundee United, Leyton Orient, Swindon and Scotland Under 21 midfielder who is currently at Torquay.  Craig is someone with a huge interest in youth football and when we published our article looking at the secrets of Kenyan distance runners and trying to apply them to football, he sent us an e-mail congratulating us on the piece.

But it was more than a simple e-mail: it was an analysis of what we'd written viewed from the eyes of someone who has really experience football.  As such, we felt compelled to share it with you (naturally, with his blessing).  Here then, are Craig Easton's views on whether the secrets of Kenyan running can be applied to football:

I think you highlight a lot of interesting factors which are part of the make-up of a Kenyan distance runner that could be helpful in a lot of sports and why not football?

I totally agree about the part about Active Childhood.  I think that can definitely play a part in a player’s base fitness.  I'm very lucky that I have a high level of 'natural fitness' and I'm sure that's in large part due to the amount of running about I did as a kid.  I was never off the streets playing football and used to run to school - I even ran home for my lunch every day!  I'm sure the Kenyan kids run a little bit further than I used to but the principles are similar.

There are cases where the motivation is similar also.  For some kids who live in poverty in Britain, they might see professional football as their only chance of getting out of a bad area or helping their family but you're right, that's the case for the majority of Kenyans so I agree that the motivation is there for most of their athletes from a young age.

The thing I find hard to draw comparisons with between individual sports/events is work rate.  For one there is a certain skill level needed to play football even at a basic level so even if you work really hard at improving there is probably a certain level each individual can get to within in their own realm of natural ability.  I think in individual sports where the athlete is often getting one on one coaching, they can improve more and in many sports it's more about the determination and dedication to training which will do this.

I find that in football, you could blag it more and natural ability will carry you a lot further.  Players who work harder are not necessarily rewarded especially in a team sport where a lot of the control is out of their hands.  Sometimes I wish I did an individual sport as I know that the level of my work rate would be more proportionately linked  to my success or failure which I could handle better, rather than it being in the hands of managers or even worse chairmen who haven't got a clue.  I'm thinking about doing a future piece on this linked to the fact that a lot of footballers haven't got a clue about what proper hard work is.

Saying that, I think we're becoming more professional in our approach.  When I was in the youth team at Dundee United, I remember getting stick from teammates for wanting to stay behind to do extra or going to the gym in the afternoon!  That attitude seems to be changing but players need help from coaches that encourage this but in the end, it's a personal attitude to improve and more players need to have this.  It's second nature for these Olympic athletes.

Once again Paul, very thought provoking stuff and I like the way you link in the Barcelona approach to coaching young players to take risks from an early age which I think you highlight brilliantly in the fact that this becomes second nature to them.  When I was youth team age (under-18's) it was guaranteed that I would get the shout "Easty don't run with the ball" at least once a game - ridiculous now that I think back on it!

Coaching the Brain

This article by John Sinnott originally appeared in Issue Three of football quarterly The Blizzard. All Issues of The Blizzard are available to download on a pay-what-you-like basis in a variety of formats from The Blizzard (www.theblizzard.co.uk)

Football, Johan Cruyff said, is a game you play with your brain. Michel Bruyninckx takes that claim more seriously than most. Terms like pedagogy, didactical principles, cognitive readiness and differential learning trip off the Belgian coach’s tongue as easily as catenaccio as he explains his "brain centred learning" approach to training young players. “When you make use of difficult words people feel resentment,” said the Standard Liège* academy director, who is arguably the first football coach to develop a training method specifically to target improvement in the brain’s performance. “But when you see the training you can see it works.”

Bruyninckx is talking in his office in the €18million state-of-the-art Academie Robert Louis-Dreyfus, which is widely regarded as one of the best in Europe. Located in the Saint-Jean forest just up the road from the club's Stade de Sclessin, the academy has a futuristic feel, particularly when set aganst the fading industry of Liège. It is an appropriate setting for a coach who is as comfortable talking about neuroscience as he is about football tactics.

The idea behind his approach is simple — to make players think as quickly with their brains as they kick the ball with their feet. “We need to develop an engram — a neurological track — in the brain,” said Bruyninckx, who aims for his players to be in a state of “conscious” learning at all times when they are training and playing. It is about creating new connections in the brain’s circuitry and hard wiring them in. Key to this is the part played by myelin, an insulating material that forms a layer — the myelin sheath — usually around only the axon of a neuron and which gets thicker when the nerve is repeatedly stimulated. “What do good athletes do when they train? They send precise impulses along wires that give the signal to myelinate that wire. They end up, after all the training, with a super-duper wire. That's what makes them different from the rest of us," George Bartzokis, a professor of neurology at UCLA, told Daniel Coyle of the New York Times in 2007.

The attraction of developing more intelligent players would seem obvious for any self-respecting football coach, but the high drop-out rate — “In England we’ve judged players by the time they are 17 or 18,” said the Southampton scout David Webb — suggests the world of youth development in Britain could do with a little more blue sky thinking. And why are they being rejected at such an early age when the brain is not fully developed until the age of 25?

But it’s not just the high wastage rate.  In the 2008-09 season 57% of players at Premier League academies were born between September and December, while 14% had their birthday between May and August.  That suggests that the more physically mature children in any given school year are being selected by clubs, which in turn means an English Lionel Messi (born June) or Andrès Iniesta (born May) is unlikely to be turning up any time soon. “We always thought that sporting activities were mechanical activities, but we know that there are interventions from the brain,” said Bruyninckx, warming to his theme. “Think of what Real Madrid experienced during el Clásico when they were beaten 5-0 by Barcelona last season.  This requires high concentration and creativeness, which is only possible if you bring the brain into a conscious process of performing. A new way of training — actually synaptogenesis — creating new brain connections.”

Bruyninckx is not the only coach advocating more intelligent and innovative approaches to training. “I think that coaches either forget, or don't even realise, that football is a hugely cognitive sport,” said the Uefa-A licence coach Kevin McGreskin. “We've got to develop the players' brains as well as their bodies but it's much easier to see and measure the differences we make to a player's physiology than we can with their cognitive attributes.”

The worry for McGreskin, who delivers workshops to professional clubs, is that for too long England has been coaching players in “pretty much the same way, but expecting the end product to be different and thinking somehow talent will magically appear.”

The drills Bruyninckx uses — “in five years I don't think I've used the same drills three times” — start off simply but grow in complexity to foster concentration and touch. This idea of “overload” ensures that the players are more actively involved during an exercise even when they are not on the ball. The pre-eminence of the team over the individual is key for Bruyninckx — “we have to do it together” is one of his mantras — and as he shows a video of players performing various training routines he jokes that what they are is doing is football’s equivalent of social media networking.

“Football is an angular game and needs training of perception — both peripheral sight and split vision,” said Bruyninckx. “Straight, vertical playing increases the danger of losing the ball. If a team continuously plays the balls at angles at a very high speed it will be quite impossible to recover the ball. The team rhythm will be so high that your opponent will never get into the match.”

The idea of overload is as key for McGreskin as it is for Bruyninckx. While the Belgian might get his players to speak in four different languages when they are doing strength and conditioning work, the Scot has devised one exercise in which players have to throw a tennis ball and call out colours while they are passing a football in sequence. “We are not providing kids with the challenges that they need to meet the demands of the modern game,” said McGreskin, who has recently started a project working with the Partick Thistle first team. “Overload exercises help the player speed up the feet and the thought process.”

McGreskin argues the decision making of too many players is not quick enough, a weakness that is caused by their inability to scan the pitch when they are without the ball. It is a view supported by research carried out by Professor Geir Jordet of the Norwegian School of Sport Sciences. Using Sky Sports' PlayerCam function, Jordet examined 55 Premier League midfielders’ head movements and found that the more these players scanned their surroundings, the statistically more successful they were with their passes. “The visually most active third of the players completed almost twice as many forward passes as the least active players,” said Jordet.

McGreskin added, “Don’t forget almost 98% of the game is played off the ball. Even in a basic passing drill I force the players to work on perception, scanning skills, technique, adjustability, concentration, attention focus and attention bandwidth. It's quite amazing the effect it can have on players.”

Bruyninckx is the first to admit that he is a bit of an outsider — "when Darwin was talking about evolution people thought he was crazy” — but this summer the Belgian got a foot firmly inside the football establishment's door when he was appointed head of Standard’s youth academy. His growing reputation has led to a couple of meetings with Real Madrid, including one with José Mourinho, an interesting development given the way the Madrid club have lagged behind Barça in the development of young players. “Mourinho immediately understood what I’m trying to do and he asked a lot of intelligent questions,” said Bruyninckx. "He also noticed that the organisation of the drills requires a greater team involvement, more concentration, attention, a continuous inciting of perception and that intelligent playing could grow a lot. I was most of all surprised by the fact he could instantly see how several technical details would be in favour of his players and the straight coupling of the contents of several drills to his players' individual characteristics was striking. He was not talking about a general programme but processed directly the new insights to his daily training and coaching. He cares a lot about his players."

Before his appointment at Liège, Bruyninckx was coaching youngsters between the age of 12 and 19 who were affiliated to first and second division Belgian clubs such as Mechelen, Westerlo, Anderlecht, Sint-Truiden, OHL Leuven, Vise and KVK Tienen. The youngsters, both boys and girls, had been selected by the Belgian football federation and studied at Redingenhof secondary school near Brussels. Now Bruyninckx is at an institution which has a very different raison d’être — to produce football players who will help Standard win the Jupiler League before they are — more than likely — snapped up by other European clubs.

With five grass pitches as well as an 800-seater stadium, an artificial pitch, a covered training area and a luxury hotel with 30 rooms, the Liège academy, which opened in 2007, is much in demand. Since arriving at Liège, Bruyninckx has received approaches from hundreds of young players from all over the world wanting to come and train with the Belgian club. For weekend matches it is not unusual for 40 agents to be watching games.

Bruyninckx’s appointment at Liège followed the arrival of the club’s new coach José Riga, another advocate of brain training, who used it when he was coach of the second division club CS Vise. "It's such an intelligent way to learn," said Riga of his academy director’s approach. "The exercises are always based on geometrical figures such as rectangles or diamonds. They start off simply but increase in complexity. You have to be running at the same time and looking to see your partners' rhythm. You need to think about putting the ball at a certain angle and you have to think about rhythm, synchronisation and movement. It's not repetition without reflection.”

Bruyninckx emphasises that each drill makes use of “tracing” which forces players to reposition themselves as they would in a game. “My organisation is always referring to the reality of a game,” he said. He insists that the work he does as a coach incorporates many other aspects — kinesiology, psychology, biomechanics — while his players also train with the rhythmic ball —  a small net with room for a football that is then held by the hand to ensure that the ball always stays close to a player — to maximise the number of touches.

Geoff Noonan, who is Fulham academy co-ordinator for the Under-7 to Under-11 age groups, decided to order 150 of the balls for his players after meeting Bruyninckx at a conference in May. “The rhythmic ball helps to open the hips, and is good for passes across your body, side-on volleys as well as helping a player’s weaker foot,” said Noonan. “It also allows kids to practise at home and helps them to balance both the left and right sides. The idea of home practice is really useful — we've lost that culture of kids playing impromptu games on their own and the rhythmic ball provides a way of replacing that.”

Barcelona players’ high technical level and non-stop movement provide the benchmark for Bruyninckx, but Noonan argues that Barça’s recent success as well as Spain’s Euro 2008 and 2010 World Cup triumphs are linked to the number of games Spanish youngsters play. “Having visited Spain the way the game is learned over there is not by drills, because that doesn't teach game sense,” said Noonan. “In Spain they learn through a games-based approach to help develop and understand time and space. They might play 80-120 games a year, with lots of matches at tournaments and festivals. Playing so many games helps young players to see images in similar situations over and over again. What we need to do is give the kids a good game sense — understanding time and space — and develop good technique. We need lots of games and lots of different types of games — 2 v 2, 3 v 3, 7 v 6 etc — with lots of different tactics.”

Noonan has brought in the consultant and author Mick Critchell, who in the past has coached Arsenal’s Theo Walcott and Southampton’s Adam Lallana, and has carried out research in the way the brain works. Critchell is an advocate of this approach based on small-sided games — in essence a way of replicating street football — and provides a scientific explanation to support his argument. During a two-hour exploration of the brain’s workings and its development from birth until it has fully formed, encompassing an in-depth look at its reptilian, limbic, neo-cortex and corpus callosum structures, Critchell explains that while the left side provides logical and rational skills, the right side is the resource for more emotional and intuitive skills.

He argues that the game in England has been taught through the left brain, which is too slow for a fast-moving game like football, and that players develop best when the right and left brain are working together: the technique and the decision making. “It is essential to activate the right brain and analogous vision by continually putting players in unpredictable situations,” said Critchell, who walked out on an in-service evening when he saw the Cruyff turn broken down into 13 different parts. “We therefore need to teach small-sided games which are appropriate for the age and ability of each child.”

The 68-year-old Critchell references a piece of research by John Moores University that found that more than 50% of time in English academies is spent on fitness training or unopposed practices and less than 20%  on playing small-sided games. “Not only are we developing poor technical players, said Critchell, “we are also creating poor decision makers. We need players who have the ability to play in the future — a vision to know what to do before receiving the ball. This won’t change unless we get rid of the drills.”

A former secondary-school teacher, Critchell talks of the importance of the brain’s place and grid cells — “space-mapping neurons linked to a memory-forming region in the brain called the hippocampus” — which allow players, indeed all humans, to map space. “In roughly 10 seconds, Paul Scholes will see a hundred alternatives and then make choices that will draw on his place and grid cells,” said Critchell. The grid cells “act as though the playing surface has got triangles marked out all over it,” he added. That makes the playing of small-sided games like 3 v 3 so important “as it allows players to understand that shape better”.

Listening to Critchell’s advice, Fulham have also introduced a movement programme for all their age groups. He points out that many African and South American children grow up in societies in which dance is a major part of culture. In dances like the samba and salsa, the brain has to coordinate eight or nine different body parts at the same time, which is great for balance, rhythm and body control. Noonan heard Bruyninckx speak at a conference organised by Bacons College academy, a secondary school in Docklands, the day before Barcelona's victory over Manchester United in the Champions League final in May. Over the last few years the former USSR international Sergei Baltacha has established a thriving football academy at Bacons College — a number of his players also train with London Premier League clubs — and has developed a close relationship with Bruyninckx.

The Belgian insists that his players be as committed to their education — “If I can affect your concentration and attention during my training you will take it to school” — as they are to their football development, a belief shared by Baltacha. “Keeping the athlete grounded will stop us from creating  ‘Tin Sporting Gods’ who in their late teens or early twenties fail to reach their potential in and out of sport,” said Tom Eisenhuth, who works closely with Baltacha at Bacons College. “This model is the lifeblood of Sergei’s philosophy.”
Bruyninckx estimates 25% of the 100 or so players that he coached before joining Standard have turned professional or are in the women's national squads. The former Standard Liège midfielder Steven Defour, now at Porto, and the PSV Eindhoven attacking midfielder Dries Mertens are the two most high-profile players with whom the Belgian coach has worked. Another player Bruyninckx coached is the Belgium midfielder Faris Haroun, who joined Middlesbrough in the summer from Germinal Beerschot, scoring on his debut in the 3-1 win over Birmingham. On a trip to Belgium to meet Bruyninckx earlier this year, Haroun joined his mentor for lunch and happily sat through a two-hour Powerpoint presentation that included a hefty dollop of neuroscience. Haroun’s concentrated demeanour was noticeable.

Perhaps what really differentiates Bruyninckx from other coaches is that he is not only interested in creating better football players, but also wants to create better human beings so that if they do not make the grade professionally they will be capable of going on to have fulfilling lives. “It's all about having communication with your athletes and finding out how your players are organised,” said Bruyninckx. “It is important not to impose your ideas immediately. If a child has a recently divorced family, that child is not emotionally available to learn something. We all see present-day problems and that sometimes the social behaviour of players is not correct. We have to do it together.”

Talking to a number of interviewees who have had experience of youth development both in the UK and abroad, what is striking is the sense that European clubs have a more rigorous and analytical approach to coaching young players. Villarreal have 76 coaches working in their academy, all of whom have physical education and child development qualifications, while up to the age of 12 their players would be deployed in at least three different positions during a game. "In Europe there is a real understanding of a child's emotional development and where the kids have come from,” said Webb, who is currently studying for an MSc in Sports Psychology while scouting for Southampton, and has been a frequent visitor to Bayer Leverkusen’s academy. "I noticed there is more human and cultural understanding with foreign coaches. And there is a real understanding of the type of coaching kids need at certain ages. It's a very systematic and analytical approach to development.”

Over the last few years the exploration of how talent is best developed has seen a proliferation of books on the subject, notably Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers, Geoff Colvin’s Talent is Overrated, Matthew Syed’s  Bounce, John Ratey’s and Eric Hagerman’s Spark  and Daniel Coyle’s The Talent Code. As Critchell notes, “Everybody is searching for the Holy Grail.” Given the millions that are at stake in developing players the search is only likely to intensify. Bruyninckx’s theories may seem strange now, but as that quest goes on they could become standard practice.

* Editorial note: Since this article was written, Michel Bruyninckx has moved toQatar to work with Aspire as part of WC 2022 preparations.

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