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the
manager
WINTER 2011
win at all costs. There is little – if any
– formal coaching before the age of 14
and the school system provides almost
no physical education. There is little
workload management and children
often play many matches per week.
It’s a similar story with regards to
physical development, as strength
training and other physical qualities
are developed very poorly. The
argument that the children have
nothing to do but play football is also
flawed, as many of the young players
have to work. Furthermore their trips
to and from school and training are
usually long and on public transport.
I believe that Latin countries
develop creative players because of
other factors, including culture and
philosophy. For us to compete in
the field of talent development we
must begin to ask more fundamental
questions, where the answers are
harder to define and the solutions
are difficult to implement.
England has always produced
exceptional talent. Furthermore, the
development of our academies has led
to an increase in technical skills and to
our international youth teams being
increasingly successful.
But for all of that progress, how
many world class, individual, English
attacking players do we have playing
in the Barclays Premier League? It
seems to me that if we don’t start to
ask and answer the tougher questions,
that it will be a long time before we
start to challenge the Latin countries’
dominance of the Ballon d’Or.
Food for thought
Martyn Pert believes that everyone involved in English
football coaching needs to consider some of the
fundamentals of youth development. He believes that...
We’re better than we think we are
England produces good players. They may not have
all the technical abilities of their foreign counterparts,
but they have attributes such as determination and the
will to win that many foreign coaches envy. We should
consider our strengths rather than our inadequacies.
You can’t coach creativity
Improving facilities, infrastructure, the coaching
curriculum and contact time will do a lot, but it will
never alter the level of player creativity.
Winning is important
Learning how to win is a fundamental characteristic
required of any professional footballer.
It’s not about the curriculum
A school-based curriculum will help to develop fully-
rounded individuals, but it will not produce technically
skilled and creative players.
It’s about football, not physique
Long-term athletic development is important, but it
should not be the basis of a young player’s regular
training regime. A person should first become an
outstanding footballer before spending many hours per
week building their physique in the gym.