What’s there left for Bayer Leverkusen to attain? Placing that query to sporting director Simon Rolfes on a latest go to to the Bundesliga champions, his reply is a stunning one. He talks not of extra glory however of growing the academy.
“We solely have two gamers in the mean time in our squad from the academy,” Rolfes tells Sky Sports activities. A kind of is Florian Wirtz, who spent a lot of his growth at FC Koln. The opposite is back-up goalkeeper Niklas Lomb who’s now 31 years previous.
“To have the identical stage now we have now, however with 5, six, seven, eight or 9 gamers from the academy, could be improbable,” provides Rolfes. “I feel that might additionally give this membership one other enhance when it comes to growth and our id. It’s a long-term mission.”
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He continues: “We’re making huge steps within the academy with much more nationwide staff gamers. 5 years in the past, there have been perhaps two or three, now it’s nearly 20. We’re bettering however now we have to show we’re in a position to develop them. It’s nonetheless a giant problem.”
Chatting with chief government Fernando Carro, he expressed a lot the identical sentiment, underlining the truth that this isn’t a flight of fancy by Rolfes however a problem central to Leverkusen’s considering as they appear to construct on their shock title triumph.
“One very essential and necessary factor for us is to strengthen our academy,” says Carro. “We’ve got to be extra profitable in getting academy gamers to the primary staff. However after all due to the upper stage of our first staff it’s at all times an increasing number of tough.”
So, how do Leverkusen do it? The person tasked with delivering the change his bosses demand is Jefta Bresser, the academy director. The affable Dutchman is unconcerned. “I can take care of the stress,” he tells Sky Sports activities. “If not, I’m not the best man.”
Bresser solely arrived at Leverkusen in October, by which era the primary staff had been already on their astonishing run to glory. We’re talking after watching the U19 facet come from behind to win 4-3 late on. “I have no idea what’s fallacious with this membership,” he jokes.
However coming at it with recent eyes would possibly permit him to have the solutions Leverkusen are on the lookout for. Bresser factors to analysis that exhibits Germany produces lower than one skilled per million inhabitants. In Portugal and the Netherlands, it’s practically 5.
“England is between two or three per million. That statistic can solely imply two issues. Both there isn’t a expertise in Germany or we aren’t growing them correctly. And I feel it should be the latter as a result of soccer can be the primary sport in Germany.”
Bresser already has concepts. An apparent change was to enhance the choice course of. “We had near 80 per cent of our boys from 12 to 19 born within the first six months.” This was a worrying bias primarily based on relative-age impact. They had been lacking the late builders.
Symbolically, Bresser moved the top coach of the U19s to a brand new function educating the coaches of the eight-to-15 age-groups. It despatched a message about what was necessary. “Growing coaches helps to develop gamers. All of it begins with high quality teaching.”
Bresser’s personal background was as a technical coach at Fulham below Martin Jol after which below Andre Villas-Boas and Luciano Spalletti at Zenit Saint Petersburg. He has by no means overlooked the significance of one-on-one work in serving to to develop gamers.
“Individuals overlook how necessary this particular person consideration is, even at first-team stage. It’s not at all times about particular workouts. It’s about that spotlight from the coach. That brings confidence, that brings good feeling and that contributes to efficiency.”
One other vital change deliberate is to dramatically improve the variety of academy gamers. “I’m trying on the fashions of Benfica and PSV. I want to deliver extra youngsters into the academy at a youthful age so there’s a larger basis, a wider pyramid.”
Bresser’s ambition is to have “roughly double groups” for every age group. Not with a view to releasing extra of them however providing higher ensures as an alternative. “I don’t wish to deselect gamers too early.” From this season, the U11 boys staff obtain a promise.
“We promise them they’ll stick with us from fifth grade at school until the tenth grade at school. So they don’t seem to be solely in our faculties for a great quantity of years, but additionally in our soccer academy. I feel that may be a highly effective factor. And that’s what we’re going to do.”
That safety helps the gamers. “There’s nonetheless that weak interval for them after they begin having Osgood-Schlatter illness and the rising pains and so forth. However now they won’t be so harassed that they’ve to go away the membership yearly. That could be a huge factor.”
Bayer Leverkusen received the German Supercup after beating Stuttgart on penalties
He additionally hopes that it encourages the coaches to concentrate on particular person growth reasonably than staff success. “The coaches must really feel comfy and never really feel the stress of successful video games. Typically we’ll lose video games. It’s no drawback in any respect.”
Bresser explains: “Our particular person strategy mixed with the truth that we commit longer to the youngsters’ growth might be the distinction for us, a extra holistic strategy. We can’t be eager about at all times discovering that larger, stronger child subsequent door.”
There’ll nonetheless be the chance so as to add proficient gamers to the academy because the older age teams require extra gamers on both sides. “There’s at all times room to usher in new youngsters. However they should be prime 5. If they’re similar to the remainder, they don’t seem to be coming.”
Leverkusen’s unbeaten run within the Bundesliga lastly got here to an finish after 35 video games
Bresser desires to get the bottom proper first however that last step from academy graduate to first-team soccer stays the most important leap. Carro is exploring choices, whether or not that may be a strategic relationship with a membership in Belgium, the Netherlands, Austria or elsewhere.
“We do not need what different golf equipment have, maybe rivals with multi-club possession have, the place there’s a second staff,” explains Carro. “That is one thing that now we have to take a look at. In the mean time, we’re analysing it and we should talk about the technique.”
Bresser admits that the soar from academy to Champions League is “approach too huge” for many younger gamers. “In soccer, we are likely to concentrate on the exceptions. Florian Wirtz was prepared at 17 however he’s the exception. A lot of the boys are prepared when they’re 21 or 22.
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“To be sincere, must have some options. As talked about, do we’d like a second staff? Do we’d like companion golf equipment or assistant golf equipment? “We’ve got a really proficient group born in 2007. Which means in a single yr we’d like the answer for the following steps for these boys.”
However the message from Leverkusen, who’re taking a look at a very new coaching floor earlier than the top of the last decade, is that the seek for these options is on. Discovering a option to maintain that success is the following problem and the academy is a approach of doing that.
“Possibly it’s a dream however I completely need Leverkusen to be among the many prime three academies in Germany,” says Bresser. “I need Europe to talk about our academy.” Arduous to think about? So was the Bundesliga title. In Leverkusen, goals can come true.
