Unusually good piece on City's academy

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Unusually good piece on City's academy

Postby Ted Hughes » Tue Aug 05, 2014 10:25 pm

Fair play to Adam Crafton in The Mail for this one.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/footba ... paign=1490

Patrick Vieira is building a bright future at Manchester City... with a core group of English players

City trying to bring through English players for the future
Vieira looks to replicate German model, creating stars such as Manuel Neuer
Devante Cole one of those highly rated at the club
City look to make great people, as well as great players


In broiling heat on the western tip of Croatia, Patrick Vieira is demanding that little bit more from his young Manchester City players.

‘Come on, come on, come on,’ he urges, with increasing cadence, as his elite development squad — or reserve team, in old money — play a two-touch, six-a-side game. ‘It’s hot, you are tired. Keep the ball. Never lose it.’

Vieira’s proteges, along with the Under 18 group, coached by former Blackburn winger Jason Wilcox, are in the quaint coastal town of Novigrad for a 10-day training camp set against the panoramic backdrop of the Adriatic Sea.

‘It’s not an army barracks but it’s also not five-star luxury and glam,’ says Mark Allen, head of the academy. ‘It offers the boys a taste, but we keep them grounded.’

‘We have a motto here,’ Wilcox begins. ‘Great person, great footballer. That means punctuality, appearance, work ethic, respect. You speak to cleaners how you speak to the manager.

‘You shake hands with every member of staff in the morning and when they leave at night. It’s vital.’

At the club’s Carrington training ground in Manchester, discipline is instilled in these young men. If they forget an item of kit, whether it be their water bottle or shin pads, they will not train. If they are late for a team meeting on match-day, they will not play.

‘It is basic good manners,’ Allen says, his face gleaming with pride. ‘Socks are rolled up, shirts are tucked in. I have a great picture where there are two players about to come on for England at youth level. You can tell immediately which one is a City player. His shirt is tidy, his shorts are right, shinpads are correct. It shows they are listening.’

There is a conscious effort to shield these teenagers from the trappings of fame. While adidas are already sponsoring some of City’s English 17-year-olds and agents have free rein to handpick the region’s finest talent, they are also given cookery and driving awareness classes.

City are looking to nurture players from the cradle to the gravy train of the Premier League but in the boardroom they recognise that improvement is required.

Since the Abu Dhabi takeover in the summer of 2008, no player has graduated from the City academy to cement a place in the first team squad.

Last September, City defeated Manchester United with 10 overseas, outfield players. English players Jack Rodwell — who signed for Sunderland yesterday — and Scott Sinclair started nine Premier League matches between them since signing two years ago.

‘We want to bring talent through our academy into our first team,’ says Vieira. ‘There are no borders in football but if there are seven or eight Manchester boys, then fantastic.’

Certainly, the potential is there: 30 of the 46 players in Croatia hail from the UK or Ireland. Light blue is increasingly the dominant colour in many of England’s young dressing rooms.

‘We had seven under-16s in the England squad last year,’ Wilcox reveals. ‘That was a record for us. We have some incredibly talented English players. Brandon Barker, Ashley Smith-Brown, Angus Gunn, Kean Bryan, Tosin Adarabioyo. The players are coming through.

‘Below the under-18 group, over 90 per cent of our academy is English. Recently we offered eight professional contracts and six of those are English boys.

‘Four of those six are local boys. It’s the ideal scenario but the wider you spread the net, the more chance you have of finding the gem.’

The seeds of talent are beginning to germinate. Last season, City’s Under 11s and Under 14s were national champions and the Under 18 side were northern league winners. Under Vieira, an Under 19 side reached the quarter-final of the UEFA Youth League. A 6-0 victory over Bayern Munich reverberated around Europe, with five English names on the team sheet.

Most are yet to be seen in the first team squad, something Vieira attributes to the ‘massive’ gap between youth competitions and the demands of elite football. It is why City are thought to remain receptive to discussions over B-teams in the lower tiers.

As the authorities prevaricate, City are single-minded in their aspiration and little encapsulates the journey from chip-fat to caviar quite like the money and dedication flowing into this academy.

Having invested heavily in the first team, securing two Premier League titles in three years, Sheik Mansour is now hard at work on City’s foundations.

Later this year, the £150m City Football Academy will open, a stone’s throw from the Etihad Stadium, where Tony Blair once intended to build a Super Casino.

It will boast facilities unrivalled in the English game and Rick Owen, a club kit man for more than 20 years, reflects: ‘We used to train on council pitches and do pre-season at a school between Stoke and Crewe. How times change.’

On this summer morning, it is a breathless training session in sticky, cloying conditions and Vieira has become irritated, noticing that his players have become attracted to the ball.

‘Stop, stop,’ he orders, his players freezing instantly. ‘Look at yourselves. Ten of you, all bunched together! How can you play like this? Look for the space, make the pitch bigger.’ He motions, spreading out his hands.

‘The boys need to understand this,’ Vieira insists. ‘When you have the ball, the pitch must be as big as possible. If you lose it, make it as tight as possible and then seven seconds, maximum, to win it back.

‘The best teams have a quick recovery. When you press, it is the whole team, high and fast, even the goalkeeper. Watch Manuel Neuer — unbelievable, he is like an old No 5. But he wasn’t born this way, he trained hard. If we start early, we can create these players.’

This, in a nutshell, is the club’s philosophy: an intoxicating brand of high-tempo, passing football that has been outlined by Allen, sporting director Txiki Begiristain and academy director Brian Marwood.

It is the identity that City now encourage at all levels, from the Under-11 group to the first team under Manuel Pellegrini.

Allen expands: ‘When I took the job four years ago I outlined a 10-year plan to really start to see a group of talent coming through together all playing the City way.

‘Cycles take time. In the late 90s it was France, then Spain, now Germany. Our moment will arrive.’

‘The numbers will not lie,’ Vieira concedes, puffing out his cheeks. ‘We have to make a report in 10 years on how many players are in the first team. Then we can say we did it right or we did it wrong.’
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Re: Unusually good piece on City's academy

Postby blues2win » Tue Aug 05, 2014 10:40 pm

Excellent stuff. Looking forward to part 2 of Vieira's interview in the OS on the EDS. I presume Soriano sees him as Pellegrini's successor in which case he will hopefully be here to reap what he's sowing. There are no guarantees though; it's such a difficult leap from talented teenager to Premiership star and so many fall by the wayside.
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Re: Unusually good piece on City's academy

Postby aaron bond » Tue Aug 05, 2014 10:50 pm

Thanks for posting that. Great article.

The foundations we're putting in place are phenomenal and having a legend like Vieira can be nothing but inspirational for our young players coming through.
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Re: Unusually good piece on City's academy

Postby nottsblue » Wed Aug 06, 2014 7:12 am

Superb. Just superb. Makes me proud to be a blue reading it. A far cry from Platt Lane indeed.

Love the goal is for us to be dominant like Barca or Spain and have the continity that these teams have. Imagine in 4/5 years we will really dominate English football and be a major player in Europe. What a ride
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Re: Unusually good piece on City's academy

Postby Benjay » Wed Aug 06, 2014 7:40 am

Agree that this was a very good article. I was under the impression that Wilcox had gone a while ago but clearly not. I think Patrick is clearly being lined up as a Manager of the future rather in the mould that Pep was at Barca under the same management.
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Re: Unusually good piece on City's academy

Postby clippo22 » Wed Aug 06, 2014 7:54 am

Fantastic to read! You would think that Gregg Dyke, the FA and the media would give this a lot more coverage. I was surprised how many of the lower age group players were English. Its great to see and shows there is hope for the future! Another couple of years and we will be able to ram this down all the doubters throats! Especially Bourinho and his 'little pony' speech!
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Re: Unusually good piece on City's academy

Postby mr_nool » Wed Aug 06, 2014 9:00 am

clippo22 wrote:Fantastic to read! You would think that Gregg Dyke, the FA and the media would give this a lot more coverage. I was surprised how many of the lower age group players were English. Its great to see and shows there is hope for the future! Another couple of years and we will be able to ram this down all the doubters throats! Especially Bourinho and his 'little pony' speech!


On a somewhat cynical note, it's quite obvious why most of the players in the lower age groups are English, since you aren't allowed to sign players under 18. And relocating whole families from country X is something I think will only be done for absolute top top top class prospects (if at all).
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Re: Unusually good piece on City's academy

Postby Wonderwall » Wed Aug 06, 2014 9:13 am

That is a really good read, however, you just know what the rag tops will be like when it starts to come to fruition!! Bad Boys city gobbled up all the talent from an early age, giving other clubs no chance. They built a huge prison training complex which kept all the youngsters away from other clubs blah blah blah.

I love the new City, its fuclin ace.
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Re: Unusually good piece on City's academy

Postby Ted Hughes » Wed Aug 06, 2014 9:16 am

mr_nool wrote:
clippo22 wrote:Fantastic to read! You would think that Gregg Dyke, the FA and the media would give this a lot more coverage. I was surprised how many of the lower age group players were English. Its great to see and shows there is hope for the future! Another couple of years and we will be able to ram this down all the doubters throats! Especially Bourinho and his 'little pony' speech!


On a somewhat cynical note, it's quite obvious why most of the players in the lower age groups are English, since you aren't allowed to sign players under 18. And relocating whole families from country X is something I think will only be done for absolute top top top class prospects (if at all).


We regularly sign foreign players under 18 and have some real potential talent under that age. We just got two joined this summer from Holland; Rodney Kongolo & Dilrosun. Faour from Sweden last season.

We have kids from all over the world & some real potential talent from England & indeed Manchester.
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Re: Unusually good piece on City's academy

Postby mr_nool » Wed Aug 06, 2014 9:33 am

Ted Hughes wrote:
mr_nool wrote:
clippo22 wrote:Fantastic to read! You would think that Gregg Dyke, the FA and the media would give this a lot more coverage. I was surprised how many of the lower age group players were English. Its great to see and shows there is hope for the future! Another couple of years and we will be able to ram this down all the doubters throats! Especially Bourinho and his 'little pony' speech!


On a somewhat cynical note, it's quite obvious why most of the players in the lower age groups are English, since you aren't allowed to sign players under 18. And relocating whole families from country X is something I think will only be done for absolute top top top class prospects (if at all).


We regularly sign foreign players under 18 and have some real potential talent under that age. We just got two joined this summer from Holland; Rodney Kongolo & Dilrosun. Faour from Sweden last season.

We have kids from all over the world & some real potential talent from England & indeed Manchester.


How does that work then? And do the families move along?
I thought 18 was the limit, but is that just for kids from outside the EU - or is that for giving them first team contracts?
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Re: Unusually good piece on City's academy

Postby Ted Hughes » Wed Aug 06, 2014 9:38 am

Benjay wrote:Agree that this was a very good article. I was under the impression that Wilcox had gone a while ago but clearly not. I think Patrick is clearly being lined up as a Manager of the future rather in the mould that Pep was at Barca under the same management.



It's Scott Sellars who has gone, & I keep getting them mixed up; crediting Wilcox with stuff Scott Sellars did. Sad to see Sellars go, but I think it was possibly involving reasons not 100% connected to football.

Nigel Gleghorn made a big song & dance about joining the academy when on local radio but seems to have already been moved on, now with the County FA.
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Re: Unusually good piece on City's academy

Postby Ted Hughes » Wed Aug 06, 2014 9:45 am

mr_nool wrote:
Ted Hughes wrote:
mr_nool wrote:
clippo22 wrote:Fantastic to read! You would think that Gregg Dyke, the FA and the media would give this a lot more coverage. I was surprised how many of the lower age group players were English. Its great to see and shows there is hope for the future! Another couple of years and we will be able to ram this down all the doubters throats! Especially Bourinho and his 'little pony' speech!


On a somewhat cynical note, it's quite obvious why most of the players in the lower age groups are English, since you aren't allowed to sign players under 18. And relocating whole families from country X is something I think will only be done for absolute top top top class prospects (if at all).


We regularly sign foreign players under 18 and have some real potential talent under that age. We just got two joined this summer from Holland; Rodney Kongolo & Dilrosun. Faour from Sweden last season.

We have kids from all over the world & some real potential talent from England & indeed Manchester.


How does that work then? And do the families move along?
I thought 18 was the limit, but is that just for kids from outside the EU - or is that for giving them first team contracts?


I'm not sure the exact details tbh. There is an age before which you can't officially sign anything, which may be 16, then you may be correct that the pro contract is 18. I think there are differences between countries too, so we have actually used that to our advantage, I believe.

But we have foreign players under 16, & I believe we have their families here as well. I presume we have some kind of deal in place to make sure they sign with us if required. But it has been said that if you sign with City, you are looked after, edjucated, egu, taught stuff & basically put on a path for life, even if you don't make it as a footballer.
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Well I heard that the Sheikh... bought Carlos Tevez this week...& you fuckers aint gettin' nothin..
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Re: Unusually good piece on City's academy

Postby mr_nool » Wed Aug 06, 2014 9:47 am

Ted Hughes wrote:
mr_nool wrote:
Ted Hughes wrote:
mr_nool wrote:
clippo22 wrote:Fantastic to read! You would think that Gregg Dyke, the FA and the media would give this a lot more coverage. I was surprised how many of the lower age group players were English. Its great to see and shows there is hope for the future! Another couple of years and we will be able to ram this down all the doubters throats! Especially Bourinho and his 'little pony' speech!


On a somewhat cynical note, it's quite obvious why most of the players in the lower age groups are English, since you aren't allowed to sign players under 18. And relocating whole families from country X is something I think will only be done for absolute top top top class prospects (if at all).


We regularly sign foreign players under 18 and have some real potential talent under that age. We just got two joined this summer from Holland; Rodney Kongolo & Dilrosun. Faour from Sweden last season.

We have kids from all over the world & some real potential talent from England & indeed Manchester.


How does that work then? And do the families move along?
I thought 18 was the limit, but is that just for kids from outside the EU - or is that for giving them first team contracts?


I'm not sure the exact details tbh. There is an age before which you can't officially sign anything, which may be 16, then you may be correct that the pro contract is 18. I think there are differences between countries too, so we have actually used that to our advantage, I believe.

But we have foreign players under 16, & I believe we have their families here as well. I presume we have some kind of deal in place to make sure they sign with us if required. But it has been said that if you sign with City, you are looked after, edjucated, egu, taught stuff & basically put on a path for life, even if you don't make it as a footballer.


OK, that (sort of) makes sense. But the point of my uninformed post still stand: the lower the age group, the higher the percentage of English or even local kids will be.
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Re: Unusually good piece on City's academy

Postby Ted Hughes » Wed Aug 06, 2014 9:59 am

Well it would likely be yes, but it wouldn't have to be, as we have pretty much unlimited funds to spend if we wanted to as it doesn't come under ffp.

But the stated goal of the academy is trying to follow closer to the Barca model where you have a strong base of home, indeed local players in the team.

With the number of people in this country indeed in this county, & the profile of & passion for football here, there is absolutely no reason on earth why there shouldn't be loads of kids turning into top footballers. The reason it doesn't happen, is the 1000s of complete wankers who pervade the football system.

If you can identify the talent, then coach it correctly, there's no actual reason not to find loads of local kids good enough to play in a City team. Some of the best potential talent at the academy is English & one or two are from round here.
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Re: Unusually good piece on City's academy

Postby Scatman » Wed Aug 06, 2014 10:41 am

Ted Hughes wrote:
Benjay wrote:Agree that this was a very good article. I was under the impression that Wilcox had gone a while ago but clearly not. I think Patrick is clearly being lined up as a Manager of the future rather in the mould that Pep was at Barca under the same management.



It's Scott Sellars who has gone, & I keep getting them mixed up; crediting Wilcox with stuff Scott Sellars did. Sad to see Sellars go, but I think it was possibly involving reasons not 100% connected to football.

Nigel Gleghorn made a big song & dance about joining the academy when on local radio but seems to have already been moved on, now with the County FA.



What happened with Gleghorn then?
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Re: Unusually good piece on City's academy

Postby blues2win » Wed Aug 06, 2014 10:44 am

I strongly recommend looking at the OS video on our young Spanish left back Angelino. 17 years old and looks really good. Making the step up to the EDS this season. Learned very good English while at City and seems a very intelligent sensible and well balanced lad. One to watch indeed. Could fit into the first team squad in a couple of years. Claims he turned down Real Madrid and Barcelona to come here. Well done Txiki!
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Re: Unusually good piece on City's academy

Postby Ted Hughes » Wed Aug 06, 2014 11:08 am

Scatman wrote:
Ted Hughes wrote:
Benjay wrote:Agree that this was a very good article. I was under the impression that Wilcox had gone a while ago but clearly not. I think Patrick is clearly being lined up as a Manager of the future rather in the mould that Pep was at Barca under the same management.



It's Scott Sellars who has gone, & I keep getting them mixed up; crediting Wilcox with stuff Scott Sellars did. Sad to see Sellars go, but I think it was possibly involving reasons not 100% connected to football.

Nigel Gleghorn made a big song & dance about joining the academy when on local radio but seems to have already been moved on, now with the County FA.



What happened with Gleghorn then?


I only know from 2nd hand info but it apparently 'didn't work out', possibly was more of a temporary situation to see how it went rather than a definite job offer.

Must admit, I was surprised he got the chance. Nothing i've ever heard from him suggests a talent in that area.
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Well I heard that the Sheikh... bought Carlos Tevez this week...& you fuckers aint gettin' nothin..
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Re: Unusually good piece on City's academy

Postby Ted Hughes » Wed Aug 06, 2014 11:13 am

blues2win wrote:I strongly recommend looking at the OS video on our young Spanish left back Angelino. 17 years old and looks really good. Making the step up to the EDS this season. Learned very good English while at City and seems a very intelligent sensible and well balanced lad. One to watch indeed. Could fit into the first team squad in a couple of years. Claims he turned down Real Madrid and Barcelona to come here. Well done Txiki!


I was mentioning Angelino when we were linked with Luke Shaw, as a reason not to sign him. Not as big physically but more talented as a footballer imo. If he can match the physical side of the Prem, he's a cert imo. IF. But he seems a strong & committed lad.

Best prospect I've ever seen in that position at City. But imo perhaps may move forward rather than staying at fullback .There is another Spanish lad on the other side who also looks the part.
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Well I heard that the Sheikh... bought Carlos Tevez this week...& you fuckers aint gettin' nothin..
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Re: Unusually good piece on City's academy

Postby Avalon » Wed Aug 06, 2014 11:22 am

mr_nool wrote:
clippo22 wrote:Fantastic to read! You would think that Gregg Dyke, the FA and the media would give this a lot more coverage. I was surprised how many of the lower age group players were English. Its great to see and shows there is hope for the future! Another couple of years and we will be able to ram this down all the doubters throats! Especially Bourinho and his 'little pony' speech!


On a somewhat cynical note, it's quite obvious why most of the players in the lower age groups are English, since you aren't allowed to sign players under 18. And relocating whole families from country X is something I think will only be done for absolute top top top class prospects (if at all).


How old do you think Rekik was when he joined City?
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Re: Unusually good piece on City's academy

Postby mr_nool » Wed Aug 06, 2014 11:31 am

Avalon wrote:
mr_nool wrote:
clippo22 wrote:Fantastic to read! You would think that Gregg Dyke, the FA and the media would give this a lot more coverage. I was surprised how many of the lower age group players were English. Its great to see and shows there is hope for the future! Another couple of years and we will be able to ram this down all the doubters throats! Especially Bourinho and his 'little pony' speech!


On a somewhat cynical note, it's quite obvious why most of the players in the lower age groups are English, since you aren't allowed to sign players under 18. And relocating whole families from country X is something I think will only be done for absolute top top top class prospects (if at all).


How old do you think Rekik was when he joined City?


16 or 17. See discussion above.
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