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Published For the World’s Most Innovative Soccer Co

F r e e E m a i l N e w s l e t t e r a t w o r l d c l a s s c o a c h i n g . c o m

English Premier LeagueAcademy Tour

Journal



First published August, 2006 byWORLD CLASS COACHING15004 Buena Vista Drive, Leawood, KS 66224 (913) 402-0030

Copyright © WORLD CLASS COACHING 2006

All rights reserved. No parts of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrievalsystem, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying,recording or otherwise, without prior written permission of the publisher.

Author - Daryn “Ozzie” White

Edited by Mike Saif

Front Cover - West Ham United U18 v Arsenal U18 game.

Published by

WORLD CLASS COACHING



3

EPL Academy Tour Journal

©WORLD CLASS COACHING

March 1 - 6, 2006Arsenal Football Club

Youth Academy Developmental Approach

Mike Saif and WORLD CLASS COACHING magazine recently teamed up with Travel and Play to offer a fantastic opportunity for coaches in the U.S. to travel toEngland and visit two of the most successful and accomplished Youth Academy’sin the Professional game.

I was asked to accompany the tour and write about the people that we met, thetraining and matches that we watched. We visited the Arsenal and the West Ham

Youth Academies.Our rst evening included a trip to the Arsenal Youth Training Academy inLondon. The Youth Academy is at a separate location to the rst team trainingfacility which is located on the outskirts of London.

One of the rst things that struck me as I walked in to the building was the historyand the importance of this Academy to the future of such a great club like Arsenal.Surrounding me on the walls where pictures and posters of great legends suchas David O’Leary, Frank Stapleton, Paul Merson, Tony Adams, and more recently

players like Ashley Cole, who is making a tremendous impression for Arsenal andEngland. There are trophy cabinets brimming with the prizes and cups won allover the world by Arsenal Youth Teams.

The Arsenal Academy is now in its eighth season, having been one of the rst tierof English clubs to gain academy status in 1998. During its existence the Academyhas consistently produced soccer player’s ready for rst-team action with bothArsenal and other professional football clubs.

The Academy Director is legendary midelder Liam Brady, who is ably assisted byDavid Court, also a former Gunners star. Both are responsible for the developmentof all the boys registered with the Academy between the ages of nine and 21.

At the end of season 2003/04, the under- 17’s and Under-19’s were disbandedby the FA to form one competitive level for Club Academies, the Under-18’s. TheArsenal Under-18s are based at the Training Center with the rst-team squad andare coached by former Arsenal center-half, Steve Bould.

The junior levels of the Academy — from Under-16’s down to Under-9’s — arebased at Hale End Training Centre, another state-of-the-art Arsenal facility, underthe guidance of Roy Massey. The Under-18’s nished third in their league lastseason and play most league games with many younger players from the u/16’s.Results are certainly not the ‘be all and end all’ for the Under-18’s with the Club’sprimary concern at this age being “player development”. The most prominentexample of a player progressing through the current system is Ashley Cole, who




4©WORLD CLASS COACHING

has established himself as rst choice left-back for both his club and country.

Goalkeeper Stuart Taylor, midelders Jermaine Pennant, David Bentley, StevenSidwell and defender Justin Hoyte are all Academy graduates who have earnedEngland Under-21 caps, whilst Academy product Jeremie Aliadiere is a France Under-21 International. Taylor and Aliadiere also won Premier League Championshipmedals, in 2002 and 2004 respectively.

Hoyte, Aliadiere and Bentley are furthering their Premiership experience on loanthis season at Sunderland, West Ham and Blackburn respectively, whilst GrahamStack is on loan to Championship side Reading.

With Academy players regularly dominating the Arsenal reserve team line-ups anda steady progression of players being blooded in the rst-team, often through the

Carling Cup initially, the Academy production line looks set to continue and produceplayers to grace the Gunners’ new Emirates Stadium for many years to come.

Bobby Robson, the former England manager is credited with starting the Academyinitiative after his experiences throughout Europe illustrated that the younger youidentify and work with players then the better the end product will be.

The apprentice system in England used to identify players at 16 while the Europeanclubs where training players as young as 6 or 7 years of age. The Premier League hasrules and regulations for Academy Soccer from the age of u/9. The club has talent

scouts looking at boys playing u/8 soccer and making recommendations on whichboys to sign for Arsenal Football Club.

Mr. Roy Massey, Director for the u/9 - u/16 age groups for the Arsenal Academyadmits that recruitment at 8 is very difficult; what should you be looking for? Masseystresses that Arsenal is very lucky to have London as a catchment area. Londonis an extremely strong soccer area and Arsenal often has the pick of the bunch.Massey added that 11 out of the 22 players in the current England squad are fromthe London area.

Arsenal has a number of Regional Centers where players can train and play beforebeing invited to the main Academy located at Hale End, London. These regionalcenters are based in Middlesex, Croydon, Brentford, Hertfordshire, and CentralLondon and provide Arsenal with a huge catchment area for recruitment. The u/7 &u/8 teams all play at the Regional Centers.

Every 4 weeks all players from the Regional Centers come to the main Academyfor assessment games. Such is the competition for places that boys are added anddropped every year. The rst intake is 12 players and the commitment is for oneyear. All of the squads are changed each year in an effort to constantly upgrade

the standard of the squad and the level of competitiveness for the Arsenal FootballClub. There is 80% of the current u/13 squad left at the club who started at u/9. Only5 of the u/14’s are left and 4 of the u/15’s. There is only one, 16 year old player left atthe club who started out at u/9.

The Club spends a lot of money and time developing, coaching, and mentoring



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many players who will never play in the rst team for Arsenal and many others whowill never become professional players.

Liam Brady then joined Roy Massey to explain some of his observations andphilosophies on developing the very best players for Arsenal in the future.Liam Brady and a number of the coaches have studied youth developmentthroughout the world and have come to the same conclusions as many beforethem; Ajax of Amsterdam are a world leader and Arsenal send many of theircoaches to Amsterdam as part of their coaching training program. Arsenal reversesthe Ajax acronym (T.I.P.S.) and adopted S.P.I.T. to epitomize the youth developmentphilosophy at the club.

Speed – Personality – Intelligence – Technique

London has more professional Soccer Clubs than any other city in the worldtherefore, competition for recruitment is erce and parents have many choices iftheir son is good enough. If a player is pursued by Arsenal then he is usually beingwatched by a number of professional clubs. Many parents want to join Arsenalbecause of the pedigree and history of the club but these days many parents arealso wary of the amount of players purchased from overseas.

Arsenal’s expenditures to maintain the Academy are over US $4 million per year. The facilities include 2 full sized pitches, 1x Junior 11v11 pitch, 2x 8v8 pitches, spare

ground for training, 2x sport turf pitches, including one housed inside a bubble toprotect against the elements of an English winter. It also includes changing rooms,meeting rooms, offices and a general area for parents and guests to enjoy thecanteen facilities and wait for the players. The Academy has 4 full time ground staffas well as kitchen staff. The recruiting staff, coaching staff, and Youth Developmentoffices are also housed within the Academy building.

Training is 3 times per week and the players enjoy opportunities to competeagainst the best in England as well as chances to play against the best that the restof Europe and Scandinavia has to offer. The Arsenal Youth teams traveled recently

and played against Real Madrid, Paris St. Germain, Ajax and Bayer Leverkausen. It isa huge commitment to Youth Football and to the future of Arsenal’s success.

Liam Brady and Roy Massey both agreed that the worst part of the job is releasingplayers at the end of the season. They said that you develop an affinity and friendshipwith not only the player but the family as well so it is hard to tell that player he is nolonger good enough for Arsenal Football Club. Most players released by Arsenal doreceive opportunities at other professional clubs in the London area.

The weekend game program is split with the main emphasis being on player

development. The u/9 play 2x 5v5 games on a Sunday morning with each game split intoquarters which allow the coaches more time emphasizing the club developmentalphilosophy.





The u/13 play a split season; ½ the season is 8v8 and the other ½ is 11v11. These rulesare common amongst the Academy Clubs and provide the players a better learningenvironment as each player gets more touches, more decisions to make, and moreshots which ultimately mean more goals which is what the game is about.

We witnessed a number of training sessions at the Academy, including one fromSteve Bould with the u/16 team, a Goalkeeper session with Alex Welsh and a u/13session with Steve Leonard. We also watched the u/9 team and the u/13 and u/14play against the M.K. Dons on Sunday morning. I saw a 9 year old score about 12goals during two games and am still amazed at his condence and technique as hescored with both feet, a couple of headers, a few stunning volley’s and a memorablebicycle kick, all at 9 years of age. He obviously spends a lot of his time watching Thierry Henry and Cesc Fabregas as he even emulated the Frenchman’s goal

celebration.Most of the emphasis at ages 9-12 is technique, personality, and soccer intelligence. The intelligence is gained mostly from training against good opposition and thelearning of the 4-4-2 system which is played throughout the club. At 13-15 years ofage more emphasis is placed on tactical awareness as well as physical developmentand all of these are combined with a winning mentality from 16-19 years of age.

The hospitality and friendship displayed from all of the Arsenal staff was fantasticand nothing we asked of them or requested to see was too much trouble. They

answered multiple questions, took extra time to explain sessions or philosophiesthroughout our visit. Liam Brady was one of my hero’s when he was a player and itwas a pleasure and an honor to discuss his views on the game in general, especiallyhis youth development philosophy.

Daryn “Ozzie” White

DOC Ankeny Soccer Club



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Warm -UpCoach Steve Bould sits the players in front of him, explains the session and hands out the bibs. The wacomprises of dynamic stretches and soccer specic movements with and without the ball. The players pass, move, and juggle in groups of 3 followed by more dynamic stretches, longer running patterns and

sprints.

Arsenal AcademyU16 Session

Coach – Steve Bould





Warm-Up ContinuedPass to the target player/ follow the passSet (cushion pass) for the next pass against the wall

Coaching Points• Quality of pass• Quality of run• Timing of run• “Zip the ball along the oor”



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Warm-Up Continued• Play ball into target player• Follow pass and play combination

Warm-Up Continued• Player 1 receives from rebound after combination• Player 1 turns and plays pass into next available player





3v2 + GK3 attackers working on stopping the 2 defenders from playing out from the back1 neutral player to link the defenders with forwards

Coaching Points• Drop in to block passing angles• Work together• Communicate

• Force the ball square or backwards• Decide when to tackle or delay



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Add another neutral player in the middle zone

7v7 with 1 neutral player Coaching Points• Team shape• Drop off to block passing angles• Force the ball wide• Do not allow the forward ball into mideld





4 ways to handle the ballScoopCupW – handsLanding/deection

Grid 2x2 ydsServe – high, middle, low, both sidesProgression – saving with one hand and throwing the ball back to the server

Arsenal AcademyGoalkeeper SessionCoach – Alex Walsh



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GK sitting on the goal lineServer 5 yds awayGoal is 3 yds wideServer puts the ball to each sideEach set lasts no longer than 3 mins

Server increases distance to 10 ydsGK now standing and working on the scoop technique





Regular size goalServes are varied

GK starts with ball and distributes to server who returns the highGK works on aerial techniques (with hands)



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Server drops the ball at the feet of the striker on one side or the other and the gK must close the ball dothe feet of the attacker

Coaching Points• Timing• Technique• Decision making• When to dive or when to stay as big as possible



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GK serves the ball to the attacker and then closes the ball down.

2x 5x5yd grids2 attackers pass the ball back and forth until one attacker decides to shoot or dribble to the goal

Coaching Points• Constantly move your feet and change angle• When to come forward to close the angle• Watch for a bad touch and be aggressive



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Grid 5x10ydsServerOne attackerServer plays a diagonal pass into the path of the attacker

Coaching Points• Attacker must decide to shoot or dribble• GK must decide how far to come of the goal line and when to make the save





ProgressionServer now becomes recovering defender

Coaching Points• Relationship and communication between gK and defender• Decision to close down or just narrow the angle



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Grid – 20x10 yards2v2Target goals

Coaching Points• 1v1 moves – fakes, dribble, change of pace• Combinations• Timing of runs• Timing of passes• When to dribble/when to pass• Decision making

Arsenal AcademyU13 Session

Coach – Steve Leonard





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Grid – 20x102v2Score on two small goals

Grid – 10x5

Target players on each end

Coaching Points

• Play into target player• Create space to receive• Keep possession• Shield the ball• Play to target, nd space and receive again





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Grid 20x204 attackers3 defenders4 neutral playersGK

Defensive Coaching Points• Pressure• 1st defender• 2nd defender• Angle of approach• Isolation• Zonal marking• Vision – ball & player• Body shape

Offensive Coaching Points• Flick, tricks• Combinations• Overlaps• Penetrative passes• Penetrative runs• Timing• Numbers up• Unbalance defense• Check & move• Movement causes confusion



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4v4Small goals

Defensive Coaching Points• Defensive shape• Balance• Shift together with the play• Staggered shape – See diagram

Offensive Coaching Points• Attacker under no or little pressure has• 5 options• Shoot – left or right• Pass- left or right• Dribble• Attacker under pressure• Retain possession

• Shield• Pass backwards and start again





Grid 40x305v5 + GK1 neutral player

Incorporate all coaching pointsThen stand back and let them play



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Jimmy Gilligan Head Coach Barking Abbey Academy

West Ham United Football Club has a historical relationship with the BarkingAbbey School. The school provides tutors to the West Ham United Youth Academyand private tuition for West Ham youngsters when required. Current rst teamplayer, Bobby Zamora is a Barking Abbey graduate as is another professionalat the club, Darren Blewitt. The school is located close to the Hammers trainingground as was one of the rst six in the country to become a Specialist SportsHigh School/College.

Football and education has been a focal point for the school for over 14 years

with the school being the National Schools Football Champion three times inthe last ten years. The senior year at Barking Abbey boasts a Football Excellencecourse, sanctioned by the English Football Association. This course providesmany budding footballers a second chance at the professional game. Most of theplayers at Barking Abbey have been released by professional clubs and it givesthem a chance to continue their education, train every day as soccer players andcompete at a good youth level.

Below is a course outline for the Barking Abbey Football Excellence Course;

• This course is aimed at talented male and female footballers aged between 16and 19.

• A full time programme of football and education for students aged 16-19 tostart in September 2006.

• The scheme is part of the Football Association development plan and fullyendorsed by the F.A.

• There are 20 male and 20 female scholarships available to candidates on 1, 2 or

3 year programmes.• Scholars must have played at the highest level of schoolboy football.

• The players would access structured training sessions every day from a UEFAAdvanced License Coach on site.

• 5 GCSEs at Grades A-C gives you access to the widest range of courses. Wedo offer a First Diploma in Sports Studies and Business for students with goodreferences and lower grades (not necessarily As – Cs).

• Alongside this they would follow academic courses such as the BTEC NationalDiploma Awards, AS or A Levels.

• Scholars will also progress through their Level 1 and 2 UEFA coaching awards,treatment of sports injuries and rst aid.





• Each player receives regular 1-1 and squad mentoring on professionalism, mentalstrength, football tness, diet and nutrition, career development and matchanalysis.

• There is also a match programme. Every Wednesday the squad represents BarkingAbbey Centre for Football Excellence in two Merit Leagues.

• Players also access a variety of games at the partner club who provide a wellstructured and extremely supportive environment to progress.

• The squad will attend football tours in Europe and the USA.

• They also have close links with professional clubs and universities both here andin the USA which provide playing, coaching and studying opportunities for thescholars to further develop after they graduate from Barking Abbey School.

Jimmy Gilligan is the Head Coach for Barking Abbey and has brought a wealth ofknowledge and experience to the school program. Jimmy is a former professionalplayer and has vast experience as a coach at the highest level with Watford,Wimbledon, and Nottingham Forest to name a few. Jimmy was the rst team coachwhen David Platt – a former WORLD CLASS COACHING clinician was the managerat the club.

The following session was conducted at the West Ham United training ground byJimmy Gilligan with the Barking Abbey Academy players. The focus of the sessionis “Pressuring as a Team” - When to Pressure and When to Drop Off.



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Warm-UpThrow/catchFunctional warm up game – 7v720x30 yard grid

First defender to pressure the ball (touch tight) then drop off to defend space





Other player’s - see the visual trigger and anticipate when to pressureRotation between 1st. defender and 2nd. Defender

Coaching Points• Visual trigger• When to pressure• When to hold ground and mark space• Stay low when defending

• Body posture• Communication



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First PhasePlay with the feet nowCoach serves to promote pressurePlayers can not tackle just close down the ball holder

Coaching Points• Angle of approach• Block passing lanes

• Stop the ball from traveling forward• Have a good work ethic• Communication





Extend the grid size to 40x30 yardsSplit the grid into thirds

Coaching Points

When the ball is in an end zone – Press high and push up



35



When the ball is in the middle zone – drop off and use all of your players to condense the space.If you go too soon you will end up isolated against their players in the front third Press high near to the opposition goal

In the end zone you can not pressOnly pressure the ball when it travels into the middle zone

Players on the team with the ball has a maximum of four touchesThis ensures that the ball keeps moving and you can coach the defending team

ProgressionOnly one player can pressure the ball in the end zone





Coaching Points• Work ethic• Angle of approach• Make the play predictable• Stop the long ball

Finish with a game60 x402 goals – GKTwo teams playing a 332 formation







“The biggest single contributor to the current England national squad is not Manchester United, Arsenal,Liverpool or Chelsea, but the West Ham Youth Academy.” --ITV Football article, 13 September 2004.

Tony Carr is the Director of Youth Development at West Ham Football Club. Carr was born inEast London, and was a West Ham youth team player in the late 1960’s. As an apprentice hecleaned the boots of the famous West Ham players, Geoff Hurst, Bobby Moore, and MartinPeters who represented England winning the World Cup in 1966. Carr was forced to retireearly through injury, although he admitted that he was not good enough for the top levelanyway.

Tony Carr did the next best thing and decided to become a coach. He was appointed asWest Ham Director of Youth Development in 1973 and has been at the helm ever since. Hehas had remarkable success and seen many players, coaches, and managers come and goduring his time at the club. Tony Carr is considered one of the most inuential developersof young talent in the game today. He has been the coaching mainstay for over thirty yearswith West Ham and has seen ve different managerial reigns during this time. Tony Carrremains at his post developing the players of the future. The club has produced many playersover the years and their youth development system has become known as the “Academyof Football” within the English professional game and refers to the club’s reputation of

developing talent from a young age and for playing the game in a free owing, passinggame which is always exciting to watch. The title “Academy of Football” was attributed tothe club by the media in the 1970’s and has since been adopted by the club on its officialcrest at the side of the playing surface at the club’s stadium, Upton Park.

The West Ham youth Development System is widely regarded as one of the most successfulin the country and has earned a reputation for its integrity, stability and continuity. Tony Carris indeed a ne coach and as we found out on this visit to the Academy; a man who lovesto talk about the game and share his passion, his beliefs and his many, many experiences. The club was formed in 1895 as the Thames iron works team from the ship building docks

of London’s East End. They where re-launched in 1900 as West Ham United Football Clubbut have never won the top division in England in its long history. The club has, howeverproduced many of the games top players over the past 40 years. The club won the F.A. Cupin 1975 with a team comprising solely of English players. No club has matched this featsince. Just this week the club won its semi nal replay to earn a spot in the 2006 F.A. CupFinal.

Tony Carr has not only been present during this era, but responsible for developing muchof the talent that has worn the claret and blue jersey over the last thirty years including; Trevor Brooking, Paul Ince, Rio Ferdinand, Frank Lampard, Joe Cole, Michael Carrick, andcurrent Hammers rst team players; Anton Ferdinand, Elliot Ward, and Mark Noble.

The WCC trip was not only a wonderful opportunity to see Tony train his player’s, but tospend time with him and listen to his experiences and philosophies. The following is asummary of the discussions with Tony Carr;

West Ham United Youth AcademyDirector of Youth Development - Tony Carr



39



Tony addressed the coaching group at dinner one evening and spoke about the “West Hamway”. He rmly believes that the West Ham Youth Academy is very welcoming to the playerand his family. He believes that the traditional, homely, welcoming atmosphere helps theyoung players settle quickly and feel good about themselves. He believes that West Hamhave a fertile catchment area and a very successful scouting system. Tony knows that he hasa good eye for talent and is comfortable that he knows what he is looking for in a player.When I asked; what are the qualities that he looks for his response was “individual aspects ofthe game”; can he pass? Can he dribble? Does he have football intelligence?

Tony and his staff are looking for players with; “sound technical skills, a good footballbrain, players who are hungry and desperate to play at the highest level” and players withpersonality who have a chance of making it in the extremely tough professional game. Carrrelies heavily on Jimmy Hampson (Chief Scout) and his scouting staff who bring in the talent

for the coaches. Hampson is responsible for spotting many of the Academy graduates andbringing them into the club. Carr is particular in the way that the Academy works and heallows each age group coach to coach the team without interference. He believes that theteam coach knows the players best and should be allowed to develop them in the way thatthe coach see’s t. Tony Carr believes in the coach’s toolbox and thinks that every coachshould participate in coaching courses to increase ideology and knowledge which helpsthe coach respect the way that players respond to information and turn the knowledgeinto practice. He studies the way that player’s learn and recognizes different learningtechniques in individuals. “Some players use trial and error, some siphon bits of information,

and some take it one step at a time.” He wants his coaches to make training “uncomplicatedbut challenging, and wants to take the players through the process one step at a time”. Hisadvice to players; “Understand your restrictions, learn through trial and error, be a sponge,and work harder than the next player”

I asked Tony about the best player that he has ever worked with at the Youth Level and hisresponse is this;

“Rio Ferdinand is the most naturally talented and inuential player at Youth level, Paul Ince isthe player who went on to achieve the most” – Ince is currently playing for WolverhamptonWanderers at the age of 39 and has enjoyed 5 top English clubs (West Ham, ManchesterUnited, Liverpool, Middlesborough) as well as Inter Milan in Italy. He has won many domestichonors including the Premiership title, F.A. Cup, League Cup and European Cup Winners Cupand has played for England on 53 occasions. Carr thinks that “Tony Cottee is the best onetouch player in the box that he has worked with, but, Frank Lampard may go on to achievemore than any of these players” Quite an impressive Alumni?

Tony Carr is an impressive coach and a wonderful man who took the time to pass on hisviews and passion for the game. Trevor Webb, the West Ham Education and Welfare Officerwas magnicent in his hospitality and organization of this WCC visit to West Ham United

Football Club. “Webby” orchestrated most of our visit to the club and nothing was too muchtrouble. We had access to the youth Academy as well as the rst team training facility. Healso arranged tickets for the WCC coaches to attend the Premier League xture betweenWest Ham and Everton. A truly memorable experience at possibly the friendliest PremierLeague Club; West Ham United.





Warm-UpThe warm-up is conducted by the Academy Sports Scientist, Eamon Swift.

Half of the players with a ball and the other half without a ballAcross the grid – 20x20

HeaderVolleyPassThigh/volleyChest/volley

Dynamic StretchesKarate KicksTin Soldiers

Side VolleysLungesForward runningBackward runningCheck and move

West Ham United Youth AcademyDirector of Youth Development - Tony Carr



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Next the 1st year scholars played the 2nd year scholars in a gameGrid 40x306v64 small goals2 touch1 touch nishing









Players are in teams of 4Players had to juggle the ball. The ball could not touch the ground at any point during the race. Juggle to therst obstacle and take the ball over the polesContinue to juggle to the next obstacle and go under the poles. Next, juggle to the mannequin and play aone two off the mannequin. Control the ball and ick it over the mannequin to nish with a volley to thesmall goal. Each player had 4 attempts.



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Half a pitchGK2 Strikers2 wide players2 serversServer plays ball into strikers who combine to play ball wide.Wide player goes to bye line and crosses for strikers to nish





Coaching Points• Quality of serve• Combination between strikers• Angle and pass of pace to wide player• Timing of the run and delivery from wide player

Strikers make runs away from the ball and

overlap before attacking the cross

Coaching Points• Timing of the run• Attack the ball, be aggressive• Go for goal• Be staggered• Follow up



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Add an extra wide player to add combination and overlapSimulate wide midelder/full back relationship

Coaching Points• Timing• Communication• Angle of run• Angle and pace of pass

• Whip the cross in with pace







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Get numbers up in the box

Coaching Points• Stagger the runs to cover near post, middle of the goal and far post• Have an extra player on the edge of the box for any rebounds or clearances





This shows the whole picture that the coach wanted in the game against Arsenal the next day. Balls wereserved into the strikers who combined to play in wide players and deeper players (midelders or fullbacks)have license to join the attack and get crosses in as West Ham attempt to get numbers up in the box.





Documents

EPL Academy Tour Journal.pdf