EPL Academy Tour Journal PDF

Published For the Worlds Most Innovative Soccer Coaches
English Premier League Academy Tour Journal
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First published August, 2006 by WORLD CLASS COACHING 15004 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 retrieval system, 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.
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WORLD CLASS COACHING
EPL Academy Tour Journal
March 1 - 6, 2006 Arsenal Football Club Youth Academy Developmental Approach

Mike Saif and WORLD CLASS COACHING magazine recently teamed up with Travel and Play to oer a fantastic opportunity for coaches in the U.S. to travel to England and visit two of the most successful and accomplished Youth Academys in the Professional game. I was asked to accompany the tour and write about the people that we met, the training 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 in London. The Youth Academy is at a separate location to the rst team training facility 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 history and 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 such as David OLeary, Frank Stapleton, Paul Merson, Tony Adams, and more recently players like Ashley Cole, who is making a tremendous impression for Arsenal and England. There are trophy cabinets brimming with the prizes and cups won all over the world by Arsenal Youth Teams. The Arsenal Academy is now in its eighth season, having been one of the rst tier of English clubs to gain academy status in 1998. During its existence the Academy has consistently produced soccer players ready for rst-team action with both Arsenal and other professional football clubs. The Academy Director is legendary midelder Liam Brady, who is ably assisted by David Court, also a former Gunners star. Both are responsible for the development of all the boys registered with the Academy between the ages of nine and 21. At the end of season 2003/04, the under- 17s and Under-19s were disbanded by the FA to form one competitive level for Club Academies, the Under-18s. The Arsenal Under-18s are based at the Training Center with the rst-team squad and are coached by former Arsenal center-half, Steve Bould. The junior levels of the Academy from Under-16s down to Under-9s are based at Hale End Training Centre, another state-of-the-art Arsenal facility, under the guidance of Roy Massey. The Under-18s nished third in their league last season and play most league games with many younger players from the u/16s. Results are certainly not the be all and end all for the Under-18s with the Clubs primary concern at this age being player development. The most prominent example of a player progressing through the current system is Ashley Cole, who
has established himself as rst choice left-back for both his club and country. Goalkeeper Stuart Taylor, midelders Jermaine Pennant, David Bentley, Steven Sidwell and defender Justin Hoyte are all Academy graduates who have earned England Under-21 caps, whilst Academy product Jeremie Aliadiere is a France Under21 International. Taylor and Aliadiere also won Premier League Championship medals, in 2002 and 2004 respectively. Hoyte, Aliadiere and Bentley are furthering their Premiership experience on loan this season at Sunderland, West Ham and Blackburn respectively, whilst Graham Stack is on loan to Championship side Reading. With Academy players regularly dominating the Arsenal reserve team line-ups and a 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 produce players to grace the Gunners new Emirates Stadium for many years to come. Bobby Robson, the former England manager is credited with starting the Academy initiative after his experiences throughout Europe illustrated that the younger you identify 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 European clubs where training players as young as 6 or 7 years of age. The Premier League has rules 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 which boys to sign for Arsenal Football Club. Mr. Roy Massey, Director for the u/9 - u/16 age groups for the Arsenal Academy admits that recruitment at 8 is very dicult; what should you be looking for? Massey stresses that Arsenal is very lucky to have London as a catchment area. London is 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 from the London area. Arsenal has a number of Regional Centers where players can train and play before being invited to the main Academy located at Hale End, London. These regional centers are based in Middlesex, Croydon, Brentford, Hertfordshire, and Central London 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 Academy for assessment games. Such is the competition for places that boys are added and dropped every year. The rst intake is 12 players and the commitment is for one year. All of the squads are changed each year in an eort to constantly upgrade the standard of the squad and the level of competitiveness for the Arsenal Football Club. There is 80% of the current u/13 squad left at the club who started at u/9. Only 5 of the u/14s are left and 4 of the u/15s. There is only one, 16 year old player left at the club who started out at u/9. The Club spends a lot of money and time developing, coaching, and mentoring
many players who will never play in the rst team for Arsenal and many others who will never become professional players. Liam Brady then joined Roy Massey to explain some of his observations and philosophies on developing the very best players for Arsenal in the future. Liam Brady and a number of the coaches have studied youth development throughout the world and have come to the same conclusions as many before them; Ajax of Amsterdam are a world leader and Arsenal send many of their coaches to Amsterdam as part of their coaching training program. Arsenal reverses the Ajax acronym (T.I.P.S.) and adopted S.P.I.T. to epitomize the youth development philosophy at the club. Speed Personality Intelligence Technique London has more professional Soccer Clubs than any other city in the world therefore, competition for recruitment is erce and parents have many choices if their son is good enough. If a player is pursued by Arsenal then he is usually being watched by a number of professional clubs. Many parents want to join Arsenal because of the pedigree and history of the club but these days many parents are also wary of the amount of players purchased from overseas. Arsenals 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 to protect against the elements of an English winter. It also includes changing rooms, meeting rooms, oces and a general area for parents and guests to enjoy the canteen facilities and wait for the players. The Academy has 4 full time ground sta as well as kitchen sta. The recruiting sta, coaching sta, and Youth Development oces are also housed within the Academy building. Training is 3 times per week and the players enjoy opportunities to compete against the best in England as well as chances to play against the best that the rest of Europe and Scandinavia has to oer. The Arsenal Youth teams traveled recently and played against Real Madrid, Paris St. Germain, Ajax and Bayer Leverkausen. It is a huge commitment to Youth Football and to the future of Arsenals success. Liam Brady and Roy Massey both agreed that the worst part of the job is releasing players at the end of the season. They said that you develop an anity and friendship with not only the player but the family as well so it is hard to tell that player he is no longer good enough for Arsenal Football Club. Most players released by Arsenal do receive 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 into quarters which allow the coaches more time emphasizing the club developmental philosophy.
The u/13 play a split season; the season is 8v8 and the other is 11v11. These rules are common amongst the Academy Clubs and provide the players a better learning environment as each player gets more touches, more decisions to make, and more shots which ultimately mean more goals which is what the game is about. We witnessed a number of training sessions at the Academy, including one from Steve Bould with the u/16 team, a Goalkeeper session with Alex Welsh and a u/13 session with Steve Leonard. We also watched the u/9 team and the u/13 and u/14 play against the M.K. Dons on Sunday morning. I saw a 9 year old score about 12 goals during two games and am still amazed at his condence and technique as he scored with both feet, a couple of headers, a few stunning volleys and a memorable bicycle 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 Frenchmans 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 the learning of the 4-4-2 system which is played throughout the club. At 13-15 years of age more emphasis is placed on tactical awareness as well as physical development and 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 sta was fantastic and nothing we asked of them or requested to see was too much trouble. They answered multiple questions, took extra time to explain sessions or philosophies throughout our visit. Liam Brady was one of my heros when he was a player and it was a pleasure and an honor to discuss his views on the game in general, especially his youth development philosophy. Daryn Ozzie White DOC Ankeny Soccer Club
Arsenal Academy U16 Session Coach Steve Bould
Warm -Up
Coach Steve Bould sits the players in front of him, explains the session and hands out the bibs. The warm-up comprises of dynamic stretches and soccer specific movements with and without the ball. The players then pass, move, and juggle in groups of 3 followed by more dynamic stretches, longer running patterns and short sprints.
Warm-Up Continued
Pass to the target player/ follow the pass Set (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 floor
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 + GK 3 attackers working on stopping the 2 defenders from playing out from the back 1 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
10
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 midfield
11
Arsenal Academy Goalkeeper Session Coach Alex Walsh
4 ways to handle the ball Scoop Cup W hands Landing/deflection Grid 2x2 yds Serve high, middle, low, both sides Progression saving with one hand and throwing the ball back to the server
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GK sitting on the goal line Server 5 yds away Goal is 3 yds wide Server puts the ball to each side Each set lasts no longer than 3 mins
Server increases distance to 10 yds GK now standing and working on the scoop technique
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Regular size goal Serves are varied
GK starts with ball and distributes to server who returns the high GK 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 down at the 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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BOOKS
Item # 1022 Item # 1019
The author shares his 20 years of experience coaching at pro youth academies in England. This book shows some of the most creative, inspiring and innovative training sessions you will find anywhere. This book takes an in-depth look at the formation used by Liverpool to win the Champions League Final. Whether you play with a 4-42, 4-3-3, 3-4-3 or any other formation, understanding how to play the 3-5-2 formation is critical for any coach or team.
Item # 1016
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Contains 11 chapters showing practices and exercises used at English Premier League Academies to develop and improve technique. Chapters are: Warm-Ups, Passing, Ball Control, Dribbling, Running, Shooting, Attacking Play, Defending, Tackling, Games and Tactics.
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Item # 1013
Takes the exercises shown in Volume One and progresses them into functional sessions, then into tactical sessions and finally into game situations.
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This incredible book shows every GOALKEEPER training session, practice and drill done by the New England Revolution from their 2002 season.
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This one-of-a-kind book shows every training session, practice and drill of the Penn State soccer team from their 2001 season where they reached the NCAA Tournament round of 16.
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This is the most comprehensive book ever written about the 4 - 4 - 2 formation. Covered are the roles and responsibilities of the defenders, midfielders and forwards in both attacking and defending situations.
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Over 200 pages and 100 training sessions from the worlds top teams like Manchester United, Ajax, Liverpool, Juventus, PSV Eindhoven and So Paulo. These, plus sessions from National teams from Holland, Italy, USA and others make this book a must have for any serious soccer coach.
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Includes training sessions and drills from Manchester United, U.S. Womens World Cup Team, Venice of Serie A, Liverpool F.C., Bodens BK of Sweden, Brazilian Youth Teams plus many of the MLS Teams and other top teams and coaches from around the world.
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Includes training sessions and drills from Manchester United, Juventus F.C. and Venice of Serie A, Ajax F.C., Lausanne of Switzerland, Liverpool Academy plus many of the MLS Teams and other top teams and coaches from around the world.
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Includes training sessions and drills from So Paulo of Brazil, Italy U15 National Team, Tony DiCicco, Liverpool F.C., Lira Lulea BK of Sweden, Leeds United plus New England Revolution of the MLS and other top teams and coaches from around the world.
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Includes training sessions and drills from PSV Eindhoven, U.S. Womens World Cup Team, Ajax F.C., Liverpool F. C . , L e e d s U n i t e d , F K Teplice plus many of the MLS Teams and other top teams and coaches from around the world.
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Included are 32 complete training sessions covering passing, receiving, dribbling, running with the ball, shooting, defending and goalkeeping. There are also 16 fun, small-sided games that can be used in any training session or as warm-ups.
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Included are 32 complete training sessions covering passing, receiving, dribbling, running with the ball, shooting, defending and goalkeeping. There are also 22 fun, small-sided games that can be used in any training session or as warm-ups.
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Item # 1023
Former England U21 Coach, David Platt, shares his tactical knowledge on how to coach your team to beat an opposing team lined up in a 4-4-2 formation.
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In this book are sessions from English Premier League teams and their Academies like Manchester United, Liverpool, Everton and Fulham. Also included are sessions from England National Teams, and top British clubs like Glasgow Rangers, Glasgow Celtic, Crystal Palace and Leeds United.
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In this book are sessions from Europes top teams like Real Madrid, Ajax and A.C. Milan, plus South American teams like Boca Juniors, E.C. Vitoria and others. Plus sessions from the Canadian National Teams, and from Anson Dorrance and Tony DiCicco.
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Play at English Premier League speed. This book contains 124 drills, exercises & small-sided games that coach David Williams has conducted during his many years as a coach in the English Premier League.
DVDs
International Coaching Three-DVD Series Featuring Coaches of Manchester United - Liverpool F.C. - Leeds United
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4-4-2 DVDs
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Item # 4003 - Possession Item # 4004 - All Three DVDs
Item # 4005 - Attacking - # 4006 - Defending - # 4007 - Both DVDs

The 4 4 2 is the preferred formation for just about every team in the English Premier League. The 4 4 2 is also used by the majority of the worlds top coaches and teams such as European giants Juventus, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich as well as the national teams of Brazil, England, USA, Italy, etc. These DVDs will explain how the 4 4 2 formation is played, why it is so successful and why it is the formation of choice for the worlds top teams. Coach David Williams (former Leeds United, Everton and Manchester United U19 coach) explains the roles and responsibilities of the defenders, midfielders and forwards, both in attacking and defending situations. The DVDs show many practices that he has used during his vast coaching experience in the English Premier League, and will show you how to train your players to play using the 4 4 2 formation. These practices start with 2 v 2 exercises and build all the way up to 11 v 11 conditioned games.
TOPICS INCLUDE
Defending With a Flat Back Four Zonal Defending Improving Confidence For Heading Developing Techniques For Youth Players Developing Quick Play Using Circle Practices Passing Progressions Counter-attacking With Pace Improve Your Shooting and Finishing Build-Up Play For Crosses Attacking In Waves
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GK serves the ball to the attacker and then closes the ball down.
2x 5x5yd grids 2 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 5x10yds Server One attacker Server 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
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Progression
Server now becomes recovering defender
Coaching Points
Relationship and communication between gK and defender Decision to close down or just narrow the angle
20
Arsenal Academy U13 Session Coach Steve Leonard
Grid 20x10 yards 2v2 Target 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
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1v1 Goal & GK Counter goals Server
Coaching Points

Angle for shooting Decision making Shielding Dribbling Distance - from server and goal
ADD Server becomes support player making 2v1 Combinations When to shoot, pass dribble
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Grid 20x10 2v2 Score 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, find space and receive again
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NEW BOOK
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Grid 20x20 4 attackers 3 defenders 4 neutral players GK
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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4v4 Small 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
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Grid 40x30 5v5 + GK 1 neutral player Incorporate all coaching points Then 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 Barking Abbey School. The school provides tutors to the West Ham United Youth Academy and private tuition for West Ham youngsters when required. Current rst team player, Bobby Zamora is a Barking Abbey graduate as is another professional at the club, Darren Blewitt. The school is located close to the Hammers training ground as was one of the rst six in the country to become a Specialist Sports High 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 in the last ten years. The senior year at Barking Abbey boasts a Football Excellence course, sanctioned by the English Football Association. This course provides many budding footballers a second chance at the professional game. Most of the players at Barking Abbey have been released by professional clubs and it gives them a chance to continue their education, train every day as soccer players and compete 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 16 and 19. A full time programme of football and education for students aged 16-19 to start in September 2006. The scheme is part of the Football Association development plan and fully endorsed 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 UEFA Advanced License Coach on site. 5 GCSEs at Grades A-C gives you access to the widest range of courses. We do oer a First Diploma in Sports Studies and Business for students with good references and lower grades (not necessarily As Cs). Alongside this they would follow academic courses such as the BTEC National Diploma 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.
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Each player receives regular 1-1 and squad mentoring on professionalism, mental strength, football tness, diet and nutrition, career development and match analysis. There is also a match programme. Every Wednesday the squad represents Barking Abbey Centre for Football Excellence in two Merit Leagues. Players also access a variety of games at the partner club who provide a well structured 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 and in the USA which provide playing, coaching and studying opportunities for the scholars to further develop after they graduate from Barking Abbey School. Jimmy Gilligan is the Head Coach for Barking Abbey and has brought a wealth of knowledge and experience to the school program. Jimmy is a former professional player 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 coach when David Platt a former WORLD CLASS COACHING clinician was the manager at the club. The following session was conducted at the West Ham United training ground by Jimmy Gilligan with the Barking Abbey Academy players. The focus of the session is Pressuring as a Team - When to Pressure and When to Drop O.
30
Warm-Up
Throw/catch Functional warm up game 7v7 20x30 yard grid
First defender to pressure the ball (touch tight) then drop off to defend space
31
Other players - see the visual trigger and anticipate when to pressure Rotation 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
32
First Phase
Play with the feet now Coach serves to promote pressure Players 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
33
Extend the grid size to 40x30 yards Split the grid into thirds
Coaching Points
When the ball is in an end zone Press high and push up
34
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 press Only pressure the ball when it travels into the middle zone Players on the team with the ball has a maximum of four touches This ensures that the ball keeps moving and you can coach the defending team
Progression
Only one player can pressure the ball in the end zone
35
Coaching Points
Work ethic Angle of approach Make the play predictable Stop the long ball
Finish with a game 60 x40 2 goals GK Two teams playing a 332 formation
36
Coaching Points

Make play predictable Shut off one half of the pitch Isolate the player on the ball Pressure the ball in high areas of the pitch (further way from your goal)
Progressions
Add an offside line Move the off side line higher
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West Ham United Youth Academy Director of Youth Development - Tony Carr
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 in East London, and was a West Ham youth team player in the late 1960s. As an apprentice he cleaned the boots of the famous West Ham players, Geo Hurst, Bobby Moore, and Martin Peters who represented England winning the World Cup in 1966. Carr was forced to retire early through injury, although he admitted that he was not good enough for the top level anyway. Tony Carr did the next best thing and decided to become a coach. He was appointed as West Ham Director of Youth Development in 1973 and has been at the helm ever since. He has had remarkable success and seen many players, coaches, and managers come and go during his time at the club. Tony Carr is considered one of the most inuential developers of young talent in the game today. He has been the coaching mainstay for over thirty years with West Ham and has seen ve dierent managerial reigns during this time. Tony Carr remains at his post developing the players of the future. The club has produced many players over the years and their youth development system has become known as the Academy of Football within the English professional game and refers to the clubs reputation of developing talent from a young age and for playing the game in a free owing, passing game which is always exciting to watch. The title Academy of Football was attributed to the club by the media in the 1970s and has since been adopted by the club on its ocial crest at the side of the playing surface at the clubs stadium, Upton Park. The West Ham youth Development System is widely regarded as one of the most successful in the country and has earned a reputation for its integrity, stability and continuity. Tony Carr is indeed a ne coach and as we found out on this visit to the Academy; a man who loves to 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 Londons East End. They where re-launched in 1900 as West Ham United Football Club but have never won the top division in England in its long history. The club has, however produced many of the games top players over the past 40 years. The club won the F.A. Cup in 1975 with a team comprising solely of English players. No club has matched this feat since. Just this week the club won its semi nal replay to earn a spot in the 2006 F.A. Cup Final. Tony Carr has not only been present during this era, but responsible for developing much of 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, and current 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 players, but to spend time with him and listen to his experiences and philosophies. The following is a summary of the discussions with Tony Carr;
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Tony addressed the coaching group at dinner one evening and spoke about the West Ham way. He rmly believes that the West Ham Youth Academy is very welcoming to the player and his family. He believes that the traditional, homely, welcoming atmosphere helps the young players settle quickly and feel good about themselves. He believes that West Ham have a fertile catchment area and a very successful scouting system. Tony knows that he has a 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 of the game; can he pass? Can he dribble? Does he have football intelligence? Tony and his sta are looking for players with; sound technical skills, a good football brain, players who are hungry and desperate to play at the highest level and players with personality who have a chance of making it in the extremely tough professional game. Carr relies heavily on Jimmy Hampson (Chief Scout) and his scouting sta who bring in the talent for the coaches. Hampson is responsible for spotting many of the Academy graduates and bringing them into the club. Carr is particular in the way that the Academy works and he allows each age group coach to coach the team without interference. He believes that the team coach knows the players best and should be allowed to develop them in the way that the coach sees t. Tony Carr believes in the coachs toolbox and thinks that every coach should participate in coaching courses to increase ideology and knowledge which helps the coach respect the way that players respond to information and turn the knowledge into practice. He studies the way that players learn and recognizes dierent learning techniques 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 uncomplicated but challenging, and wants to take the players through the process one step at a time. His advice 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 his response is this; Rio Ferdinand is the most naturally talented and inuential player at Youth level, Paul Ince is the player who went on to achieve the most Ince is currently playing for Wolverhampton Wanderers at the age of 39 and has enjoyed 5 top English clubs (West Ham, Manchester United, Liverpool, Middlesborough) as well as Inter Milan in Italy. He has won many domestic honors including the Premiership title, F.A. Cup, League Cup and European Cup Winners Cup and has played for England on 53 occasions. Carr thinks that Tony Cottee is the best one touch player in the box that he has worked with, but, Frank Lampard may go on to achieve more 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 his views and passion for the game. Trevor Webb, the West Ham Education and Welfare Ocer was 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 much trouble. We had access to the youth Academy as well as the rst team training facility. He also arranged tickets for the WCC coaches to attend the Premier League xture between West Ham and Everton. A truly memorable experience at possibly the friendliest Premier League Club; West Ham United.
39
West Ham United Youth Academy Director of Youth Development - Tony Carr
Warm-Up
The warm-up is conducted by the Academy Sports Scientist, Eamon Swift. Half of the players with a ball and the other half without a ball Across the grid 20x20 Header Volley Pass Thigh/volley Chest/volley Dynamic Stretches Karate Kicks Tin Soldiers Side Volleys Lunges Forward running Backward running Check and move
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Next the 1st year scholars played the 2nd year scholars in a game Grid 40x30 6v6 4 small goals 2 touch 1 touch finishing
41
Players are in teams of 4 Players had to juggle the ball. The ball could not touch the ground at any point during the race. Juggle to the first obstacle and take the ball over the poles Continue to juggle to the next obstacle and go under the poles. Next, juggle to the mannequin and play a one two off the mannequin. Control the ball and flick it over the mannequin to finish with a volley to the small goal. Each player had 4 attempts.
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Half a pitch GK 2 Strikers 2 wide players 2 servers Server plays ball into strikers who combine to play ball wide. Wide player goes to bye line and crosses for strikers to finish
45
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
46
Add an extra wide player to add combination and overlap Simulate wide midfielder/full back relationship
Coaching Points
Timing Communication Angle of run Angle and pace of pass Whip the cross in with pace
47
48
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
49
This shows the whole picture that the coach wanted in the game against Arsenal the next day. Balls were served into the strikers who combined to play in wide players and deeper players (midfielders or fullbacks) have license to join the attack and get crosses in as West Ham attempt to get numbers up in the box.
50

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