Earlier today, 26th November, two youth development trainers
(Andy Smith, Adam Temple) and a manager (Michael Higham) from Manchester United
surprised the boys with a visit and afterwards held a session with them to
educate and empower them.
Having trained many young footballers themselves, the
coaches had a lot of stories to tell and experiences to show that surely
inspired the boys.
Andy Smith has been a UEFA licenced coach for about 15
years. He is the executive manager at the Manchester United Foundation while
Adam Temple has been a UEFA licensed coach since 2012. He is a Manchester
United coach educator as well as the FA national disability coach.
Michael Higham is a relationship manager. He manages the
relationship between Glo Soccer Academy and Manchester United for example.
The session kicked off after
Andy introduced himself and his team to the boys, after which he showed a short
montage of Manchester United’s football history.
He further expatiated on the vision and goals of Manchester
United – “Manchester United is about inspiring people to be the best around the
globe. We develop and train boys on and off the pitch. When we look at a
player, we look at him from four corners’ – Technicality, Physicality,
Psychology and Tactic.
“Firstly, we consider technicality – How a player receives
and passes the ball? Can he shoot? Can he take players on? Are his skills
excellent? How does he play the game? How well does he develop? His reaction
to an opponent.
“Another is physicality – Does he look after himself? Does
he rest at the right time?
“Next is Psychology – Does he have good character?
“And lastly, tactic – We look at the player’s one-on-one
skill, defence and attack. And if he can be better than the opponent?”
After his well-received pep talk and an encouraging video
message from soccer great, Rio Ferdinand to the boys, Andy entertained
questions.
Adamu Aliyu from Lagos, Nigeria asked: “Why have there been
more white than black players in the history of Manchester United?”
Andy Smith: “Manchester United looks for talent from around
the world regardless of colour or where they come from. However Manchester has
a dominant white population and this could explain why there are more whites
than blacks.”
Aminu Muntala from Accra, Ghana asked: “What is the problem
with Man-U’s defence team? It seems to be deteriorating.”
Adam Temple: “We’ve had
players get injured; we’ve also had new players, all of them good. However, we
are still trying to work on the same level of chemistry or partnership the
previous players had that made for a strong defence team and we are getting
there quite fast.”
Adamu Aliyu: “If you had a good player with a bad character
on your hands, how would you take care of this?”
Andy Smith: “Well, it’s a journey. It takes time, patience
and commitment and we try to make sure we work on every player’s attitude so we
don’t have any fighters on the pitch”
Monday Kyagh from Enugu, Nigeria asked: “What is the vision
for young players; can we make it to the 1st team?”
Andy Smith: “Our vision is to train world class talents to
making it to the 1st team but if they can’t, we want to at
least make sure we train them to be world class footballers, fit to play with
any club or team.”
“I’m looking forward what this week’s training with the boys
would be. It would be a fun and educating experience, I’m sure,” Andy said in
conclusion.
