Manchester United Coaches arrive at Glo Soccer Academy

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.