through instilling discipline, hard work and understanding successful tactics, they ARE taking predominantly English talent and pushing it up to professional level - something we seem to have been unable to do - Paddy seems to have learnt a lot from the George Legacy and taken it onwards.
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.
‘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.’
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.’
90% of their acadamy is English - i'm guessing our is about 40% based on the pravda info.
whether these kids will make City's first team is another thing, but its an opposite approach to ours- taking English raw talent and working it hard and coaching it, rather than buying 'the cream of european wonderkids".
which is better suited for the PL i wonder ?
