Chapter 785: The Boy from Manchester Academy
Manchester City's Carrington training base is not big.
In addition to the first team and the reserve team, there are also two youth training camp teams in training, all of whom are over 16 years old.
Only on Saturdays and weekends, players aged nine to fifteen will come to the training base to receive two football training sessions per week. The rest of the time, these children stay at home and go to school.
This is the FA's requirement.
Their standard for youth training selection is one hour's drive, which means that the club can only select within this range.
If the child is over twelve years old, that is, between thirteen and sixteen years old, the time limit can be extended to one and a half hours. This imposes considerable restrictions on the selection of youth training players for Premier League teams.
To some extent, this has even hindered England's youth training.
Rich teams are willing to invest, but they are unable to expand on a large scale, nor do they bring in youth training talents beyond their scope.
However, players in many regions are simply unwilling to invest in youth training, and the English Football Association has also invested very little in this regard, resulting in very poor talent training in England.
Of course, the reason for strictly limiting the driving range is also to enable children to stay with their parents.
The starting point was good, but it had an adverse impact on the development of the sport of football.
In recent years, with the surge of talent in German football, especially the emergence of a group of young players such as Toni Kroos and Thomas Muller, Germany's youth training has finally reaped rich rewards after ten years since the investment in reform.
As a sworn enemy, England has also learned from its mistakes and is planning to carry out a vigorous round of youth training reforms. Research and investigations are currently being carried out across England. The two options under discussion are to remove restrictions on the scope of selection and to grade all youth training camps.
Manchester City's training base on the diagonal of the Etihad Stadium was built for this reform. The goal is to create the world's top and most luxurious training base to attract the best youth players in the UK and even the world.
…
Every weekend, the youth team training area at Carrington Training Base becomes extremely lively.
Children coming from all over Greater Manchester will gather in this not very spacious training base to receive training from Manchester City's youth training coaches.
They receive training in their respective schools and communities on weekdays and only return to Carrington for classes on weekends.
They are all carefully selected outstanding students, and they all have one goal when they come here, that is, after completing their studies at the age of sixteen, they may get Manchester City's youth training contract and become official youth training camp players.
Before that, they were just young players registered to receive training with the youth team.
Whenever they have a break from training, these kids like to lie on the wire mesh and look at the other side from afar.
That is the first team's training ground.
They can watch the first-team training from a close distance through the barbed wire. If they are lucky, they will occasionally be called over to help, such as picking up a ball.
For these children, this is a very honorable thing.
Especially this year, after Su Dong joined the team, it has aroused enthusiastic pursuit in the youth training camp. Almost every weekend is the most eager time for these children because they can watch Su Dong's training up close.
Among this group of children, countless of them secretly regard Su Dong as their idol.
With the focus match against Chelsea coming up soon, Guardiola chose closed training this time, covering the wire mesh with a curtain, which made the children on the youth team feel dissatisfied and disappointed.
But children are always children. They will soon forget these unpleasant things and make themselves happy.
They also discuss some things about the team and football.
For example, Manchester City lost to West Bromwich Albion in the League Cup in midweek, which surprised many people.
"I read the Guardian's analysis and I think it makes sense. Our bench is still not deep enough, especially the goalkeeper."
"Joe Hart has had two poor performances in a row and he was a concern against Chelsea."
"In this League Cup match, it was not Joe Hart, the starting player was Given and the substitute was Karius."
"Karius? The German goalkeeper who was 18 years old?"
"In 2009, the team spent 200,000 pounds to sign him from Stuttgart. I think he is only 17 years old now?"
"That's him. He has now been called up to the first team and is officially training with the team. He is considered the third goalkeeper."
"My goodness, our young head coach really likes to use young players."
"The main reason is that we are not satisfied with Joe Hart and Given. I think if Karius performs well in training, he will definitely be able to play in the cup game. If he seizes the opportunity, he may have a chance to appear in the first team."
"You said it was going smoothly, but now we are out of the League Cup. If we really want to play a cup competition, it can only be the FA Cup, which is next year. What a pity!"
"Who said it wasn't? We actually lost the League Cup."
"The team played two games a week after the start of the league. They probably wanted to rotate their players against Chelsea, but who knew the bench players would be so weak and they lost directly."
"Trippier also played in this game, but his performance was average."
"Micah Richards was playing as a centre-back this time, so he was responsible for the goal conceded."
"Michael Johnson can't even make the roster now, so I guess he won't be here for long."
The children were talking to each other, all of them were players from Manchester City's youth training camp.
Those who can stand out from the youth training camp and appear in the sight of the first-team head coach Guardiola are basically the best of the youth training camp, and are the great people and big men that all the children are familiar with.
But these guys, who they considered to be great talents, performed terribly when they arrived at the first team.
You don’t have to think about it to know how cruel the first-team games are!
And how difficult and amazing are all the players who can gain a foothold in the first team? Not to mention those famous players, and superstars like Su Dong are like gods to these children, enough for them to worship.
So much so that many people are particularly envious of the caddies in those clubs.
Manchester City has played three home games this season. Three young players from the youth training camp were fortunate enough to hold Su Dong's hand when they were serving as ball boys. This made them extremely excited. Two of them were even so nervous that they couldn't speak. Afterwards, they were "ridiculed" by others, who believed that they had missed a good opportunity.
It's not easy to get close to Su Dong, so if you just want a souvenir or something, that would be great.
They are all a group of children around ten years old. They have been playing football for many years and admire stars like Su Dong to an extreme degree. Naturally, they are proud to be able to have close contact with Su Dong.
Among this group of children, there was a boy who looked thinner than his peers. He had been listening silently to the discussions of people around him and seemed very focused. Then he looked in the direction of the first-team training. After hesitating for a moment, he quietly left the crowd and ran towards the coach's office.
Knock, knock, knock! The child knocked on the office door.
Working inside are two youth coaches, the head coach of the 18-year-old youth team, and former Premier League player Scott Sellars.
The other is his assistant, the younger Steve Ell.
Steve Ell is only 38 years old, but he has been working in Manchester City's youth training camp for 18 years. I heard that he is from Salford and later joined Manchester City's youth training camp, but after being injured at the age of 20, he entered the youth training camp and has been working there until now.
In addition to being the coach of the 18-year-old youth team, he is also responsible for other tasks, such as managing the youth team.
"Phil, it's you. What's up?" Steve El recognized the kid from the future at a glance.
"Mr. El." The kid named Phil walked into the office breathlessly and came to Steve El's desk. "Can I also participate in the weekend game?"
After hearing this, Steve El looked at Scott Silas and smiled.
This is not the first player to say this. At almost every home game, there is a group of children rushing to the scene.
For example, Sterling, the talented young player who just joined the team this season, runs to the sidelines to pick up the ball in every game. It is said that once, when Su Dong was celebrating a goal, he ran into the players and celebrated with them. He asked Su Dong to touch his head and put his arm around his shoulders. He was captured by the live camera. After coming back, this kid showed off to everyone he met.
In return, he promised Silas to play his best in every game and work extremely hard in training and competition.
So, this is a reward of sorts.
"I'm sorry, Phil, you're late. We're full," Scott El said apologetically.
In fact, he is also very optimistic about this kid.
"I know, but there has to be a substitute, right? You know that Smith is always late. What if he is late again?"
"We have a backup..."
"I know, but I don't think it's enough. I will be very punctual. You can let me be your substitute!" The kid named Phil raised his head and looked at Scott El with extreme determination. His bright eyes seemed to say, if you don't agree, I won't leave.
Scott El was a little helpless. "If I remember correctly, you live in Stockport, right?"
It is a city south of Manchester, not too far away, slightly closer than Wilmslow.
"I will convince my father. If possible, please buy me two tickets. I will use my pocket money to buy them so that they can watch the game in person." A hint of cunning flashed in the eyes of the boy named Phil.
Scott El and Silas both burst into laughter.
Little devil!
"Okay, then I'll arrange for you to be a substitute, but I can't guarantee that you can be the caddy, especially as Su Dong's caddy. This is a very sought-after job!" Scott El had no choice but to agree.
For him, it was just a matter of one sentence.
"Thank you, Mr. El. I can take care of the rest myself." The child said confidently.
Scott El and Silas watched the kid turn and leave, left with full of confusion.
Can he handle it?
(End of this chapter)
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