Chapter 494 Youth Training is a Technical Job
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"Come in"
Yang Huan was sitting behind his desk. He looked up and saw Martin Hunt opening the door and coming in.
This middle-aged Englishman looks much older than he was two years ago, which shows that the pressure on the first team is indeed quite great.
It was a coincidence that Martin Hunt came from Bradford shortly before Yang Huan acquired Southampton.
In the past two years, in addition to helping Bielsa in the first team, he has also been responsible for the operation of the Saints' youth training camp.
Southampton's youth training camp is full of talented people. Although the team has poached outstanding talents from all over the European continent, the concerted efforts of people including Martin Hunt, Griffa and Madoni cannot be ignored.
It took them two full years to build Southampton's youth training camp into a top youth training camp that is in no way inferior to other teams on the European continent. Whether it is technical and tactical style or the meticulous craftsmanship of players, Southampton has its own unique features.
This also created the status and influence of Southampton Youth Training in the entire English football.
Even surpassed the Red Devils Manchester United
"Master Huan, are you looking for me?" After Martin Hunter entered the room, he smiled at Long Wu who was playing games in the corner, and walked directly to Yang Huan's desk.
"Sit down," Yang Huan smiled and pointed to the opposite side, "Is the first-line team busy?"
As he asked, he stood up.
Seeing that Martin Hunt was about to stand up, Yang smiled and motioned for him to sit down, while he went to the corner to make tea.
"It's okay, but the team's performance has not been very ideal recently. The pressure is quite high. Marcelo has been staying at the training base these days." When mentioning the Argentine madman, Martin Hunt's face was full of admiration.
When it comes to his dedication to football, Bielsa is unparalleled in the world.
Yang Huan made two cups of tea, walked back, placed one in front of him, and brought the other to his lips and took a sip.
"I don't pay much attention to the team's performance. I believe in Marcelo's coaching ability."
Martin Hunt nodded and said, "Yes, in fact, the team's performance is not too bad, especially for a newly promoted team, but perhaps the media, fans and the team themselves have too high expectations for the results, which leads to a big gap now."
Yang Huan smiled and said, "That's normal. We are a team with aspirations."
Martin Hunt also smiled and said, "If it weren't for the impact of the Olympics and national team games, we could have won at least two or three more games than we have now, and our ranking would have been quite high."
To put it bluntly, Southampton is definitely the number one disaster victim of the London Olympics. Ten players were selected to participate in the Olympics, and there is almost no available player on the entire right side. How can Bielsa use his players?
If we could win two more games and get six more league points, our current ranking would be very high. If we could win three more games, we would be directly in the top four of the league.
"Don't worry, I can understand all these things, and I believe in you," Yang said with a smile.
Martin Hunt nodded, but he felt strange in his heart. Master Huan called me here for no reason. Could it be that he just wanted to ask about the team?
You know, normally Young Master Huan gets information about the team directly from Bielsa. Why is he beating around the bush now?
"Martin, you have been in the team for two years, right?" Yang Huan sat back in his chair.
"Well, a little earlier than Master Huan." Martin Hunter replied.
"You have done a great job here in the past two years. We all think that you have your own insights on youth training, such as the three youth training concepts you have summarized."
Martin Hunt smiled slightly, not knowing what Master Huan meant by this.
But when it comes to the three youth training concepts, his face becomes somewhat complacent.
He proposed three points that must be achieved in the Saints' youth training camp.
Sweat on the field, smile off the field, learn from it, this is the successful youth training
To use Yang Huan’s words, damn, this is Milu’s happy football.
It is really rare to have such insight in English football.
The youth training in England these days is either rigid, barbaric, or too brittle to know what they want.
But these three concepts of Southampton have proven to be quite helpful for youth training.
After all, the most important thing in training players, especially those under ten years old, is to cultivate their interest in football.
Then we have to let them have fun from football and smile from the bottom of their hearts.
"Master Huan, this is not just my achievement. Griffa and Madoni brought us the essence of Argentine youth training in South America. They let us see the uniqueness of their techniques and methods for training players."
Yang Huan nodded continuously. As youth training consultants and chief scouts, Griffa and Madoni's contributions to Southampton were quite obvious, especially in youth training and the development of young players.
"Also, our youth training director Les Reid is also well-known in England, and our youth training academy director Matt Crocker also plays a vital role. It is because of our joint efforts that the Saints' youth training is starting to get on the right track."
To put it bluntly, after two years of high investment, the Saints' youth training is already on the right track.
Unless Yang Huan has a brain cramp and destroys the wall himself, otherwise, Southampton's youth training is an inexhaustible treasure house and an inexhaustible gold mine.
Of course, we still have to continue investing every year, innovating and upgrading software and hardware, as well as searching for new talents and outstanding people.
Yang Huan smiled faintly and said nothing.
Martin Hunt is admittedly a bit modest, but as the head of youth training, he has made an indelible contribution to the rapid development of Saints' youth training.
This contribution is seen by everyone and cannot be avoided.
"Have you heard about England's youth training reform plan?" Yang Huan asked.
"The Glorious Revolution?"
"Yes," Yang Huan nodded, "According to this plan, St. George's will become the Clairefontaine of England. In the next few years, the entire England, from the top league, the Premier League, to the community amateur leagues, will drive a booming youth training reform."
“This is a good thing”
Yang Huan smiled and said, "It's a good thing, but the English Football Association alone can't accomplish anything, so this time it will be a mixed team responsible for formulating and promoting the youth training reform plan, and both the English Football Association and the Premier League will arrange personnel to settle in St. George's."
Martin Hunter couldn't help but frown when he heard this.
"Master Huan, youth training is never something that can be accomplished by one person. It is a whole system project that requires the joint efforts of many people to complete. It is simply impossible to accomplish anything by relying on a mixed team alone."
"That's right, so everyone in this mixed team must not only be deeply involved in youth training, but also be youth training experts who understand and are familiar with the English football environment, and they will be fully responsible for the entire Glorious Revolution youth training reform plan."
At this point, Yang Huan smiled slightly and said, "According to preliminary estimates, starting from 2013, the annual budget of the Glorious Revolution Project will be as high as nearly 100 million pounds. If we add the hardware and software investment of professional clubs in youth training, the amount involved in this project will be even higher."
Just kidding, 5% of the Premier League broadcasting rights revenue after deducting various fees and expenses in a year is invested in youth training. Part of it is invested by the clubs in youth training. Another part is operated through the Glorious Revolution Project Group to improve the youth training in England as a whole, especially community youth training.
Martin Hunt was dumbfounded. "One hundred million?"
"Yes," Yang Huan nodded, "So, everyone attaches great importance to this team, and currently only four candidates have been confirmed."
"who?"
"Dave Redding, chairman of the London Olympic Organizing Committee, was very satisfied with his work in the Olympic Organizing Committee, especially in terms of coordination and resource mobilization, so David Bernstein strongly recommended him to join the team."
Martin Hunt nodded, saying that Dave Redding had done a great job in the run-up to the London Olympics.
"The other two are Nick Levitt and Roger Davis, who have been committed to promoting and improving the lower-level league system for a long time. They are both experts who are quite familiar with and understand the system and environment of the middle and lower leagues in England."
Martin Hunt had also heard of the two of them, and this plan indeed required them to be responsible.
"What about the other one?"
"Currently the Head of Development at the FA, former England international Gareth Southgate"
"It's him." Martin Hunt also thought it was okay.
"Nick Levitt and Roger Davis are both from the FA Development Department. They have cooperated with Southgate many times before to launch initiatives to reform youth training. It is normal for them to participate in the Glorious Revolution."
Yang Huan smiled and nodded, "You are absolutely right, but there are still many things missing."
"What?"
Yang Huan did not answer but asked with a smile, "Do you think that just a few of them know how to reform?"
This time Martin Hunt was really stunned.
Yes, these people, Dave Redding's ability to do things is beyond doubt, but when it comes to youth training, he is a layman.
Although Southgate, Nick Levitt and Roger Davis are all professional players and familiar with the league environment, youth training is a technical job. Can they do it?
If there is no one who is familiar with the matter to take the lead, how will they deal with this plan?
"This is a long-term plan. Everyone is determined to stick with it for a long time, so the people in this team are basically young, so even the old guys like Howard Wilkinson and Eric Harrison will not be used."
Martin Hunter frowned when he heard this. "Including Les Reed?"
Southampton's youth training director was originally a technical development consultant for the English Football Association. He was involved in the growth of world-class stars such as Gerrard, Lampard and Rooney.
What is even more commendable is that Les Reid is one of the very few in English football who attaches great importance to technical youth training and is a versatile player with considerable capabilities in sports medicine, technical training and scouting.
Les Reid joined the team almost at the same time as Martin Hunt, but Martin Hunt was later favored by Yang Huan and promoted to the first team to serve as Bielsa's assistant, with a higher status.
But when it comes to respected people, Les Reed is undoubtedly the first.
Let’s not talk about the distant things, let’s talk about the nearby things.
Not long ago, after St. George's was officially opened, the English Football Association hosted an exchange meeting and invited youth training experts including Barcelona to participate in the discussion.
Southampton's three local youth training experts, Martin Hunt, Matt Crocker and Les Reid, were all present, and during the exchange, they refuted Barcelona's youth training experts speechless.
The reason is simple. Southampton's youth training model focuses more on flexibility, creativity and cultivating children's interests.
Relatively speaking, Barcelona's youth training is very rigorous, but also quite rigid. It almost treats young players as workers on an assembly line, requiring them to abide by tactical rules such as number three passes the ball to number six, and number six passes the ball to number seven.
It was after this exchange meeting that Barcelona's youth training experts expressed their hope to find an opportunity to visit Southampton's Staplewood training base for exchange and learning, and at the same time called on the Southampton youth team to visit Barcelona.
This also made the Saints Youth Training Camp famous again in the football circle.
Yang Huan looked at Martin Hunt with a smile and said something that almost made the middle-aged Englishman fall over.
"At the London summit, I recommended that you be in charge of this project."