i want to be king

Chapter 785 The Boys of Manchester City 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 academy echelons in training here, all of whom are over [-] years old.

Only on Saturdays and weekends, players aged nine to 15 will come to the training base to receive two football training sessions per week. For the rest of the time, these children still stay at home and go to school.

This is a requirement of the FA.

Their standard for the selection range of youth training is an hour's drive, that is to say, the club can only select within this range.

If it is more than twelve years old, that is, the age group of thirteen to sixteen years old, it can be extended to one and a half hours, which places considerable restrictions on the selection of youth training materials for Premier League teams.

To some extent, this even dragged down England's youth training.

Rich teams are willing to invest, but there is no way to expand on a large scale, and they have not introduced youth training talents beyond the scope.

However, players in many regions are not willing to invest in youth training at all, and the FA has invested little in this area, resulting in a very poor talent training in England.

Of course, the reason why the driving range is strictly limited is to hope that children can stay with their parents.

The starting point is a good thing, but it has a negative impact on the development of football.

Over the years, with the blowout of German football talents, especially the emergence of a group of young players such as Toni Kroos and Thomas Muller, the German youth training has finally reaped rich returns in ten years from investment reform to the present.

As a mortal enemy, England is also learning from the painful experience. It is planning to carry out a round of vigorous youth training reform. It is currently conducting research and inspections throughout England. The two options discussed are to cancel the restrictions on the scope of talent selection and at the same time classify all youth training camps.

Manchester City's training base on the diagonal of the Etihad Stadium is aimed at this reform. It also wants to build the world's top and most luxurious training base to attract the best youth players from the UK and even the world.

……

Every weekend, the youth team training area at the Carrington Training Base becomes extremely lively.

Children from all directions, all over Greater Manchester, will gather in this small training base to receive training from the Manchester City youth 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 players, and they all have one goal when they come here, that is, at the age of [-], after completing their studies, they may get a youth training contract from Manchester City and become an official youth training camp player.

Before that, they were just young players registered for youth team training.

Every time after training, this group of children like to lie on the barbed wire fence and look at the opposite side.

That's the training ground for the first team.

They can watch the training of the first team at close range through the barbed wire. If they are lucky, they will occasionally be called to help, such as picking up a ball or something.

For this group of children, it is quite an honor.

Especially this year, after Su Dong joined, it aroused the enthusiastic pursuit of the youth training camp. Almost every weekend was the time that this group of children wanted most, because they could watch Su Dong's training up close.

Among these children, there are countless people who silently regard Su Dong as an idol in their hearts.

The focus game against Chelsea is about to usher in. Guardiola chose closed training this time and covered the barbed wire with a curtain. This made the children on the youth team feel very dissatisfied and disappointed.

But children are always a group of children, and they will soon forget these unpleasant things and make themselves happy.

They also discuss some team and football matters.

For example, Manchester City lost to West Bromwich Albion in the League Cup in the middle of the week, which surprised many people.

"I read the Guardian's analysis and I think it makes sense. Our bench is still not thick enough, especially the goalkeeper."

"Joe Hart has had two bad games in a row and against Chelsea he's a worry."

"It's not Joe Hart in the Carabao Cup. Shay is the starter and Karius is the substitute."

"Karius? The German goalkeeper in his age group?"

"In 20, the team spent 17 pounds to sign him from Stuttgart. He seems to be only [-] now?"

"It's him. He is now transferred to the first team and officially trains with the team. He can be regarded as the No. [-] goalkeeper."

"Hey, our young head coach likes to use young players."

"The main reason is that I am not satisfied with Joe Hart and Shay. I think that if Karius performs well in training, he will definitely be able to play in the cup. When the time comes to seize the opportunity, he may really have a chance to appear in the first team."

"You said it went well, but now the League Cup is out. If we really want to play in the cup, it can only be the FA Cup. That's all for next year. It's a pity!"

"Who said it wasn't? The League Cup was lost."

"The team has played consecutive double matches for a week since the start of the league. Against Chelsea, they probably wanted to rotate. Who knew that the bench players were so weak, so they lost directly."

"Kerpier also played this game, but his performance was quite average."

"Mika Richards is playing central defender this time, and he is responsible for conceding goals."

"Michael Johnson can't even make it to the big list now, and he probably won't be there for long."

The children are all talking to each other, they are all players from Manchester City's youth academy.

Those who can stand out from the youth training camp and appear in the sight of the first team coach Pep Guardiola are basically the best in the youth training camp, and they are the masters and bosses that all the children are familiar with.

But it's this group of big guys who are so good in their eyes, but when they arrive in the first team, they behave in a mess.

You don't need to think about it, how cruel the game of the first team is!

And how difficult and powerful are all the players who can gain a foothold in the first team?
Not to mention those famous players, and a superstar like Su Dong, to this group of children, is a god-like existence, enough to make them worship.

So many people are particularly envious of the caddies of those clubs.

Manchester City has played three home games so far this season. Three young players from the youth academy were fortunate enough to hold Su Dong's hand when they were ball boys. This made them extremely excited. Two of them were even too nervous to speak.

It's hard to get close to Su Dong, even if you want a souvenir or something, that's fine.

They are all a group of ten-year-old children who have played football for many years and admire a star like Su Dong to an unbelievable degree. Naturally, they are all proud of being able to get in touch with Su Dong at close range.

Among this group of children, there was a child who looked thinner than his peers. He had been silently listening to the discussions of the people around him, and seemed very focused. Then he looked in the direction of the first team training. After hesitating for a while, he quietly left the crowd and ran towards the coach's office.

Knock knock knock!
The kid knocked on the office door.

Working inside are two youth training coaches, the head coach of the youth team, former Premier League player Scott Silas.

The other was his assistant, the younger Steve Eyre.

Steve Eyre 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, but after he was injured at the age of 20, he entered the youth training camp and has been working until now.

In addition to being the coach of the youth team, he is usually responsible for other tasks, such as managing the youth team.

"Phil, it's you, what's the matter?" Steve El recognized the future child at a glance.

"Mr. El." The child named Phil walked into the office panting, and came to Steve Er's desk, "Can you let me also participate in the weekend game?"

After hearing this, Steve El and Scott Sellars looked at each other and smiled.

This is not the first player to come to say this. Almost every home game, there will be a group of children rushing to go to the field.

For example, the talented teenager Sterling who just joined this season, he ran to the sidelines of the game to pick up the ball every game. It is said that once again, when Su Dong was celebrating a goal, he ran among the players and celebrated with them.

In return, he promised Silas that he would try his best to play every game, training and competing very hard.

So, it's sort of a reward.

"I'm sorry, Phil, you are late, we are already fully recruited." Scott El said apologetically.

In fact, he is also very optimistic about this kid.

"I know, but there's always a substitute, isn't it? That guy Smith is often late, you know that, what if he's late again?"

"We have substitutes..."

"I know, but I don't think it's enough. I will be very punctual. You ask me to be a substitute!" The child named Phil raised his head and looked at Scott Eyre resolutely. His pair of piercing 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 was 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 and let them watch the game." A cunning flashed in the eyes of the boy named Phil.

Both Scott El and Silas burst out laughing.

Big kid!

"Okay, then I will arrange for you to be a substitute, but there is no guarantee that you will be a caddy, especially Sudong's caddy. This is a very sought-after job!" Scott El could only agree.

For him, this is actually a matter of one sentence.

"Thank you, Mr. El, I will take care of other things myself." The child said confidently.

Scott El and Silas watched the kid turn away, left wondering.

Can he handle it?

(End of this chapter)