Popular Post Louis Posted February 20, 2014 Popular Post Report Share Posted February 20, 2014 http://m.premierleague.com/en-gb/news/article.barcelona-trip-enriches-everton-futsal-journey.html Everton's Director of Academy Alan Irvine was so impressed by a trip to watch Barcelona's futsal players that he has expanded the five-a-side sport to all junior age-groups from the Under-13s down. "Played at the highest level futsal is game of constant passing, receiving, movement and counter-attacking," he told Premierleague.com. "There are many benefits that I can see." Their open-minded approach has helped Everton's cause as they seek to impose an expansive footballing philosophy that filters all the way down from Roberto Martinez’s first-team to the Foundation stage. When the Spaniard joined the Goodison club last summer Irvine was keen to get his thoughts on the burgeoning sport. "I spoke to Roberto and asked him about futsal and what his experiences were," said Irvine. "Not only was he supportive of it but he thought it a good idea for us to experience a mature futsal set-up and for us to learn more. So he put me in touch with Marc Carmona, the manager of Barcelona’s futsal side, and Marc was happy to help. We took a couple of youth-team coaches and went out to watch their boys in action. "Barcelona looked after us brilliantly and we came back absolutely convinced that there were skills that were transferable to the eleven-a-side game. We decided that we would run the programme for some of the older ages as well. So now our Under-12s and Under-13s also play futsal." Irvine confesses that his appreciation of the sport was limited when he left for Spain, but by the time his four-day recce mission was over, the former Everton winger was much the wiser for his visit. "What I saw was how players developed from the very youngest ages, where there were certain techniques and skills that they had to develop to the game played at the highest level, which is a game that is really about passing and movement," he said. "The movement is terrific, as is the ability to pass and receive the ball, and at the younger ages there are more one v one situations which is something that we look for. Played at the highest level futsal is game of constant passing, receiving, movement and counter-attacking. So there are many benefits that I can see." "That's what jumped out at me: when you think that to make the grade in the Premier League you need to have that mentality of reacting quickly and winning the ball back as soon as possible. Then, when you have it, keeping possession of the ball is paramount because you don't want to be chasing it all the time. Futsal encourages those facets of the game." The preconception that the Barcelona boys would insist on keeping the ball on the floor was also flawed. The absence of a head-height rule encourages all manner of inventive passing, and no-one shied away from a high ball. "We found the ball was in the air a lot more than we expected," he said. "That made for different types of aerial passes, which in turn forced different types of ball control. They did not necessarily have to beat a man with a dribble, they looked for other ways to get through such as the scooped ball over someone's head and a first-time finish. "In one-v-one situations, there was a lot more combination play and a lot of creativity. We thought, 'If we can give those little bits to the player to help improve his awareness and creativity, then great.' We found there were a lot of benefits gleaned from the trip, and we've seen those benefits reflected in the lads playing it at the moment." Irvine does not claim that futsal is the magic ingredient for creating an army of exceptional homegrown players but believes it to be an important factor to complement the other elements of the academy's coaching programme for the younger age groups. "We're certainly in favour of it and we're working and running with it just now as a part of our curriculum for our age groups from Under-13s down," he says. "We're not saying that this is it and everything's going to be perfect from now on and why didn't we do it before. The fact is we have to do a lot of other things as well. But the trip to Barcelona convinced me that there were more things that were transferable than what I initially thought." Steve_E, Lowensda, Romey 1878 and 2 others 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve_E Posted February 20, 2014 Report Share Posted February 20, 2014 Good move I think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lowensda Posted February 20, 2014 Report Share Posted February 20, 2014 Agreed, it can only benefit. Would love a proper Futsal league in England, Everton to lead the way! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bailey Posted February 20, 2014 Report Share Posted February 20, 2014 Sounds good! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sibdane Posted February 20, 2014 Report Share Posted February 20, 2014 Positive move. I'm really liking the greater emphasis on youth lately. We've always had an excellent academy, but it's nice to see that we are trying to make it even better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Nikica Posted February 21, 2014 Report Share Posted February 21, 2014 This is great news for your club. Futsal is a wonderful game - I've watched it on TV and read into it, it's brilliant for developing technique. For a while there I flirted with trying out for a Futsal club too, but it was all the way up in Aberdeen so it never developed beyond a desire. Futsal is fantastic though and this is a great step in the right direction. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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