Schalke have a proud history of producing footballers. Manuel Neuer, Benedikt Höwedes, Ilkay Gündogan, Mesut Özil, Max Meyer, Julian Draxler and Leroy Sané have all emerged from the Knappenschmiede academy. To understand why the club has brought through so many young players, you need to know a little about Gelsenkirchen’s social history.
“After the second world war, a whole mixture of cultures and backgrounds arrived to work in the region’s coal mines – such as Polish, Italian and Turkish people,” says Peter Knäbel, the man in charge of the academy. “We’re now reaping the benefits of that as the children of hard-working parents with contrasting instincts and mentalities come here and we have a fantastic melting pot.”
“We’re such a fortunate generation to have lived in a period of freedom for more than 70 years now – this wasn’t the case on two occasions – because of us both times. Now, how can we talk about the stereotypical ‘German mentality’ when the player born just 200 meters away is called Ahmed Kutucu?”
Outside on the pitch, sessions for the under-nines are underway. Every player has a ball for the opening 30 minutes, before they progress to a large, possession-based game with a goal in each corner for 10 minutes. The youngsters are then beckoned into a 20-meter square and ordered to keep the ball moving in groups of four. Instructions of “two touch” are followed by “now stay on it and dribble” as players are challenged to react to the commands.
The coaches are wary of telling the young players too much. “We don’t want coaches to give too much tactical instruction to the kids under the age of 14,” says Knäbel. “We talk about timing here and want the kids to think ‘when’ and ‘what’. So 4-4-2 and 3-5-2 don’t matter until you’re 14. The kids must learn to understand the games themselves. We let them play and, trust me, the result is always a part of our education – if an under-nines coach says that winning doesn’t matter, then just look into the eyes of the kids. They’re upset when they lose but the coach should never, ever be more upset than the kids.
“The reality is: this is sport, we play to win and we want to develop winners. You can develop a winner. We want kids to know when the decisive moments are and for them to be successful in moments of pressure – whether that’s knowing what to do in defense or attack.”
For the remainder of the 90-minute training session, the players move from exercise to exercise. Each activity varies in size, intensity and the physical demand it places on the players. There is a real fun element as coaches constantly test players with conflicting demands. No single exercise lasts longer than 20 minutes.
“We educate our coaches on whether they need to give advice or an objective to players. We need sessions and coaches to be flexible, but with clear principles. Remember, we’ve had the likes of Joël Matip and also Leroy Sané come through this system. You couldn’t find two more differing people or players.
“Coaches are the key to everything. If you have one good coach, then you have 18 good players. We study the coaches as both people and professionals before we assign them to a group. Look at Barcelona, Ajax and the top academies around the world, they have the same consistent messages and philosophies right from under-nines through to under-19s. That’s what we do here.”
We watch on as the under-17 and under-19 teams are put through their paces below the misty skies tainted by the nearby power station. Sessions run like clockwork and even rest periods are timed to the millisecond. Coaches stand over an intense 4v2 rondo, glaring with intensity. They do not need to utter a word as their presence alone screams authoritative messages. Knäbel says: “This is just the same as what the young kids were doing, but without the running; no child comes here to exercise. They’re always on the ball, working on technique and decision-making when they’re physically fatigued – as that’s when decisive moments occur.”
As the rondos and sprints turn into games, the coaches now bark tactical guidance, correcting body shapes and defensive presses before falling into silence for minutes at a time before intervening again. Players are added in and taken out of sessions and pitch-sizes are regularly altered – both increasing and decreasing the intensity of play as coaches pine for flexible players who can readjust and find solutions in different scenarios.
As the sessions wrap up, under-17 coach Frank Fahrenhorst tells me how important it is that players and staff have good personal relationships. “As coaches, we are responsible for teaching the players about responsibilities and discipline. This is our duty and it requires a specific supporting programme so that the boys can develop as people and learn independence, both on and off the pitch.”
Knäbel agrees, pointing to the club’s relationship with the Gesamtschule Berger Feld school, where players are educated while they train at Knappenschmiede. “Kutucu played for the first team last night and he’ll graduate in March. We place a huge importance on education and developing good people as well as good players. If the programme is running correctly, you get both. Coaches need to have interest in kids and their wellbeing, so we have regular contact with parents and schools. You can’t just concentrate on the pitch.”
“The game has become an industry and I shouldn’t complain as it has given me this job, but new football makes it difficult to understand the world. My brother works at an amateur club in the 13th tier of German football, with only 18 kids in the youth system and just one pitch for everyone. We need to prepare our kids at Schalke to go into the real world as they’ll probably end up playing in my brother’s league, as only 0.001% can go on to play for Manchester City.”
(The Guardian)
