Interview: Manchester United Soccer Schools coach Dave Chapman at the Airtel Rising Stars Finals

Manchester United Soccer Schools Coach Dave Chapman

Airtel Rising Stars 2013-14, India’s largest under-16 soccer talent hunt and an initiative launched by Bharti Airtel to provide young talented footballers the chance-of-a-lifetime to train at the Manchester United Soccer School, today concluded its six-month hunt and handpicked 11 talented children who will travel to the United Kingdom and train at the prestigious school.

23 selected participants from 7 cities took part in the two-day final trials in Goa where the young players were judged on technical and tactical skill, physical and mental strength, social skills, on field behaviour, communication, discipline, enthusiasm and fair play. The two-day final trials took place under the guidance of Manchester United Soccer School coaches Lami Sonola, Kevin O’Connell, Dave Chapman and Adam Hilton.

Sportskeeda managed to get a hold of coach Dave Chapman for a chat about the trials in India, and everything else related to Manchester United, their Foundation initiative and the academy structure.

Could you please describe your role with Manchester United?

I have been working with the Manchester United Foundation for about 7 years now. As part of the foundation, we focus on many programs, a couple of which are the Hub Community program and the Street Reds initiative. The Hub Community program involves us reaching out to different communities, to try and engage hard to reach children. Initially the program saw us working with different schools for 6 weeks. But now it is a 3-year focused project where we work to establish Hubs across the greater Manchester area (9 thriving Hubs exist now which involve children from about 6 primary schools).

What sort of coaching is offered in the Hubs? Is it specific to football only?

The Foundation’s objective with the Hub initiative is to help children achieve their full potential. As part of the program, children are provided education coaches, who put them through leadership programs, apart from football coaching. The training definitely has football coaching provided, but this program is aimed at helping children achieve whatever they want, and so it is designed to help them deal with social aspects and psychological issues out in the real world.

Could you please share with us your experience of having worked with the Manchester United Academy?

The Manchester United Academy is one of the premier training facilities in the world. Primarily run during the evenings and the weekends, children are taken in at the very young age of 8 and they go through what is called the Development Center for 3 years. Throughout these 3 years, the kids are taken through a lot of 1 vs 1, 2 vs 2, 3 vs 3 games to hone their technique. The focus is on a lot of repetition, primarily to reinforce what they have learnt, and to ingrain that into them.

So what is the focus of the coaching in the initial few years at the Academy?

All the coaching initially is centered around player development, as that is foremost in our minds. The kids need an environment where they are not afraid to make mistakes. Most of the training involves ball work for everyone including the goalkeepers, as goalkeeper distribution is treated with great importance at United, as you have seen with David De Gea. The most important aspect is to let them commit their own mistakes and develop their technique, as that is the most important factor to making it as a football player.

What is the right age for getting the kids in? And how do you look for the best kids around?

Ideally, it is best to get the kids in as young as possible. However, there are also late bloomers, who get into academies at the age of 15-16, and still develop into very good professional football players. Manchester United has an extensive scouting network, one that employs a lot of people. The scouts do both – follow local tourneys and games with a lot of focus, and go around the world, trying to look for the best young talent.

How is the decision taken to allow a player to step up a level in the academy age groups? Does it involve the first team coaches?

The academy coaches call the shots. They give their opinions to the first team coaches, who keep an eye on the progress of the kids. Similarly, player stay and release from the academy is also overseen completely by the academy coaches.

Could you describe the ideal Manchester United academy graduate?

Comfortable on the ball, has the ability to express himself, is willing to learn, and has the right attitude and work ethic that runs through the fabric of the entire club. Prime examples would be Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs.

How are the coaching responsibilities distributed among all the coaches?

We have a standard system, a head coach and assistant coaches. All the coaches work together while running the sessions, and are involved completely in planning and organizing the sessions. It helps to have a couple of people doing the same sort of roles, as they can then challenge one another, as their continuous development is what is reflected by the development of their players.

Top 11 Airtel Rising Stars with the MUSS Coaches

How has your experience been at the Airtel Rising Stars Finals here in Goa? Are you encouraged by what you see?

It has been a truly enjoyable experience so far. The finals are an opportunity for these kids to showcase their talent, and that is exactly what they are doing. What has impressed me the most is that the approach to playing the game shown by the kids is very nice. What I mean by that is the fact that they are not afraid to try skills, or to try and get past the defender, or to pick out the perfect pass. They are very raw, uninhibited, and that is very crucial.

For example, look at Ronaldo. He was the same when he came to United, unafraid to try the stepovers, the dribbles. What is important is the fact that he was willing to work hard to turn all that potential into greatness.

What would you prescribe for the participants of the Finals here for the future?

Play as often as you can, for fun. They have great commitment and attitude, and that should stand them in good stead in the long run. They of course need more education in terms of all the details of the game, so that they can improve their understanding of the game. But all that will come in the future. What they need is continuous investment, so that the kids get an environment which encourages them to go out and play without any inhibition.

In England for example, the kids sometimes get over-coached at a very young age, and they then try to play the same way all the time. Sometimes that just makes the difference, having that freedom to express yourselves.

Finally, before we sign off, a quick question on Manchester United and their form this season. As someone who follows United very closely, I believe they will turn the corner and get back to the top following this transition, which is where they belong. Is that feeling something that is reflected by people at the club too?

Of course! The club is 100% sure that we are on the right track. That has always been reflected in our day to day work, and everyone at the club is completely behind David Moyes, as we know he is the right man for the job.

Thank you Dave for your time.

Thank you, Sportskeeda. It was a pleasure.