Earlier today, 26th November, two youth development trainers

(Andy Smith, Adam Temple) and a manager (Michael Higham) from Manchester United

surprised the boys with a visit and afterwards held a session with them to

educate and empower them.

Having trained many young footballers themselves, the

coaches had a lot of stories to tell and experiences to show that surely

inspired the boys.

Andy Smith has been a UEFA licenced coach for about 15

years. He is the executive manager at the Manchester United Foundation while

Adam Temple has been a UEFA licensed coach since 2012. He is a Manchester

United coach educator as well as the FA national disability coach.

Michael Higham is a relationship manager. He manages the

relationship between Glo Soccer Academy and Manchester United for example.

The session kicked off after

Andy introduced himself and his team to the boys, after which he showed a short

montage of Manchester United’s football history.

He further expatiated on the vision and goals of Manchester

United – “Manchester United is about inspiring people to be the best around the

globe. We develop and train boys on and off the pitch. When we look at a

player, we look at him from four corners’ – Technicality, Physicality,

Psychology and Tactic.

“Firstly, we consider technicality – How a player receives

and passes the ball? Can he shoot? Can he take players on? Are his skills

excellent? How does he play the game? How well does he develop? His reaction

to an opponent.

“Another is physicality – Does he look after himself? Does

he rest at the right time?

“Next is Psychology – Does he have good character?

“And lastly, tactic – We look at the player’s one-on-one

skill, defence and attack. And if he can be better than the opponent?”

After his well-received pep talk and an encouraging video

message from soccer great, Rio Ferdinand to the boys, Andy entertained

questions.

Adamu Aliyu from Lagos, Nigeria asked: “Why have there been

more white than black players in the history of Manchester United?”

Andy Smith: “Manchester United looks for talent from around

the world regardless of colour or where they come from. However Manchester has

a dominant white population and this could explain why there are more whites

than blacks.”

Aminu Muntala from Accra, Ghana asked: “What is the problem

with Man-U’s defence team? It seems to be deteriorating.”

Adam Temple: “We’ve had

players get injured; we’ve also had new players, all of them good. However, we

are still trying to work on the same level of chemistry or partnership the

previous players had that made for a strong defence team and we are getting

there quite fast.”

Adamu Aliyu: “If you had a good player with a bad character

on your hands, how would you take care of this?”

Andy Smith: “Well, it’s a journey. It takes time, patience

and commitment and we try to make sure we work on every player’s attitude so we

don’t have any fighters on the pitch”

Monday Kyagh from Enugu, Nigeria asked: “What is the vision

for young players; can we make it to the 1st team?”

Andy Smith: “Our vision is to train world class talents to

making it to the 1st team but if they can’t, we want to at

least make sure we train them to be world class footballers, fit to play with

any club or team.”

“I’m looking forward what this week’s training with the boys

would be. It would be a fun and educating experience, I’m sure,” Andy said in

conclusion.