Following a partnership between the MLS and La Liga (Spain), on top of a partnership already established with the Fédération Française de Football, MLS Academy directors and coaches with the EFCL (Elite Football Coaching Licence) licence have the opportunity to further their formation with a 10-day program, during which educators will visit well-known academies in world soccer. They will share information with coaches and sporting directors from big international clubs on topics like youth development, scouting and athletic development.
The Academy director Philippe Eullaffroy is representing the Montreal Impact.
Here is his diary.
Sunday, May 14
We leave for Monaco to meet some of their academy staff, watch a U19 game and the Monaco-Lille clash in Ligue 1.
I’ll start with this: Monaco is beautiful.
It’s a particular club in the French soccer landscape. It’s a city / state with 30,000 inhabitants that aims to compete with the biggest European clubs through its financial strength (royal family and owner), a strong sense of belonging and its scouting and development expertise.
We start the day with a coffee in the academy cafeteria, with a view on a suspended field where Monaco’s kids are playing.
Following this, Bertrand Reuzeau, the academy director, presents the technical and methodological development project.
For them, their CFA team is used to give playing time to their best players, since they quickly make the jump from U19 to the pro team.
Reuzeau came from PSG to refresh ASM’s development philosophy.
Their teams have a simple play style, building with the ball on the ground and finding the gaps quickly. The possession is never too long and a maximum of players are implicated offensively.
They also have a high school and study time adapts according to training.
Monaco doesn’t have a huge commercial potential, so it is important for them to sell their homegrown players.
Then, we meet Maxime Coulerot, in charge of performance and fitness preparation at AS Monaco.
Maxime elaborated his athletic approach in 2013 after experimenting in 2012-13 at PSG. He tells us about the athletic micro cycle that he puts in place. There are never two consecutive sessions of the same type, in order to reduce chances of injury.
They also have a nutritionist who works with the pros and the academy.
With their GPS, they see how much energy each player spends, which influences the work of the nutritionist, who then prepares individual nutrition programs.
Between conferences, I go see the field and take my bearings for tonight’s game against Lille. I’ll have a great game and I think I will score…and then I wake up, and listen to Juanjo Morillas, the club’s nutritionist.
75% of his work is in the education. He wants to make sure the players are independent by making them understand why good nutrition gives them more chances to be good.
After this, we meet with Gregory Six, in charge of development projects. Here are some of the projects the club is working on:
- New training facilities / stadium renovation
- Fan experience
- Commercial information system and also to manage players
AS Monaco will also build a place for their youth, with 80 rooms and studios, a cafeteria and a school.
We leave in the afternoon to watch the U19 game against Béziers. It was a 20-minute ride in traffic, the Monaco equivalent of the Metropolitan boulevard, towards Menton.
AS Monaco is qualified for the playoffs semifinals and Béziers will go down. Monaco plays only two of its usual starters to give some playing time to the younger players. Their U19s will win easily.
After the game, we go back to be ready for Monaco-Lille at night.
We eat at the hotel beside Stade Louis II with a view on the yachts at the marina. We met some ex-players, like Daniel Bravo, and coaches, like Paul LeGuen.
Lille players go into the bus to go to the stadium…65 metres from there.
The atmosphere is really good with dynamic and noisy ultras. After 20 minutes, we all notice a player doing well for Monaco. Everyone there calls him Kiki. My American colleagues had fun trying to pronounce his name: M’Bappé. Soccer is an art, and M’Bappé is an actor, sculptor, painter, singer, writer and dancer!
Monaco wins easily and clinches the French title. As for us, we are now on our way to Aix-en-Provence.
