STATISTICAL CONCLUSIONS
“FC Shakhtar Donetsk recognise the challenge of bringing up professional players and social responsible human beings while achieving very high ambition in domestic and European competitions”
learning paths for providers (coaches, staff, logistics, infrastructure); apply to human beings in your academy; identify talented players; develop them over time. This suggests that there is a conscious or subconscious regular cycle in place, with a system of continuous investment in the environment. › Physical Care and Club Buy-in are covered by 90% of academies, but do not appear in the list of most intercorrelated. On the other hand, Facilities and Professional Connectivity are represented amongst the most intercorrelated processes, but don’t feature in the 90%+ set. Why? It could be that Physical Care and Club Buy-in are accepted as ‘must-haves’ in all club environments; present in all academies, but seen as more stand-alone areas. Similarly, one possible reason why the most widely followed list might not feature processes related to Professional Connectivity and Facilities so highly, is that these areas require significant investment, which means that not everyone can afford to focus on them before solving other more pressing issues. › Why aren’t Quality Areas such as Competition covered as much? It could be that clubs are focusing more on development than on results in their academy, and therefore competitions are not seen as particularly significant. Nevertheless, it is also important
What do the statistics tell us? What are the must-have processes? And could the processes being carried out by the minority actually be seen as the most advanced in the ecosystem?
› To identify the working processes that make a difference for successful academies, you need to define what being a successful academy means to you, and understand that it will create different expectations, strategies and KPIs. This, in turn, might lead to different solutions as to which processes and quality areas to focus on. › For some academies, success means producing as many players as possible for their first team; for others it is realising high transfer fees from academy graduates, or providing the best education for their young players. So what working processes work for some clubs, won’t be as important for others depending on their goals.
› Looking at the working process conducted by more than 85% of club academies, it is clear that most are focused on Talent Identification and Productivity, followed by Cognitive Care and Human Capital. When you consider which working processes are covered by these areas, you recognise a pattern: approach; identify, and sign. Provide whatever is needed for the development of human beings as well as footballers. › Even though Talent Identification, Productivity, Cognitive Care and Human Capital feature in the most intercorrelated processes, there is a small yet significant difference: the order of the first two places are changed, so Human Capital and Cognitive Care come to the fore, and there are also clearer borders between them. › When you look specifically at which working processes are the most intercorrelated there is another clear pattern: provide an environment for the development of players; establish
CONCLUSIONS STATISTICAL
to recognise that if clubs can provide better levels of competition to their players, it should also have a positive effect on their individual and collective development.
69
YOUTH FOOTBALL 2021-23
Made with FlippingBook flipbook maker