Background: In 2013, I first visited PSG (just as our friend Morad was taking on his new job as Coaching Director of the Female side of the club). In 2014, two of our players, Jesse and Claire Bareilles, spent 2 weeks at PSG training with youth teams…and moving up the food chain until their final day, a scrimmage (in full pro Academy uniform) with members of the u19 professional squad.
This year, I stayed an entire week with Morad and his family, and immersed myself in as many aspects of the Academy as I could. This was (for me) a fact finding mission, a compare-contrast exercise(“What are we doing right at Samoa? What areas need to be improved?”), and a chance to build significantly upon our relationship with one of Europe’s most prestigious soccer clubs.
PSG (pronounced “Pareee-San-Germann”) was formed in 1970, and have played in Ligue 1 since 1974. This year the Men’s team did the TRIPLE (see photo) in France – winning the Ligue, the Cup, and the League Cup. No club had ever achieved that feat in 120 years!
The youth Academy is in the leafy (in fact quite heavily forested) district of St Germain-en-Laye. Louis XIV has a chateau here, but he decided it was too small (it isn’t!) and had Versailles built instead. The town truly is a bit of “historic France” and is 20 miles west of central Paris. Debussy and the painter Maurice Denis are among the artistic “alums” of this famous old town.
The youth Academy has 3 Turf Fields for training, and 1-2 grass fields (for games). The facilities are outdated (I have seen better setups at big CA clubs, such as the Pleasanton Rage), but are soon to be replaced with a truly MASSIVE multi-million Euro complex close by. The plans call for Hotels, swimming pools, gymnasiums, whirlpools etc. etc…and they broke ground on it during the week I was in residence; projected timeline: 2 years.
PSG YOUTH PROGRAMMING.
Ther are no serious programs before 7 yrs. of age. There are programs for 8 and 9 year olds that are heavily based upon “dribbling” and 3 v 3 games. By age u11, there are more serious 10-month programs for boys and girls. The club runs A and B teams in each age (and in some cases a “C”). It is important to note that ANY kid who can find a ride or get on a bus from ANY district of Paris will be placed on a team. Soccer is not the somewhat “affluent’ sport that it is here, and indeed, many players come from some of the tough ghetto areas of Paris. It costs $200 for the year. That’s it….all the travel /training/tournaments etc. are paid out of the Academy budget from the PSG parent club…which is to say several MILLION euros a year!
By age 13-15, the squads become “invitation only”, particularly with regard to the A-teams. Achieving high scores on both fitness and skills testing is necessary to move on, as is a “serious attitude” and “coachability”. By age 17, the very best are invited to turn PRO (or rather pre-pro) where they are paid as much as 5000Euro a month as a u-19.
PSG has no less than TEN (10) women players at the World Cup.PSG Academy has produced at least FIVE (5) of the current women’s pro team(this is actually a very high number for Academies in general).
COACHES: All coaches are highly qualified (each team has 2 plus an SC trainer) and the coaches range in age from 20 to 60 years. There are separate Goalkeeper Trainers and the keepers train apart from their teams until the last 20 minutes of a practice.
PLAYERS: They come from all parts of Paris (rich and poor). Many families move closer to town just so their daughter can attend PSG. All players show much DISCIPLINE (very little goofing off) and DEDICATION. Traffic in Paris is horrendous (an hour to travel 20 miles). Many players travel 90 minutes each way just to get to a practice.
Case Study: “Sophie” is a u-11. She dreams of playing for France. She trains twice a week with her own group, once a week with an older (girls) group and 1-2 times more with the boys of her age. (Note: at this age each team has only 2 mandatory session a week, but by u14 that has risen to 3, and for u17 A-team training is up to 4 sessions- plus games on most weekends). Sophie looks (to me) like a great defender, and although she does not look “comfortable” in attacking positions, she does get rotated into offence quite often. She would be a starter (but not necessarily the “star” of our u12 team).
Each player is tested on both fitness and skills tests (see also end of year evaluation period). Her coach fills out a report card with words like “Comportement”, “Respecte” and “Mentalitee serieuse”. Tests include 10 and 20-metre dash, the FIFA “obstacle course”, the Beep Test and the Cooper Run (for older players) which is the famous 2miles-in-12 minutes benchmark test.
Sophie’s (not her real name) skill test scores:
Right Foot (“monkey juggle”): 32 (50 is the max score)
Left Foot (ditto): 11 (50 max)
Head Juggle: 9 (20 max)
Shooting(both feet): points awarded for power, technique and accuracy (up to 30 points)
Note: by age 15 anyone on the “A” team would score 130+ on the above test (out of 150 max)
PRACTICES (“Entrainments”)
Each practice is 90 minutes. Each practice has a very clear THEME. There are more practices on passing and 2-touch than any other thing. It was surprising to see 10 and 11 year old boys taking AWFUL throw ins because –apparently- they don’t spend much time on them! The emphasis is always on doing it (technique) RIGHT…then quicker…and quicker.
Often the skill drills are done in isolation (no defender except a flag or cone) and are done for LONG periods…longer than most California kids would “tolerate”
(editorial comment).
“If I allow you to do it wrong, then a bad habit will become ingrained in your feet and brain instead of a good one”. This was a very common theme among the coaches when addressing their players on the importance of fundamentals.
By u16 and u19 the BALL SPEED in passing drills was quite amazing.
Coaches are held in the highest respect (like teachers). There is little or no goofball behavior during the 90 minutes.
SCRIMMAGE TIME
Each practice ends with a 20 minute game- usually 8 v 8 across a half field. The captains-for-the-day (usually Big Sisters from older teams) often make the line-ups and the coaches say NOTHING during these game periods. At the weekend both A and B teams play in Paris-based youth leagues, and several times a year the A teams will travel to high level Tournaments (Portugal, Spain, Holland etc.), where all expenses are covered by the club.
PROMOTION/RETENTION of PLAYERS
At the end of each year a meeting takes place to decide whether to keep players (see “test scores”) or move them up or down a level. By age 14-15 the designated level “A” has become very competitive: poor work habits, low test scores, or even “difficulties at school” can result in a player not being invited back, or dropped to the B –team.
Morad’s phone rings at least 5 times a day with a girl (or parent) asking for a place at PSG. One girl called four times from the Caribbean island of Guadaloupe…but she was too late for the 2016 intake.
Case Study: a 15 or 16 year old girl called “Marie-Claire” (not her real name) was called in to a meeting with Morad, her 2 coaches, and an administrator. Her (affluent and “influential”) parents were also present. It was almost 1030 at night. I watched them read over the report card(see “Test scores etc.”) and tell them she could stay at the club but that she was not being accepted onto the pro-track (u17). The parents protested, the girl was sobbing, but the “numbers” (on the test scores) did not lie. In the very next meeting, I watched as a (much poorer) girl explained- with utter determination in her features- that her parents were willing to relocate their apartment to an area much closer to PSG.
PARENTS: parents have almost zero influence at PSG. They are expected to watch without interfering, and are not allowed within 30m of the practice fields. When meetings are held, the Coaches speak directly to the player, not the parent…and they expect the player, by age 14, to be able to speak up for herself.
AMERICANS AT PSG
PSG is very open to players “dropping in” to train. They also recruit girls/women from all over the world (Sweden, Costa Rica, Germany, USA etc. etc.). In his time as Director, Morad has established strong ties with the French-American schools in SFO, with Mill Valley and Petaluma soccer clubs, and of course with AC SAMOA! During my visit, I acted, in some small ways, as greeter, translator, and chaperone for 4 California players (ages 8, 9, 11 and 12). They all had a fabulous time, were well received by the children/youth of PSG, and were able to quickly assimilate the training sessions- which were remarkably similar to those taught by high level US coaches. Note: the 8 year old Goalkeeper (he looks 12!) from Mill Valley was a huge hit.
Whilst the “American kids” had some mature aspects to their scrimmage play that showed very well in their age groups, it is also true that there were areas of FUNDAMENTALS (“OK now please can you do this exercise on your left foot please”) that showed a clear TECHNICAL GAP that will only get bigger by age 18 if left uncorrected. For these players there is much “boring and repetitive” practice of fundamentals that would be required of them to make it to the A-team in the older cohorts (see “Test scores” etc.).
On another (tech-tact) note, France is famous for producing superlative “Number 10s” or creative playmakers/attacking midfielders. Many of the passing-and-pattern exercises that I observed over the week were clearly set up to cater to the “next generation” of playmakers, and in all scrimmages it was obvious that a #10 (often a guest player/big sister) was ‘running the game’.
COMPARE & CONTRAST: a selection of areas of common ground.
Editorial: I was (secretly) pleased to note the following areas, both large and small, where this type of (dollar-intensive) program is not so very different from our Academy clubs here in CA.
1 The CA players at age 10-11-12 were in the top 12 players (which is to say A-team material) in the practices that I observed. Jesse and Claire Bareilles will no doubt tell you how much harder it was to “hang” with the A-team at u17 and u19 (but not impossible).
2 At the tail end of a very long season, the soccer balls and pinnies at PSG were, to tell the truth, looking a little bit worn and shabby like ours!
3 Their less proficient coaches were no better or worse than ours. Their SC program was, as far as I could tell in a one week visit as the club was winding down for summer, quite possibly inferior to our program provided by Andy Salatnay and Fit Nor Cal.
4 They use a HUGE amount of the same soccer curriculum and even precisely the same drills as we do.
5 Their 11 and 12 year olds were quite weak on their “left foot”- and tried to “avoid” using it.
6 PSG has 3 or 4 venues spread out all over Paris. The logistics of getting to games and practices are quite horrendous for some. Sound familiar?
7 I saw players making lots of the same mistakes that our players make, and their coaches using VERBATIM the same corrections that we use
“Jamais une passe en plat Jerome” (“Never pass it square Jerome”)
8 They use demonstrations, cones, flags, and “freeze” moments, just like us. It’s not some computer-generated high-tech training environment: it’s FUNDAMENTALS done RIGHT, and then done FASTER (speed of play).
9 Many of their girls (and boys) struggle with Academics. In some cases this is because they attend rough schools in rough neighbourhoods. However, as Morad points out, it is often these kids who are the most ‘hungry’ for soccer success.
FINAL THOUGHTS
It was extremely beneficial for me(as the clubs Coaching Director - Technical Director) to see how a pro club(with a staggeringly generous youth budget) does things at EVERY AGE LEVEL. I can confidently state that:
A. AC Samoa is on the right path.
B. You do not need to spend $1000’s elsewhere. To improve player prospects, a rigorous and well qualified skills trainer can be engaged (long term) for a fraction of the cost of (one time only) “clinics and camps” offered elsewhere.
C. If money is not a major obstacle, and the idea of a SOCCER VACATION IN PARIS excites you, the door is wide open at PSG for a superb experience.
D. US Kids at age 11-12 are very competitive with their French counterparts. By age 18, however, it is my considered opinion that European players are better prepared, and equipped for (possibly) functioning at a pre-pro level.
E. The American premise that “University comes first and soccer second” is (by far) the wisest for all but the tiny tiny percentage who can actually make it to the pros.
F. US players sometimes expect to be “entertained”. They (and their parents) often gravitate towards “buddy” coaches, “fun” coaches or “laid back” coaches.
The French, on the other hand, expect strictness, a certain “standoffishness” and of course lots and lots of rigorous corrections and re-directs on basics (and work habits) from their instructors.
Editorial: this is the culture that I strive for at AC Samoa, with allowances made for cultural differences (etc.) but not to the detriment of lots of hard work, unexciting repetitions (see “learning a good habit”) and (ultimately) RESULTS in terms of player development.
VISION FOR THE FUTURE
I see AC Samoa teams (and guests) traveling to Paris for training and tournaments.
I see more PSG coaches traveling here (they adore the idea of visiting California!)
I see one or two very special AC Samoa players who may (one day) choose to live and train a year or two in Paris(as Piakai Henkel did).
I see PSG greatly expanding its “brand” and “image” here in CA.
CONCLUSION
On my final day at PSG I sat in the dugout observing an under 19 (mini-pro and A team) girls scrimmage game. It was UNBELIEVABLY FAST(ball speed rather than “player speed” although they were all QUICK). It was, in fact, so fast that many errors occurred from “trying to play too fast”. There were a number of “desperate” challenges (two of which led to injuries) in what was, after all, a meaningless end of year practice game. Several of the u19s on the field were already on the 5000 Euros per month pro starting salary.
I met with the coach of the PSG Women’s team. I got my photo taken with the historic 4 Cups won by Ibrahimović and the Men’s team. PSG is, quite possibly, the richest football club in the world. They are 100% focused on winning both the Men’s and Women’s Champions League in the near future.
It is an honour for AC Samoa, and for that matter any club in California, to be associated with such a huge professional club in Europe.
BRING ON THE FUTURE!
