The best players do more
During his time as Manchester United’s first team coach, Rene Meulensteen, spoke to Peter Glynn about how to develop skilful young players.
When footballers rise to fame and fortune those who have helped them along the way rarely get to share the limelight.
Ahead of England’s World Cup Qualifier against Poland in October, it made a refreshing change to hear Manchester United midfielder, Tom Cleverley, talk about the significance of his youth team coach. The name he referenced was Rene Meulensteen.
The Dutchman, who is currently Sir Alex Ferguson’s first team coach, joined United as academy skills development coach in 2001. In the club’s own words Meulensteen was brought to Carrington to give United’s young players the ‘armoury to out-manouevere any opponent in any given situation’.
Arriving in Manchester, Meulensteen inherited an eleven-year-old named Tom and a nine-year-old named Danny. Eleven years later, Messrs Cleverley and Welbeck are now established for club and country.
“The players we had at 7, 8 and 9 are coming to the forefront. You can see the players like Danny Welbeck and Tom Cleverley are skilful, [and] in the younger age-groups you can see with players like Larnell Cole that they are all comfortable on the ball,” Meulensteen told The Boot Room.
Meulensteen’s methods have had a significant effect on the development of many of those who have progressed through the Carrington system. Asked where his belief in technical and skill development originated from brings an animated, passionate and direct response from the expressive and affable Dutchman. He also unfurls his rich knowledge of the game’s history.
“You have to understand why the skill element is so important. The top-level shows, for example with Barcelona, that all these players are able to dominate the situation when under pressure.”
“You look at the best teams first and foremost, and within the best teams you find the best players. From the attacking point of view these players have made the difference over decades. They have the ability to make a difference because of their skills.”
You have to understand why the skill element is so important. The top-level shows, for example with Barcelona, that all these players are able to dominate the situation when under pressure
Meulensteen talks vividly about the greats: Pele, Maradona, Johan Cruyff and George Best, and more recently Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. Encouraging young players to emulate such talent is a grand aim, but a big task for eight, nine and ten year olds.
“What I strongly believe in is that you have to create an environment for young kids so that they can become as skilful as they can. That’s the first package you give them, which cannot be done without repetition. So you need to create a repetitive environment,” explained Meulensteen.
Repetition is mentioned throughout and the Dutchman is an advocate of the Coerver method. However, Meulensteen is quick to stress that repetition does not mean that practice should be boring. There’s more to it than a player, a ball and repeating set moves.
“As a coach you have a challenge to create that environment. In my opinion there are three ways of doing it: you can work with players individually; you can blend it in within group sessions – with passing or finishing; or you blend it in within small-sided or conditioned games.”
Meulensteen’s work is closely related to the game and the scenarios which occur.
“There are only four one versus one situations in the game. It depends on where the opponent is coming from: he’s at the side of you, he comes at an angle, he’s behind you or he’s in front of you. You have to give the kids all the skills to go into the skills tool-box.
“The games are there for them to try: 1v1, 2v2, 3v3, 4v4 but also 2v1, 3v2 and 4v3, then there’s decision-making coming in because there’s always somebody to pass to.”
Much of what Meulensteen says is aligned with the principles underpinning The FA’s suite of Youth Award courses. There are similarities too in his approach to intervention and interaction with the very youngest players.
With decision-making you need to let it evolve – don’t really coach that.
"You can create the environment, you set up the practices and then what you need to do is encourage and stimulate. The key words are: experience success. Make sure the kids have success, not failure – they know it has gone wrong, they need to find out why it has gone wrong for next time.”
It is in his last point that the former Brondby manager reveals the importance of teaching players. Coaches must strive to help the players understand how to improve.
He also makes the point that more positional-specific information should be added as players get older – something less important with the younger players.
Asked whether those players that reach the top possess a secret ingredient different to all the rest he agrees: “It’s from within, it’s there,” but there is also equal caution.
“If we go that route it is a very dangerous route. Because then you’re just hoping for that next instinctive player to pop-up. They can get to a high level if you expose them to the sort of environments where they can get skilfully better.”
Meulensteen is in his second-spell at Old Trafford. By the time he left United to join Brondby as manager in 2006, his impact had seen him rise through the academy to lead United’s reserve team.
He returned to Carrington in 2007, again joining the academy ranks before progressing to work as Sir Alex Ferguson’s assistant with the first team. Importantly, his methods always have always remained true to his fundamental principles. Whether he’s been working with eight-year olds or the first-team the focus has been on individual improvement, developing skill and technique.
Continuity is another important aspect to the project. Many of those he now works with in the first-team are the same individuals he has worked with in the academy. The rapport he has developed with the players is what he calls the ‘glue’.
Ronaldo was a very talented boy when he came, but I think he was the player I did the most sessions with individually, because he felt it made him better
It is fascinating to imagine the Dutchman putting in extra work with Paul Scholes or Ryan Giggs, but he insists individual work goes on throughout the club.
“The really top performers in any walk of life and in any sport will embrace it if you can add something to their performance that will make it better.”
“Ronaldo was a very talented boy when he came, but I think he was the player I did the most sessions with individually, because he felt it made him better. What I needed to get into his head was how to become effective to the game.”
It wasn’t long before other members of the squad started to see the improvements and began to look for additional work themselves. The Dutchman began to profile the players, looking at their characteristics both on and off the field. Feedback would focus on both strengths and weaknesses.
“I’d say technically, in your position, these are things I think you should work on and then you go back to the pitch and it's repetition, repetition, repetition.”
In terms of working with top players at the top level you need to be much more specific. You need to find a quicker way to make a connection to the game
At the top-level, relevance is the key ingredient. Meulensteen admits that if the players can’t see the personal benefit they would soon bring the additional work to an end.
“In terms of working with top players at the top level you need to be much more specific. You need to find a quicker way to make a connection to the game.
“It is an absolute excuse to say we have no time for that. I still pick my moments now. I’ll say Chichorito [Hernandez] I want you to stay behind for twenty minutes whilst I work on your first touch; Antonio Valencia I want you to stay behind and work on receiving the ball and beating a defender."
It seems that if others at Carrington were to share the key figures in their own stories, Cleverley wouldn’t be the only one to reference Meulensteen in their own development story.
Rene Meulensteen is currently assistant coach of the Australian national team. Article image courtesy of BPI/REX/Shutterstock.