Massimiliano Allegri gave a rant about youth football during his press conference on Friday, and AC Milan Futuro coach Massimo Oddo has also picked out faults.
During his press conference before the Torino game, Allegri was asked about issues with Italian football, and he quickly began to look at the youth systems in place in the country, citing it as one of the bigger issues that Italy faces.
Read SempreMilan ad-free and get access to exclusive news. Click here for a free trial!
“We need to fix the youth sectors, find different formulas. But don’t talk, we need to do! And make decisions. I’ll end now, I’ll become polemical. I think numbers should be shown for all the youth sectors.
“These numbers should be brought out. We need to worry because so many kids who play football stop early and go to play tennis. To get to the Sinners, there’s a lot of work behind it. You have to be careful. Those who understand the youth sector just need to make some reforms.”
It is certainly not an unpopular view, too, and many would suggest that the importance of youth football anywhere has a big role to play in the development of youngsters.
Oddo’s thoughts
Someone who knows the youth game extensively is Oddo, who now coaches the Futuro side, and he spoke to FanPage, via MilanNews, about the issues.
“Training used to consist mostly of small games and coordination work. Today, coordination work is rarely done and isn’t given much importance, but it’s crucial: if you’re not coordinated, you won’t reach the highest levels in any sport.
“Then today I see coaches on social media teaching seven-year-olds how to build from the back. It’s crazy. Up to a certain age, you need to develop instinct and individual characteristics. Once upon a time, there were educators; today, there are coaches.
“Coaches were for the first teams or for 17-18-year-olds. Before, however, there were people who helped you develop talent. Today, you see seven-year-olds being taught how to build from the back. It’s a huge mistake.”
Enough talk, start to fix the problem, and instill in the younger kids about the job of a footballer, which is to entertain. Winning comes secondary for them; their joy should be to entertain.