Creating footballers of the future the AZ way

20 DEC 2016 2.00 pm

[photo]

For the past two years, Dutch football club AZ Alkmaar has been
awarded the annual prize for the Best Youth Academy in the
Netherlands. Young AZ leads the semi-professional Second Division,
the third rung in the Dutch footballing pyramid, by a mile. Dutch
football magazine Voetbal International (VI) was granted full access
to the AFAS training complex in Wijdewormer, a hamlet north of
Amsterdam, to discover the secret of the AZ youth programme. This
is a story about an ambitious club striving to catch up with the elite
clubs in the Eredivisie, the Dutch top flight, by being smarter than
others and innovative.
TEXT: PIETER ZWART

‘Okay, lads. Is there something else we should do to perform to the best of our
abilities?’ Having spoken these words, Jeroen Peetoom (29) gets ready to leave the
changing room. The trainer of AZ’s Under-13s is immediately called to order by his
pupils. ‘May we first visualise?’, ask the talented eleven- and twelve-year-olds with one
voice. When Peetoom gives his approval, the youth players all close their eyes and
then cover them with their hands just to be sure. This sight lasts a minute. The next
step is to get into groups and then comes an enthusiastic shout. Only then may the
match against the U14s of a local club, AFC ‘34, begin.

A couple of weeks prior, a video clip of a

similar sight at AZ’s U16s went viral. In
that recording the moment of
visualisation was supported by the well-
known sounds of UEFA’s Champions
League hymn. The reactions to these “Trainings are made so complex
images were extremely varied in the
conservative world of football. Some
that matches feel like an easy
people cheered the initiative, but just as task”
often the ritual was the butt of jokes.
Does this play-acting really help players
become better? Does AZ actually think
that in this way the first team can win
more matches in the long term?
[video]

Such questions were also posed by Robert Franssen (30), when last summer he
moved from De Graafschap, a football club in the eastern part of the country, to AZ. At
the first match where the youth trainer of AZ’s U15s sat in the away team’s dugout, his
players asked of their own accord whether they had his permission to visualise.
Franssen’s response was sceptical and then went on to watch his charges cut to
shreds in a 5-0 loss. ‘Then I let the team know what I thought about visualisation. The
next match they would be permitted to visualise again, but in the match analysis I
certainly emphasised that the desire to win is the basis [for success]. Did it work?
We lost again, but in any case not by such a large margin,’ he recounts, laughing at
the memory. ‘Since then I understand that visualisation is a means to finding the
balance between relaxation and activation before a match. This is merely a device
from our mental preparation plan to get our players in the optimum state for
performing. This way we offer, incidentally, more skills, of which visualisation is but
one. We believe it’s important that players find out what works well for them in order to
prepare yourself optimally.’

That is also what Peetoom notes when walking onto the pitch for the friendly against
AFC. ‘Your players are the ones who ask for it. The first time that we did it with this
group was at a major tournament where we took on Chelsea. That was, of course, very
exciting for the lads, and they experienced at that time that they were more focused
thanks to visualisation.’ Since then the talented players don’t want to do without it. That
being said, Peetoom is the first to put that into perspective. ‘We beat Chelsea.
Needless to say, that helps. Then it becomes superstition.’

That AZ has a detailed programme to allow youth players to develop those aspects
that work for them in preparation for a match is typical for the youth academy. Within
the walls of the AFAS training complex, an initiative is almost never considered mad.
The only condition is that it has to be viable. Possible mockery from the outside world
is simply put up with.

During the weekly trainers’ meeting on Monday morning, cognitive learning is the
newest initiative to come up for discussion. At the meeting no-one is in fact surprised
when in addition to traditional footballing terminology reference is made to terms [from
other disciplines] such as prefrontal cortex, implicit learning, neurolinguistic
programming, limbic system and SWOT analysis. It is expected of AZ’s youth trainers
that they become familiar with this scientific knowledge and apply it to specific activities
to help players develop further. For instance, Peetoom explains how during a training
he had defenders hold onto tennis balls, so that it was more difficult for players to
maintain their balance and to stop opponents by briefly tugging on their shirts. This
illustrates the core thought behind cognitive learning. Trainings are made so complex
that matches feel like an easy task. And that whilst the brain continues to learn
subconsciously.

NOT INNOVATION BUT RATHER INTEGRATION

Paul Brandenburg (Head of AZ’s Youth Academy) and Marijn Beuker (Head of
Performance & Development) jointly provide direction to the optimisation of AZ’s Youth
Academy. These two completely different individuals were put forward in November
2015 when Aloys Wijnker, Brandenburg’s predecessor, opted for an adventure with the
United States Soccer Federation. Beuker (32) is the intuitive thinker of the two. He
makes no secret of his admiration for former Apple pioneer Steve Jobs. His dream is to
direct a European elite club and to win the Champions League. ‘Because you always
have to strive for the highest goal.’ Brandenburg (39) is the planner and team player.
Where Beuker thinks about how AZ can be better tomorrow than today, Brandenburg
tries to organise things to go better today than yesterday.

AN AZ PLAYER DEFINED
AZ strives to develop players who meet the requirements of a number of pillars. Each
training moment is focused on these pillars. To that end, an extensive programme has
been compiled with know-how from science and the experience of trainers and former
players. Whereas the programme is decisive, trainers and specialists have the
freedom to determine their own path within this framework.

AZ develops players who...

1. understand the game;

2. are able to make their own choices;
3. are technically and physically in optimum shape;
4. are focused 24/7 on peak performance;
5. have a strong personality.

Marijn Beuker (Head of Performance & Development): ‘Other clubs in Europe will
almost certainly also mention that they work on these aspects, too. Nonetheless,
insight is often replaced by tactics and too little attention paid to the aspects of elite
sport and personality. We don’t generally spend time talking about what we do, but
rather go to great lengths to do what we talk about.’

Brandenburg and Beuker are aware of the division of their roles. This is what
Brandenburg tells Dutch volleyball legend and member of AZ’s supervisory board Joop
Alberda, who is paying a visit to get an update on developments in the academy. ‘In
his presentation, Marijn is going to explain what the theme is behind what we do here. I
will complement him by providing specific examples of how we actually apply these
abstract ideas in practice.’ In other words, when Beuker describes a visit to the
womens’ volleyball and handball teams at the National High Performance Centre
Papendal near Arnhem, Brandenburg provides the practical interpretation. ‘For
handball, everyone in the team was given a specific leadership role in the group
process before a match. We immediately adopted that for AZ’s U19 match against
southern football club Willem II, where a spot in the champions’ group was at stake. Of
the players, two were responsible for tactics, two for the team’s energy and the rest for
the atmosphere in the changing room. I don’t know if this had an impact on the result,
but we played fantastic and won 3-0.’

[photo]
The AFAS training complex in Wijdewormer: the changing room

[photo]
The kitchen

[photo]
The homework area

[photo]
The strength and conditioning room

By doing this kind of thing, AZ has earned the reputation of being an innovative club.
They do not place that much stock in that image. ‘Our own ambition is to map out the
shortest and best route to the ultimate goal. Everything we do is a means to achieving
our goal. I’m not interested in reaching our goal by playing it safe. We don’t innovate
here for the sake of innovation,’ says Beuker to Alberda. The successful former
volleyball coach gets upset at that message. ‘I always talk about integration instead of
innovation. You gain knowledge and methods from other disciplines and use them to
reinforce your own vision.’

STRIVING FOR VICTORY TOGETHER

The reason is not the specific actions. Visualisations do not change a mediocre
footballer into a star player, holding tennis balls does not immediately create the next
Sergio Ramos and giving benchwarmers tasks does not turn a divided team into a
well-oiled machine. In order to decipher AZ’s secret, one should ignore what the club
does or how it does it and focus instead on why AZ does it. That is the yeast that
makes the bread dough rise, so to speak. It is the ingredient that ensures that the
whole is greater than sum of its parts.

Brandenburg: ‘Our motto is: Striving for

Victory Together. We have set ourselves
the goal that we want to consistently
challenge the elite clubs. That’s the “If we tried to put all our players
victory we are striving to achieve. We through the same template, we
believe that we can only reach that as trainers would set their
ambitious destination together, based on [developmental] ceiling for
a common vision. We want to develop
the players of the future – players who
them’”
Michael van Zijtveld (trainer of AZ’s U12s)
are able to find a solution in every
situation – so that we at AZ can play
dynamic and varied football.’
Beuker finishes off Brandenburg’s reply. ‘If I ask clubs why they have a youth
academy, I generally only hear that it’s a cheap way to get players and that it ensures
players develop a connection with their own region and their supporters. But we
believe it’s much more important that in our breeding ground we can form our specific
AZ players ourselves. That is to say that the best way to predict the future is to create
it yourself. But we most definitely realise that this type of player does not yet play
consistently in the first team. That’s the case because in the last few years our
approach changed rigorously, and that process takes time. Our ultimate goal for 2020
is to have a squad consisting of one half graduates from our own academy, one
quarter of young players from outside our club but want to develop further with us, and
another quarter of experienced players. Talented players make the engine growl;
experienced players are the ones behind the wheel.’

[photo]
Like other youth teams, the U14s have their own changing room.

[photo]
AZ’s up-and-coming talent arrives by van or bike.

The fact that half of the current players’ group of first-team manager John van den
Brom already consists of lads from the club’s own youth academy does not satisfy
Brandenburg yet. ‘Because we want to train players who can compete for silverware.
That means that the quality of the players whom we turn out must increase. If we look
rather critically at the lads who are currently in the first team, we have to conclude that
it’s still not good enough. To a large extent that’s our own fault. Ten years ago, we
prepared far too much at the expense of originality, spontaneity and creativity, so
talented players weren’t stimulated enough to come up with solutions in every
conceivable situation.’

PROGRAMME AND CULTURE

AZ’s football vision is developed specifically in the club’s programme and culture. The
idea behind the programme is summarised by Michael van Zijtveld, the 30-year-old
trainer of the U12s and AZ Football School’s coordinator. ‘Everyone at AZ has the
ambition to get the most out of themselves and others. We want to help players create
the best version of themselves, as both footballers and people.’

[photo]
AZ U13s threatening against AFC ’34

That last nuance directly reflects the greatest development in the youth academy’s
vision in the last few years. Where players were previously trained based on the 4-3-3
system introduced by former manager Louis van Gaal, nowadays they train based on
eight principles of play. This is further developed into tasks and roles for each position.
The principles of play are applied in as many different systems and changing
circumstances as possible. For instance, different kinds of balls, numbers and surfaces
are used. AZ not only trains on grass and artificial turf, but also on unkempt fields,
asphalt, in city squares and indoors. The aim of all this is to confront players with as
many challenges as possible.

‘The manner of play forces development,’ states Van Zijtveld. ‘Let children be curious.
We provide them with challenges and compliment them when they have overcome
them. At the most elite level, systems change all the time. If we tried to put all our
players through the same template, we as trainers would set their [developmental]
ceiling for them. That’s something we must avoid, because otherwise you’re just
training to be mediocre.’

“‘If we look rather critically at our lads in the first team, we have to
conclude that it’s still not good enough’”
Paul Brandenburg (Head of Youth Academy)

The course that every youth player runs through at AZ consists of three parts. In the
foundational phase the question is: How should one perform? At this stage it is
playfully instilled in players what it means to be an elite athlete, and they are busy
learning basic skills. In the intermediate phase it is all about: How should one play?
This stage focuses above all on cultivating an understanding of the game. This means
ensuring that the talented players acquire knowledge regarding the principles of play
and playing football in and against various formations and circumstances. The
emphasis of the last phase of the youth academy is on the last question: How should
one win? Until the final phase the word ‘tactics’ is forbidden; only the strategy behind
the method of play is explained. When talented players get closer and closer to
breaking into the first team, that is when the strategy behind the ability to win becomes
more important. That is also why AZ is going to adjust the periodisation, so that
footballers are already confronted in their youth with a dual programme.

The programme is the product of a learning climate where strikingly young trainers
work together based on a joint concept. Brandenburg: ‘We select our staff very
consciously on intrinsic motivation and in the process try to strike a balance between
former pros and so-called laptop trainers. We want our trainers to have the ambition to
become the best in their specialised age category.’

That dovetails with the approach to youth players all of whom are supervised on the
basis of their personal motives and character structure. ‘Everyone is good, but what
are you good at?’, is the question that Beuker puts to players.

AZ stimulates the motivation-centred approach by applying six principles in minute

detail every day:

1. Start with the destination and set the bar high.

2. Challenge players and seek uncomfortable situations.
3. Stimulate creativity and taking solution-oriented action.
4. Pay genuine attention to every unique person.
5. Give people responsibility.
6. Be demanding, honest and direct, but remember also to stimulate a growth
mindset.

In order to allow these principles to be more than just a written statement, AZ has
elaborated on what this specifically means for every employee within the organisation,
all the way down to the people in the café. The youth trainers have 24 flash cards to
help them train in a motivation-focused manner. Checking biological ages corresponds
with having an eye for the individual behind the footballer. ‘We look at the status of
their physical development, not at the age listed in their passports,’ declares
Brandenburg. ‘This way we avoid writing off players too early, simply because they
have not had their growth spurt yet.’

Nevertheless, no-one at AZ will congratulate himself/herself before reaching their

ambitious, ultimate goal: challenging the elite clubs with a squad that consists of at
least 50 percent of graduates from their own academy. Every percentage gain in
closing in on that goal is seized upon with both hands. Marijn Beuker: ‘Every day,
when driving to the club, I think: We have one of the best programmes in the world. But
on the way home I have all sorts of questions and think about areas where we could
make improvements. That is to say that we have to take another step.’

THREE TECHNICAL DEVICES USED IN THE AZ ACADEMY

1. Use of virtual reality

AZ wants to confront youth players with as many football situations as possible, but
physical capacity and the fulltime studies are limitations in that regard. The virtual
reality headset is a way to allow talented players to make choices, without major
physical exertion. AZ confronts players via virtual reality with simulations of game
situations from the past. In the process, the club from Alkmaar do not prescribe what is
a good solution, but uses it as a way to start a conversation about making certain
decisions and the extent to which the principles of play are achieved.

2. Blue-light blocking glasses

On the advice of elite athlete supervisor Bart Heuvingh, AZ has introduced blue-light
blocking glasses. These glasses filter out the blue light emitted by modern devices.
This light suppresses the production of the hormone that makes you sleepy. Youth
players wear the glasses an hour before they want to go to sleep.

3. Adaptaballs

The predictable curve of the ball is considered by AZ as one of the biggest

disadvantages of artificial turf. That is why the club from Alkmaar uses Adaptaballs,
which thanks to their unique weight distribution move unpredictably ̶ even on artificial
turf. This is particularly the case when the ball is played on the bounce.
**************************************************************************************************
(originally published 20 December 2016 on the website of
Voetbal International)

© 2018 Robert Kleemaier All rights reserved