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Under 11's - European Champions
Visit www.aarau-masters.tv to watch the games
17th September 2008
After the original tournament that we had planned for the Under 11's in Germany was cancelled for 2009, we began to look for a replacement tournament. At this stage we spoke to Fritz Walti at the Aarau Masters Tournament in Switzerland, the most prestigious indoor tournament in the world, but knowing that there were over 250 teams on the waiting list we knew it would be a long shot! We sent a presentation on Luton's Youth Policy along with references from other tournaments in Europe that we had entered in the past.
28th September 2008
After reading about our plight of the football club this season, the organisers were intrigued by our claims of having the strongest Centre of Excellence in England. They couldn't believe that a club sitting in 92nd place in the Football League could have developed seven players who now ply their trade in the Premier League. We were given the amazing news that Luton Town and Manchester United were going to represent England in the Aarau Masters!
October 2008
Meeting with an excited group of players and parents we announced the following seven Under 11 players to travel to Switzerland:
Frankie Musonda, Jay Da Silva, James Justin, Willem Van Der Schoot, Stephen Wake, Jack Newland & Louis Michel Yamfam
We also decided to give the opportunity to George Murray and Cole Da Silva from the Under 10's to come along and gain experience with the older age group.
January 2009
After Jamal Lewis was voted as player of the tournament in Markgroenigen, Germany we decided to make him the tenth and final player to join the squad. The staff were also confirmed as James Hughes (Under 11 coach), Martin Prickett (Under 13 coach), Dan Walder (Technical Development Coach) and Gregg Broughton (Youth Development Officer).
17th February 2009
The squad met at Luton airport with Dan and Gregg to catch the flight to Zurich, where we met the man who would prove to be a vital member of the backroom staff. Rudolf Kyd, along with speaking about eight different languages he was our Mr Fixit, ensuring that all of our efforts could be focused on preparing the players for the tournament. The only other job for the day was a crucial one, getting the rooming list right! Sleep and rehydration are the two key factors for physical preparation, and we decided to put the "livelier" characters all in one room to help manage the first of these factors
18th February 2009
Today was about trying to get used to the tempo and speed of indoor football and we began this with a 90 minute training session where Dan focused on three targets:
·Pass the ball simply, early and quickly
·Move off the ball to create space
·Take responsibility in defensive situations
In the afternoon we played four short friendly games before the Mini Masters warm-up tournament in the evening. This allowed us to focus on our strengths and weaknesses as a group and refer these back to the targets set in the morning.
Our play was too slow and predictable to trouble the opposition which led to three defeats and two victories. On a more positive note, we came very close matching CSKA Moscow who eventually went on to win the tournament beating Zenit St Petersburg in the final.
19th February 2009
An early start for a trip to Zurich and after a guided tour of the old town, we went on to FIFA's headquarters. Along with teams from New Zealand, Russia, Brazil and Latvia we were granted an audience with Sepp Blatter and an opportunity to have photos taken with the World Cup. Mr Blatter proved to be a charismatic and generous host, taking time to talk to, sign autographs and pose for photos with each of our players.
After a swim in the afternoon we met the New Zealand National team for dinner which was a great chance for our young players to make new friends and learn the Hakka. The evening finished with an international game of spoof, with the loser having to perform in the opening ceremony of the tournament dressed as superman. There were a few relieved English players when it was two Kiwi's left in the final. In true All Black style they were gracious in defeat and fulfilled the forfeit in style!
Small things like this really help team bonding and more importantly help players come out of their shells. As Gregg would find out to his cost the next morning!
20th February 2009
An interesting start to the day as George Murray, the Under 10 "celebrated" his spoof loss by wearing a jam sandwich on his forehead for Breakfast. Whilst this went on Gregg's forfeit, unbeknown to the boys was to stand up and give a Churchillian speech about how we were going to win the final every time a player asked a question. Anyone who has worked with 9 and 10 year olds will know that they ask a lot of questions
After a walk round the beautiful town of Aarau the Luton Town parents had flown in along with James and Martin and we met for Lunch, before Rudolph surpassed himself by organising a massage for all the players at the local spa in preparation for tomorrow.
An early night for the players allowed the staff to meet and socialise with the coaches from Leipzig, New Zealand and Manchester United. This was a wonderful opportunity to talk, share stories and build bonds that would serve us well over the weekend.
21st February 2009
After breakfast we settled down to watch the highlights package from our games in the warm-up tournament and again we put all the emphasis on our three targets. These sessions are often awkward as an individual's mistakes are highlighted in front of their peers, so we tried to balance this with examples of good play and positive decision making.
We then travelled into Aarau to the impressive "Aarauer Schachenhalle", which is the Arena hosting the tournament. When you first enter this impressive 2,500 capacity arena, you are blown away by the noise, colour and atmosphere generated by a passionate crowd. In one corner were the Brazilian supporters with their drums beating a samba rhythm. The Swiss supporters and their cowbells gave you flashbacks of "Ski-Sunday", and the German's were loud and spectacular with their enormous flags and shrill horns. On top of this there was booming music and two multilingual DJ's commentating and pumping up the crowd.
After watching some of the earlier group games, the Ivory Coast team looked unbelievable. Their players were giants and yet they were technically brilliant. Manchester United were also impressive, with their number 7 playing like a young Ryan Giggs, all pace and skill. A staff meeting finalised how we were going to organise the players, James Hughes was going to manage the team and was to be assisted on the bench by Dan Walder. Martin Prickett was going to be match analyst sat up high in the stands, and Gregg was going to be next to the DJ's helping with pronunciation names!
Our first game was against Austrian side Menzo Reinach and we felt despite a 4-0 victory we felt that there wasn't enough tempo to our play.Next up was FC Windisch and there was an improved performance and a 6-0 win, with the highlight being a hat-trick from Louis-Michel Yamfam. Our third game was the first real test, against Club Nautico of Brasil and despite falling behind, George Murray volleyed in an amazing winner with 30 seconds left. This performance gave the boys great belief going into the game against Bayern Munich and after taking the lead, the boys were well worth their 1-1 draw. Going into our last game against local pro club FC Muri we knew a win would guarantee second place in the group and we passed the ball well on route to a 4-0 victory.
After a methodical warm-down we returned to the stands to watch the draw for the second round, hoping to avoid Ivory Coast and Manchester United.We were pleased to see our name come out along with CSKA Moscow, Leipzig, host club Aarau and our old foes Bayern Munich. The only downside was the fact that we were playing in the opening game at 7:30 the next morning and it was 9:30pm before we left the arena. We returned to the hotel for a debrief where the messages were of congratulations, preparation and sleep!
22nd February 2009
The wake-up call at 6.15 didn't go down well and breakfast was subdued and quiet. This reflected our first performance against CSKA Moscow where we threw away a lead to lose 3-2. We then played minnows Erlinsbach and again struggled to play with any rhythm or tempo despite a 4-2 victory. Going into the third game against Bayern Munich we looked out on our feet as they outclassed us in every department and won comfortably 3-0.
The changing room was silent as the result had put us on the verge of elimination, relying on other results going our way. We felt that we needed to find the energy levels from our displays on the previous day to stand any chance of qualification, and Martin delivered a high energy team talk focusing on belief and the need to "focus on the process not the result". This along with a an injection of Ivory Coast chocolate seemed to do the trick as we blew previously unbeaten Leipzig away with a high energy performance winning the game 4-1.
This meant that we went into our last game against FC Aarau knowing that a win would put us into the quarter-finals, but a draw would knock us out. James and Dan decided to give the authority to the players for the game, and they came out of the dressing room to announce that the players who hadn't started so far today would be given their opportunity to impress. This decision summed up the maturity of the group and the players responded to this with another fantastic performance, the highlight being a overhead kick flying in the top corner from Jack Newland.
The draw for the quarter finals was impressive but also shocking as Manchester United had been edged out by Zenit St Petersburg:
Bayern Munich vs Zenit St Petersburg
Borussia Dortmund vs Leipzig
Luton Town vs Werder Bremen
Ivory Coast vs Grasshoppers Zurich
The message to the players was clear and precise, we know how to beat German clubs, forget the result and focus on the process. Again the boys lifted the performance to a new high and with goals from Frankie Musonda, James Justin and Jamal Lewis we were well worth our 3-0 win. We then sat back to watch Ivory Coast versus Grasshoppers, and the Africans were guilty of complacency as the Swiss edged a great game 4-3. The crowd were going wild as a Swiss Club had never made the semi-finals, and Zurich celebrated as if they had already won the cup.
The focus of our team talk -team was the parable of "after of the Lord Mayors show", and not having any regrets. The semi-final was very one sided as the Swiss out passed us and deservedly took a 1-0 lead, but we hung on and with 10 seconds left on the clock, James Justin received the ball in his own half, took a touch and drilled the ball into the bottom corner. This silenced the partisan crowd which had now grown to 3,000 as the game went to golden goal extra time. The Swiss were already mentally beaten and it was no surprise that Jamal Lewis scored a great winner which led to all the boys and staff embracing as emotions ran high.
In the other semi final Bayern Munich looked untouchable beating Borussia Dortmund 5-1. We took the boys out of the emotion and tension of the arena for some more Ivory Coast chocolate and kept our message clear. Martin and James spoke about having "Ice in your head, cool calm and focused, along with fire in your stomach, passion, desire and hunger". Walking back into the arena it was amazing to see the Brazilian, New Zealand and Manchester United players all coming over to offer good wishes and handshakes before the game.
The boys entered the arena to a fanfare and dry ice, and when they lined up to be individually introduced we felt that we had the advantage. Before now the crowd had always favoured our opponents, but now they were backing the underdogs, amazed by the most unlikely of line-ups: Bayern Munich, 4 times Euopean Cup Winners, 21 times Bundesliga Champions and the club that boast former alumni including Franz Beckenbauer , Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, Gerd Muller and Lothar Matthaus as well as England star Owen Hargreaves versus Luton Town.
After falling behind the boys were unaffected, confident in their own ability. James and Dan made an inspired substitution bringing on the Da Silva brothers, and nine year old Cole stepped up to smash home an equaliser. Older brother Jay then scored a wonderful individual goal beating two players before slotting home, only to see Bayern score an equaliser with a minute left. As the crowd counted down towards extra-time Cole played off the back-boards and Jay met the rebound to calmly pass the ball into the corner. As the Luton boys danced in celebration we took them over to Bayern's distraught youngsters to console them.
The rest of the evening passed in a blur of adrenalin, the presentation of a four foot gold cup, the autographs being requested by players from all across the world, and a magnificent celebration dinner with all the parents and players back at the hotel.
It is important now to get our feet back on the ground and focus on what we have learnt from the tournament:
·The boys ability to learn and take on new ideas was immense
·Their mental strength and refusal to give up will serve them well in life
·Technically we still have a lot of work to do in comparison to our European counterparts. We will certainly be taking up Manchester United's generous offer to go and study their coaching methods in order to improve this area.
Squad
Willem Van Der Schoot: Improved throughout the week, especially on his passing and decision making.
James Justin: Player of the tour on the pitch, read game well and uncompromising in 1 vs 1 situations.
Stephen Wake: Unlucky with illness, but a couple of great performances gave the team a calming influence at the back.
George Murray: Overall player of the tour, for an Under 10 to put in a performance of this level was unbelievable. Grew in confidence throughout the week, defended well and scored some great goals.
Jack Newland: A valuable squad player, versatile to play in any position and was always likely to score a goal.
Jamal Lewis: Technically excellent, great athletically and most importantly won't accept mediocrity from his performance or that of his team-mates.
Louis-Michel Yamfam: The enigma who was able to change a game with his ability to dribble in tight situations and fire off a shot.
Cole Da Silva: Another Under 10 who saved his best performances for the big games. Good on the ball and another who sets high standards.
Frankie Musonda: Strong and direct, despite being under the weather scored goals at crucial times on the second day.
Jay Da Silva: Technically as good as any player in any team. Calm and focused was unfazed by any challenge put in front of him.
Staff:
James Hughes: Showed his strengths of making good decisions at crucial stages of matches and picking the right players at the right time.
Dan Walder: An amazing ability to talk to individuals and get the best out of them, Dan was a crucial member of the team.
Martin Prickett: Delivered the right message to the boys at the right time. His knowledge of mental preparation was vital.
Rudolf Kyd: His lingual skills and ability to resolve any issues off the pitch allowed us to get our preparation spot on.
Top Fifteen Final Placings:
1.Luton Town F. C.
2.Bayern Munich (Germany)
3.Borussia Dortmund (Germany)
4.Grasshoppers Zürich (Switzerland)
5.Ivory Coast National Team
6.Werder Bremen (Germany)
7.Zenit St. Petersburg (Russia)
8.Sachsen Leipzig (Germany)
9.Liepajas Metalurgs (Latvia)
10.CSKA Moskau (Russia)
11.FC Aarau (Switzerland)
12.Clube Nautica Capibaribe (Brazil)
13.Manchester United F.C.
14.Chiasso-Team Mendrisiotto (Switzerland)
15.New Zealand National Team
Under 15's Shine in Germany
The club's growing collection of silverware was added to on Sunday as the Hatters's U15/16 age group team triumphed in the Hassia Bingen Cup in Germany..
Luton Town Under 15s shone in Germany this weekend beating the big freeze to win the Hassia Bingen International Tournament.
On the Saturday the team took part in a warm-up tournament for the international teams and local clubs and finished as runners-up, winning seven out of their eight games and only losing to eventual winners Brondby IF.
The main tournament was on the Sunday and was held in Bingens impressive indoor Arena in front of a capacity crowd. Luton faced the hosts in their first game in front of a noisy and impartial crowd and soon found themselves 3-0 down. Despite a late goal from Jordan Davis the final score was 5-1, with the young Hatters failing to pass the ball quickly enough and deal with their opponents in 1 vs 1 defending.
The performance proved to be a massive wake-up call for everyone involved as it meant there was now no room for errors in any of the remaining games. Next up were Frankfurt, and Luton came out and played at a great tempo. Moses Nakabale scored a hat-trick in the first five minutes of the game to set the team on route to a 5-0 victory. This result meant that Luton needed to beat German giants and group leaders Kaiserslautern in their final game to qualify for the second round.
In a tense and evenly balance game keeper Steven Fenner kept the team in the game in the early stages with some great saves, and it took a moment of brilliance from Under 14 player Charlie Smith to win the game. With two minutes left on the clock it was his great strike from twenty yards that was the difference between the two teams and meant that the Hatters qualified at the expense of their German opponents.
This put Luton into the second round and a group of three with Brondby and Borussia Mönchengladbach. First up were the ten time Danish Champions and tournament holders Brondby and the message before the game was one of a need for focus in defense and to be clinical in front of goal. An early goal was scored by Newman Carney and Cauley Woodrow calmly slotted home after rounding the keeper to double the lead. Brondby rallied and the Hatters was left hanging on after Woodrow received a two minute sin-bin, but fine saves from Fenner along with a heroic effort defensively allowed the Hatters to win the game 3-2.
Needing one more win to qualify for the semi-finals, Michael Cain scored in the last minute to mean the Hatters became only the second English team after Manchester United to make this stage in the tournaments long and illustrious history. Their opponents were Wieseck and again it was a close game with a clinical finish from Woodrow separating the two teams and putting Luton Town into the final.
Their opponents were Bundesliga team Mainz 05, and before the game there was the ritual snow bath to clear the minds and focus on the cool heads needed to beat their talented opposition. The final was the rollercoaster ride that any Luton fan should have expected, and after taking the lead through Mason Blake, two superb strikes from Mainzs centre forward who was the player of the tournament meant that the Hatters were 2-1 down with just three minutes left on the clock. Just when it looked as though it was slipping away from Luton, Cauley Woodrow popped up to equalise and send the game towards extra-time. With just 20 seconds left on the clock a intricate passing move was met with an calm finish by Moses Nakabale to win the game and send the crowd wild.
Luton Town became the first English team to win the tournament, and U15 coach Jon De Souza commented:
After the first game we spoke to the boys about how making mistakes in life can be a good thing as long as you learn from them and improve as a result of them. They showed us exactly the response we were looking for, and got better in each game. There were vital contributions from Reeon Wiltshire, Michael Richens and Jerome Jibodu throughout the tournament, and as a group yet again they have excelled.
Youth Development Officer Gregg Broughton added:
The groups focus, preparation and attitude throughout the weekend was first class and that is why we have such high hopes for this age group. They are so determined to succeed and have such a drive to better themselves that it makes them mentally the strongest age group in the club. In the analysis of the tournament it was great because it showed up areas that we need to continue to work hard on such as our ability to receive under pressure and our cleverness of movement to create space. Five of the eleven players have been offered and signed long term contracts to be with us to the age of 18, and its vital that this tournament is merely a stepping stone towards further success rather than the peak of their achievements.
Squad: S. Fenner, N. Carney, R. Wiltshire, M.Richens, J. Davis, C.Smith, C.Woodrow, J.Jibodu, M.Cain, M.Nakabale, M.Blake
Coaches: Jon De Souza and James Hughes
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