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11.05.2009 17:16
Battle of the academies
Jordi Clos/Míriam Nadal
Athletic Club Bilbao and FC Barcelona have a lot in common. That’s true in all aspects of the two clubs and especially in their commitment to their academies.
Bilbao’s policy of only using players born or who have grown up in the Basque Country and the ‘Basque provinces’ means they have to nurture their youth sides and local teams.
The backbone of Barça’s team has for a long time consisted of La
Masia products with new ones constantly coming through. Many of them, such as Xavi Hernández and
Leo Messi, have also won international recognition.
Bilbao’s academy production line
Fourteen members of the Bilbao squad who are academy products have turned out in at
least five competitive games this season. The ones most used by Joaquín Caparrós are keeper Gorka
Iraizoz (41 games) and Fernando Llorente (39 games), who is the big star of the team.
Plus the academies at Real Sociedad, with Gabilondo and Balenziaga, and especially at Osasuna, with Orbaiz, David López, Javi Martínez and Muñoz, have also made their contribution. Caparrós has also given debuts to the latest academy stars in recent League outings with players like Eneko, Goñi and Xabi Etxebarria already having First Division experience.
Barça: 11+1
Over at Barça, Valdés, Puyol, Xavi, Iniesta and Messi – even
though only the club captain is over 30 – have already racked up a number of seasons of
success at the club. Then there is the youngest of them all, Bojan Krkic, who has started all eight
previous Cup duels and whose goals have been crucial in Barça’s advance to the final.
With Pep Guardiola in the dugout, three more academy players have made their first team breakthroughs. They are Sergio Busquets, Víctor Sánchez and Pedro, all of whom Guardiola knows well from last season.
Academy coach
Guardiola himself as a player went through almost all
Barça’s youth teams before reaching the first XI where he played for eleven seasons. He
became club manager after winning promotion with the reserves as coach to Second Division B.
La Masia vs. Lezama
Training at Lezama
San Mamés is in the centre of Bilbao, but the first team always train in the nearby town of Lezama. The facility was opened in 1971/72, with three pitches and a residence for the players. Today there are five grass pitches there, one artificial grass one and a sports pavilion with synthetic grass.
There is also a gym, fronton court, a medical centre and the players’ residence is still there. Bilbao also runs a network of seven ‘mini-Lezamas', managed by youth team coaching staff, which means they can monitor many young players in Vizcaya province.
From La Masia to Sant Joan Despí
Since October 1979, La Masia has been the residence for Barça’s youth team players. Some 500 young people have attended this building next to the Camp Nou, and all of them have dreamt of playing for the first team. 85% came from football teams and 15% from the other professional sections. FC Barcelona seeks to provide both sports education and schooling. Obviously not all youth team players have lived at La Masia, and generally speaking only those with travel problems have done so. Thus of the eleven ex-academy players in the current first team squad, only Valdés, Jorquera, Puyol, Iniesta and Pedro lived there. The centre is to move in the summer of 2010 to Sant Joan Despí, to a modern building next to the Ciudad Deportiva complex where the youth players will train and play their games.
San Mamés is in the centre of Bilbao, but the first team always train in the nearby town of Lezama. The facility was opened in 1971/72, with three pitches and a residence for the players. Today there are five grass pitches there, one artificial grass one and a sports pavilion with synthetic grass.
There is also a gym, fronton court, a medical centre and the players’ residence is still there. Bilbao also runs a network of seven ‘mini-Lezamas', managed by youth team coaching staff, which means they can monitor many young players in Vizcaya province.
From La Masia to Sant Joan Despí
Since October 1979, La Masia has been the residence for Barça’s youth team players. Some 500 young people have attended this building next to the Camp Nou, and all of them have dreamt of playing for the first team. 85% came from football teams and 15% from the other professional sections. FC Barcelona seeks to provide both sports education and schooling. Obviously not all youth team players have lived at La Masia, and generally speaking only those with travel problems have done so. Thus of the eleven ex-academy players in the current first team squad, only Valdés, Jorquera, Puyol, Iniesta and Pedro lived there. The centre is to move in the summer of 2010 to Sant Joan Despí, to a modern building next to the Ciudad Deportiva complex where the youth players will train and play their games.
