‘Marcet has helped us think differently’

The main objective of the Marcet Soccer Camps (MSC) is to build players and goalkeepers who are able to make the make the correct decisions on the pitch. This is the philosophy behind intelligent football: to be know the best option to take in every moment. In order to play well it is necessary to learn to think. For this reason the Federation of Football of Ukraine (FFU) counted on Marcet to organize a training campus for the players from their younger categories.

“This collaboration was started as an educational project”, said Valeriy Zolotukhin, director of the FFU and organizer of Kiev’s MSC, where eight team members of Barcelona’s Marcet attended. “It’s something that goes beyond the limits of sport. When the kids learn to think, not only do they do so on the pitch, but at school and in everyday life itself. It’s very important for players to have their brains switched on all the time. This is an essential part of the Marcet Methodology that we have been fortunate to experience in Ukraine”.

Question.- What most caught your attention during the MSC?

Answer.- Precisely this… the way Marcet trainers get the kids to think. They make them centre their minds, but more importantly is how they do it. We didn’t hear a single shout on the pitch! The Marcet technicians always teach through respect and tolerance. We hope our own trainers have taken note.

Q.- What issues does Ukrainian football face?

A.- We need more installations, more qualified trainers and more funding, especially to implement educational programs such as the one Marcet has shown us. For the FFU the development of formative football is very important, but because of the reasons just mentioned it is difficult to motivate our trainers. For this reason, we want them familiarize with the Spanish mentality. This is a priority for us. It’s a necessity we all have, but it’s Marcet who is showing us how to carry out this change. The MSC has given our trainers the opportunity to start perfecting their mode of teaching and to learn new knowledge.

“When the kids learn to think on the pitch, THEY DO SO ALSO at school and in everyday lIFE”

Q.- How did the kids react to this new methodology?

A.- I’ll tell you about my daughter who attended the campus. She has quite a unique character. If she feels pressured in a certain activity, she doesn’t feel comfortable and so prefers to abandon the whole thing. For instance, whenever she has an important tournament coming up she always says she doesn’t want to take part. However, after the first day’s training at the MSC she said she wanted to do it again. For me this is very significant because I know her well and know she’s special in this sense. Regarding the other kids, I’ve only seen positive emotions on the pitch. They all learned many new things. Both the kids and their families are over the moon about the whole experience. Moreover, for them it’s an honour to learn first hand the methodology of an academy from Barcelona because they know that the best football in the world is played in Spain.

Q.- One of the objectives of MSC is to comparatively diagnose the state of formative football throughout the world in order to improve practical education. What do you think Ukraine has brought to this?

A.- We are a former Soviet republic, where football still doesn’t have much room for development. I, myself, have been able to verify that the technical preparation of the students that participated in the campus wasn’t the best. I believe that this provides Marcet with a very interesting context for their scientific investigation.

Q.- What has this experience given you?

A.- It has been very important for us because it has helped create the necessary conditions for players to really want to train. A player can have talent and be willing to sacrifice many things, but without a correct formation they’ll never have true opportunities to develop. In this sense, we want to thank Marcet for helping us think differently.