GAK: Ascent, experience and the future of the youth academy!

GAK: Ascent, experience and the future of the youth academy!

The rise of a football club is often shaped by complex considerations, especially when it comes to the composition of the squad. Sports director Mr. Elsneg is now faced with the challenge of whether he can trust the current promotion squad or whether additional reinforcements are necessary. His goal was to create a conscious mix of players: those who deserve the rise of young talents with development potential and experienced forces who can take responsibility. Among these players are Jacob Italiano and Tio Cipot, who are assessed as quickly integrable. In contrast, Peter Filipovic brings experience, but possibly not the same speed as his teammates.

Alsneg already contacted the technical director Tino Wawra in autumn to plan the next steps. He is aware that his task is wider and complex than just looking at the squad. When he took office in 2021, the focus was not only on sporting performance, but also on improving structures, personnel resources, scouting, data analysis and documentation. For example, the GAK youth was organized in a separate club at the time and did not have its own youth academy. In the meantime, the youth has been integrated into the association and has achieved the highest ÖFB academy status. Another important step was to add Andreas Lienhart as head of the Scoutine Division in summer.

emotional decisions and challenges

The decision to separate from Gernot Messner was emotional and difficult for Elsneg. Messner had great success as head coach by reaching a runner -up and promotion. Nevertheless, the relationship between the Elsneg and Messner was shaped by mutual respect, which made the separation all the more challenging.

at a time when the development of young talents plays an increasingly important role in football, the importance of youth academies is highly assessed. These academies are crucial for the future of football because they help to use and promote talented players. The best youth academies worldwide like that of FC Barcelona (La Masia), Ajax Amsterdam and Partizan Belgrade have produced legendary players, while German clubs such as FC Bayern Munich, VfB Stuttgart and FC Schalke are also known for their excellent training.

technological developments in youth football

Digitization and technological progress have also changed the way in which youth academies work. In the current EA FC 25, significant innovations have been implemented in career mode, which affect the youth academy in particular. Players can be included in the academy from the age of 14, and the representation of youth players now corresponds more realistically to the actual conditions. In addition, newly introduced youth tournaments that take place every two months ensure additional development opportunities. Comprehensive changes were made in the scouting system so that specific player roles and attributes can be better taken into account.

The combination of early access to talent, realistic representations, extensive scouting and detailed role assignments makes the revised youth academy considerably more valuable. The promotion of young talents is therefore shaped not only by the clubs themselves, but also by modern approaches that enable the focus.

Overall, it can be seen that the future of football is strongly linked to the quality of the youth academies. The rise of an association does not only depend on the current squad composition, but also on the ability to recognize talented players at an early stage and to promote it optimally.

For more information: [90minuten] (https://www.90minuten.at/de/Magazin/interview/meistergruppe-oder-derby-sieg --herlsneg–beides-/), fifa-karreiere, [EM2024] (https://em2024.org/nachrichten/die besten-jugendakademien-der-welt/).