'Breaking into' Barca's player training center

(Baonghean.vn) - Barcelona is currently one of the strongest clubs in the world with its captivating Tiki-taka football. A significant contributor to the club's success is the La Masia youth football academy, which has nurtured outstanding talents such as Lionel Messi, Xavi, Fabregas, Gerard Pique and many other names.

La Masia officially became Barcelona's youth academy in 1979 and since the turn of the millennium, it has been a golden model for youth football academies around the world.

The current La Masia football academy building, inaugurated in 2011, houses the school and various other specialist facilities.

Barca scouts start looking for young talent in the Catalan region and around the world from the age of 7. In addition, some excellent 16-19 year old players who fit the academy philosophy will also be selected.

La Masia's philosophy for selecting players includes: Love for the ball (no matter the physique, love for football is the most important thing for each player); ball feel; ability to hold position; ability to read situations; ability to make decisions under high pressure; ability to apply pressure without the ball.

Because of the emphasis on technical football philosophy rather than physical strength, young Barca players are often shorter than their peers.

Some positions will have specific requirements, for example wingers need to be able to play with both feet or centre-backs need to be able to initiate attacks.

According to Graham Hunter, author of the book “Barca: What Makes the World’s Greatest Team”, if a child joins La Masia at the age of 10 and makes his debut for the first team at the age of 20. During that time he must have attended more than 2,300 training sessions with at least 3,070 hours of ball control training.

The ability to withstand the high pressure of matches is instilled in La Masia's students from a young age. Pictured is eight-year-old Arnau Martinez.

In a normal training camp, students start with physical exercises, increasing their strength and endurance; then they work on tactics and then technique. At Barcelona, ​​the process is completely reversed. The “young” players immediately work on tactics and technique and hone their skills over the years.

It is not until the age of 15 or 16 that additional exercises are given to improve fitness, endurance and strength. This explains why Messi, Iniesta and Xavi are all short players but possess excellent technique and superb ball control.

One of the observation areas inside the academy.

The number of students at La Masia is between 300 and 500. The boys sleep in dormitories in the academy or in houses around the stadium. Barca's policy is to make players human first, and then football stars.

That means they want their students to be able to have normal jobs to earn a living even if they can't continue their football career. Therefore, in addition to learning football, young players still have to study culture and do homework as usual.

Inside the students' lounge.

At La Masia there is a large team of staff involved in training and caring for young players including coaches, doctors, nutritionists, chefs, psychologists, and physiotherapists.

All players in the academy are on scholarships and do not have to pay fees. The club covers all living expenses, teachers, uniforms and even a small allowance for the players. During school age, players attend school every morning and only do technical and physical training in the afternoon and evening.

Besides football, students still have to study culture and do homework like other children.

Barca is the club with the largest youth training budget in the world with 13.5 million pounds per year, many times more than another club with a very famous youth training academy, Manchester United (4 million pounds).

Besides the investment amount, the professionalism in the training model and especially helping the players imbue with the football philosophy that the club persistently pursues, is the key to La Masia's success.

Quan Le

(According to Barca Blaugranes and Soccer Thought)