sv98.de: We had to be patient a bit with the approval of the application for a top talent team. How happy are you that you can finally tackle your planning more intensively?
Björn Müller: Of course, we have already done a lot of preparatory work – especially with regard to the general conditions. Nevertheless, we are all very happy that we have now received official confirmation and can actually start planning. A lot has already happened in the background. We spoke primarily to our own young players, introduced and explained the concept to them. But we also understood every single player who wanted to wait and see which league we would ultimately be in before making a commitment. Now we have clarity, the players also have clarity. So we immediately move on to the concrete implementation and the squad composition.
Why is a top talent team so important for the Lilies?
The transition area between the youth academy and the professional team is extremely important and has increased significantly in recent years. In recent seasons we have had youth players who have trained with the professionals. However, sometimes it wasn’t enough for a professional contract. But we would have loved to train these boys for another year or two – just to see what else happens in their development. We now have these opportunities with our top talent team. This team also gives us the opportunity to introduce young players to the men’s division at an early stage and prepare them for it.
Why not just call the team U23?
After all, we don’t just add a team to our NLZ. The top talent team is based on a far-reaching concept. After all, there will be no more U17 and U19 national leagues next year. Instead, a DFB youth league without promoted or relegated teams. This gives us the opportunity to respond even more individually to our players.
That means…
We have the opportunity to integrate our players into a team structure at exactly the right place according to their level of development and can therefore enable the boys to take their next steps earlier. If a player from the U17 is already ready for the U19, he will be used there. If a U19 player is already ready to play in men’s football, he will play in the top talent team. So we can integrate the boys early on – in training and in competitive games. The top talent team consists not only of players from the men’s sector, but also of boys who can still be used in the youth sector.
Where will the top talent team train and where will the team play its games?
The training location will predominantly be our youth performance center. Like the U17 and U19, the top talent team will have their training times around the afternoon and possibly also in the morning in order to provide good structures. Finally, we have school partnerships in both age groups that allow us to train as early as 3:30pm. The venue for the top talent team will be the FC Alsbach pitch.
Who will train the team and what kind of personnel implications does that have in the NLZ?
The new coach of the top talent team will be Daniel Petrowsky, current coach of our U19. It already acts as a wonderful interface between the youth and men’s areas. He was also able to gain experience in this area at Hamburger SV. He is therefore the ideal person for this position for us. Pascal Pellowski continues to play an important role as transition coordinator, representing the close interface between the youth and professional areas. The current U17 coach, Patrick Kurt, will be responsible for the U19s from the summer. From now on, Max Lieberknecht, who is currently assistant coach of the U19s, will act as coach of the U17s. Since we will not be having a U16, Max will have to coordinate very closely with our U15 coach Eric Ledwina because we are taking players from the U15 into the U17 without the intermediate step of U16. So we have a great team of trainers in this area who not only get along well but will also continue to communicate very closely. In addition, all of the U10 – U14 coaching teams and the entire NLZ staff do incredible work. Overall, one can be satisfied with the development of the NLZ. However, there are many more tasks and projects waiting for all age groups. However, the explanations would go beyond the scope here.
How will the team be composed? Will only players from the NLZ take part or will you also want to win over a few experienced players?
The team will feature many players from our U19. Our aim is to retain many players from the older U19 age group and to enable them to continue their training with us and to further promote their development with us. However, we are re-establishing the team. This means that we are missing the 2004 vintage as a foundation – these are the boys who are now in their first year as men. Therefore we inevitably have to add players from outside. We are aware that we need a few players in terms of number but also experience in order to be able to compete against experienced senior footballers in the Hessenliga. This makes it necessary to bring in players from outside. But we won’t create a completely new squad from outside, because that would undermine our concept. It will be limited to a few players.
Here and there the accusation could be heard that starting in the Hessenliga meant that the sporting competition would be suspended because you would be integrated into the league through sporting promotions without qualifying. The fear was also expressed that one more team might then be relegated in the coming season. What do you say to these critical voices?
In our application we have always stated that it is our intention that no one has to leave because of us or that an additional team has to be relegated. We want to become a full member of this Oberliga Hessen and will also face the sporting competition there with all its tabular regulations. The statutes provide that we could be integrated there. I can understand the critical voices who ask why our team can’t simply start in the lowest division and first have to achieve promotions. But that would not go hand in hand with the idea of promoting talent. We wouldn’t be able to keep our talent from the U19s in a lower division.
Are other Hessenliga clubs worried that the top talent team could take players away from them?
The opposite will be the case over the years. We tend to add players to the Hessenliga system. The players who perhaps don’t make the leap to our professional ranks after one, two or three years in the top talent team become absolutely attractive to clubs in the region. By then, you had received training at the NLZ and had already had experience in senior football, sometimes for several years. This means that these players are certainly even more attractive than boys who come directly from the U19 to the men’s division without any intermediate level. Of course, we cannot rule out the possibility that players from the region will join us. That’s the normal situation in football. As described, our focus is on the players trained in our NLZ.
Would there also be an opportunity to give players from the first team playing time in the top talent team so that they can get match practice?
First and foremost, there is the opportunity for our young players, who are an integral part of the training operations of the professionals, to receive match practice at this level. That’s two or three boys per season who, as U19 players, take part in every training session with the professionals, but may not yet be able to play for the professionals. They will play in the top talent team and be able to gain valuable experience there. We hope for similar career paths to those of Clemens Riedel or currently of Fabio Torsiello or Asaf Arania. Of course, there is also the possibility that Torsten Lieberknecht can give convalescents playing time in our new team. This happens in close consultation, but will only be a selective option.
