FOOTBALL – A world-renowned football coach who has worked with one of the biggest clubs in the global game was impressed by the “raw street skills” of young Bahraini players in his visit to the kingdom last week.
Former Manchester United youth team coach Paul McGuinness, who was also an ex-England Football Association coach educator and former assistant coach on the English under-18 national team, conducted a five-day workshop with local tacticians, organised by the Bahrain Football Association (BFA) in cooperation with the Abdulla bin Khalid bin Hamad Talent Academy.
The programme focused on talent development for elite player coaches, and it included theoretical lectures and practical applications.
McGuinness was pleased with the event’s outcome, and said that there is great potential in Bahrain to further improve its development programmes for up-and-coming young players.
“The coaches have been very receptive and very enthusiastic,” McGuinness, who spent 23 years of his coaching career at Manchester United, told the GDN in an exclusive interview.
“The players have also been very eager. They showed some really good skills – raw street skills – which I like, because it means you’ve got a really good base to work from.”
McGuinness explained that much of last week’s workshop focused on a coach’s attention to detail and working on individual play.
“A lot of the time, coaches see – but don’t necessarily notice – the details, and that’s what we’ve tried to do,” the 58-year-old explained. “In order to coach, you’ve got to see what you coach. You’ve got to have observation skills.
“I call it ‘Under the Microscope’ – it’s a model, a process, of zooming in on different parts of the game. You have 11 v 11, groups in small numbers, and then individuals.
“We concentrated this week on individual duels, and how to gain advantage in them. First of all, we needed to see it in detail, zoom in, and then analyse it and coach it.”
McGuinnes was invited to Bahrain by Fifa talent coach Conor Marlin. The workshop was held within the framework of the Fifa Talent Development Scheme, which aims to assist Fifa’s member associations by ensuring that talented players are given the chance to develop and be discovered.
The scheme is focused on long-term player development by investing in academies, with the future overall objective of raising football standards of the member association’s national teams.
“I think the Fifa idea to put support into smaller, developing nations is really important,” said McGuinness.
“Sometimes, being a smaller nation can be an advantage. When you’re big, you’ve got lots of people and it can get more complex and get really difficult. But if you concentrate your efforts and zoom in on the details, like we’ve done this week, then you can make very quick strides.”
McGuinness stressed on the importance of building on what they had achieved at the workshop with similar endeavours in the future.
“I think there is a lot of potential for improvement,” he said. “If you only do one session, it has some value, as it disrupts people’s thinking. But to really get the benefit, you need to layer that learning over time.”
During his visit to the kingdom, McGuinness was received in a meeting at the BFA headquarters by BFA vice-president Shaikh Khalifa bin Ali bin Isa Al Khalifa, in the presence of Marlin, BFA director Ayman Haroun, and BFA technical affairs department head Ali Hassan.
The group discussed various topics of mutual interest, and Shaikh Khalifa presented McGuinness with a token of appreciation from the BFA.
“I love these visits to different countries,” McGuinness said. “You get to see the culture, but for me the biggest thing is the spirit of football – the spirit of football connects everybody.
“You might be competing against each other, but then afterwards, you’re making friends, and that is certainly what I’ve done in Bahrain this week – made new friends. Hopefully, this will continue.”
McGuinness is a former professional player who took to the pitch as a midfielder. He is the son of former Manchester United player and manager Wilf McGuinness – a Busby Babe who was forced to abandon a hugely promising playing career when injury led to his retirement at the age of just 22, after 85 first-team appearances.
During his time at Manchester United, McGuinness helped move a number of players through the academy and into first-team football. Among them were Marcus Rashford, Jesse Lingard, Angel Gomes, Jonny Evans, Darren Fletcher, and Danny Welbeck, to name only a few.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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