Each collects what always. That philosophy is the one that the Spanish clubs have had since 2015, which are sowing football to pick up the future Mbappé and Haaland. LaLiga, in its international expansion strategy, is helping to develop this sport in all corners of the planet. But since 2021, one of its focuses is on the United States. This is the most ambitious project this season and is called ‘La Liga Select’. A three-phase program: from the selection of the best American promises, in a screening of 11,500 players, to the opportunity to do a little football ‘Erasmus’ in the best academies in Spain.
LaLiga Select is a scouting program divided into three phases. The first started in January 2021, when this initiative was launched in the United States and Canada. Then, over 11,500 players were searched for the most talented and promising players between the ages of 14 and 18 in North America. From New York to Las Vegas, passing through Texas and Florida. “There were events of two or three days in which a series of players were summoned in different places with training sessions, physical and technical tests, matches… The scouts made an evaluation of the players with whom they had shown the best performance . The second selection format was to go to major tournaments in the United States. There was a higher level and perform follow-up tasks. Those selected were sent an invitation to opt for this experience in Madrid”, recalls Juan Florit, spokesperson and head of sports projects at LaLiga Grassroots, from which the LaLiga Select initiative was born. And he adds: “The challenge and the difficulty were the average level that we could find each event. It does not have to be the same in one state as in another. There are in States that have a higher level because they have more tradition. We have tried to ensure that there is no subjective assessment. We have created some standard criteria, equating it to that of Spain. All the categories have a matching structure, there is Juvenile DH, Juvenile Nacional… That was the reference for classifying players into four categories. So that the criteria was the same to decide in Texas or New York which player you labeled with category A, B, C or D.
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In addition, the scouts looked at four aspects of the young promises that fit with the LaLiga methodology: We put a lot of emphasis on understanding the game and tactical intelligence. The skill of the players. The conditional physicist, with basic and specific capacities. There is a block that seems important to us, which is psychological capacities.. That player who has leadership, who knows how to deal with difficult situations in a match. These are details that seem minor, but are very important. We make a more general and basic evaluation of the players and when we detect a player that stands out, we make a more detailed evaluation”.
This screening ended with the selection of the 118 greatest promises in the United States. They all got a message. LaLiga invited them from March 11 to 21 to travel to Madrid. “The selected players are often above average in their local context, which means that they do not have enough competitive stimulus to maximize their development as players. This experience does help them in that, since they have faced top-level academies such as Real Madrid, Atlético and Getafe, among others. It makes them realize that their competitive reality in the United States is not enough. They must keep pushing if they want to fulfill their dream of being in professional football”.
In total, during the ten days that they have been in Madrid they have carried out physical and also theoretical training sessions to later put it into practice against the best Madrid academies. “The training sessions have been a good way to give certain advice at a tactical level, which is more difficult to see at a local level. In addition, they have had a more theoretical part to offer them help in certain deficits and errors that we have detected during training. Many problems at the defensive level, because they don’t work together there in the United States, and it costs them a little more. We recover, to catch your attention, images of LaLiga matches, of his idols. We create our own clips. They internalize it very well. From this talk many correct small details thanks to these explanations”. For it, LaLiga has had eight UEFA Pro coaches who have had international experience and in academies of Spanish clubs
From there, LaLiga will select the great promises of the United States for the third phase. They will be the privileged ones to do a small Erasmus of several weeks in the best Spanish quarries: “We had to offer them an experience beyond. We offer the best players of the stage the possibility of living in first person the experience of being in a professional academy. Feeling like homegrown footballers from a LaLiga youth academy for a few weeks”. The short-term objective is not for these types of players to reach the ranks of the Spanish teams, but to help them grow. If someone manages to make the leap to a Spanish club, they will see it as a success: “You have to generate stimuli and opportunities for them to continue growing and improving. Let this help so that in a few years he can be part of LaLiga. It is easier to see this project in the medium-long term. The goal is to create opportunities for them to reach their full potential. They will be eligible for university scholarships. Others will be able to reach semi-professional leagues. Some may be enough to reach a LaLiga quarry. But you always have to look for it as a consequence, not as the end”, points out Juan Florit.
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But this planting that the clubs and LaLiga are doing is going to bear different types of fruits. The consequence, of what was born as a social work, is that the brand of the teams and LaLiga grow. The stronger they are and the more recognition they obtain, the more possibilities they will have to increase their income from the sale of international audiovisual rights. The great manna of the clubs. Who knows if the upbringing of the future Messi or Mbappé will also come from there…