Share this post
Following his appointment as club manager in August 2014, RC Genk manager, Alex McLeish (see below image) has been extremely impressed with the club’s highly acclaimed youth academy.
Speaking this week to Alan Brazil on talkSPORT about his experiences so far in Belgium, the former Scotland, Rangers, Birmingham City, Aston Villa & Nottingham Forest manager hailed the influence of the Coerver® Coaching programme on the clubs young players.
AMc – “When I came in we were 14th, struggling for confidence a little bit, we’re now up to 5th, hopefully on schedule for the play-offs. There has been a lot of young players blooded this season, the young lads have come through with flying colours, we have a good technical academy”.
AB – “Alex, give us the difference between some of the young players coming through in Belgium, than say back home in Scotland”.
AMc – “The way the boys are training at the Academy here is absolutely excellent. In terms of the technical training, the mastery of the ball, it’s brilliant training. You’ll probably remember the name Coerver, and it’s a kind of adaptation, of the Coerver stuff, taking it into game reality. I’ve played a 15 year old this season, its pure magic”.
RC Genk is well known for its outstanding youth academy and in 2003 began to build a new youth training centre next to the 25,000 capacity Cristal Arena, home of RC Genk.
A conveyor belt of talent has emerged from the academy, with a number of the current Belgian national team progressing through the ranks including Steven Defour (Porto FC), Thiabut Courtrois (Chelsea FC – see below image), Divock Origi (Liverpool FC – On loan at Lille OSC / Liverpool FC), Kevin De Bruyne (VfL Wolfsburg FC – see below image) and current club captain Jelle Vossen.
The latest product of the academy, Indy Boonen (see below image), has just been signed by Manchester United. Boonen, 16, is a left-footed attacking midfielder who often operates in the No. 10 role and has been training at Carrington for a few weeks after already being invited for sessions at Manchester City, Arsenal, Feyenoord and Wolfsburg. Already a youth international, Boonen has been tipped for a bright future and has put pen to paper on a 3 year contract with the Premier League giants.
