DAN MICCICHE played a key role in developing Arsenal talents Ethan Nwaneri and Myles Lewis-Skelly using a number of unique methods.
The experienced youth coach was previously in charge of England Under-16s, where he worked with Cole Palmer, Phil Foden and Jadon Sancho, to name a few.
He has since spent time at Arsenal, where he nurtured the talent of Nwaneri and Lewis-Skelly and helped the latter make history by becoming the youngest player to make his Premier League debut.
Micciche, 45, spent three years as Arsenal Under-15 boss before moving to the Under-18s for the 2021-2022 season, and he is not surprised to see that pair in the first team now, given their focus as teenagers .
Both Nwaneri and Lewis-Skelly have integrated seamlessly into the first team – the end product of a long journey that is as much about the development of the person as it is about the player.
Micciche knows better than most how important it is to coach every aspect of a player, and while they must be technically excellent to handle first-team training, their physicality and education are just as important.
Micciche told SunSport: “You have to be careful not to specialize them too early. Firstly, it is important that they play other sports, especially sports that transition into football, but secondly also positionally.
“The more they can use other sports in a controlled way for physical literacy, the better.
“[Take] yoga and gymnastics. Gymnastics is also great for non-weight bearing, flexibility, suppleness and discipline. What many of these sports often test in individuals is discipline.
“So it is important that in football we are open to the benefits we can get from other sports that can then be transferred.”
Education on and off the field can be critical to a young player's success.
But instead of bombarding novice footballers with instructions and rules, Micciche likes to put his trust in his players and let them devise their own strategies, as a group or individually.
He continued: “Their training is very important to make sure you develop the whole person and not just the footballer, and to give them a lot of variety because if you want good decision makers and problem solvers they need to be able to think independently rather than being controlled by a coach.
“You need them to be excellent decision makers, so you develop that by creating an environment where they can make decisions and by giving them a lot of variety, in terms of competition, game formats, game systems, etc. .
“Because the variety gives them different problems to solve, and that's also the game. They will face different types of opponents and different systems in their careers.
“And they have to be able to deal with that and they have to be able to recognize what they are dealing with and how they can get the upper hand over their direct opponent.
“So if he's faster than them, how are they going to outsmart them, how are they going to make up for the fact that they're not as fast as their direct opponent, how are they going to overcome that?
“Leadership is also a big problem. We often hear people say: 'we no longer have leaders, we no longer have characters.'
“And obviously society has changed and they have a lot more distractions now than they used to, but there are still so many things you can do to develop those leadership qualities and that's kind of taking the control away from the coach and giving it more.” ownership and responsibility to the players.”
Micciche practices what he preaches and his methods helped him win the Nike International Tournament Cup with a squad featuring future England stars Marc Guehi, Angel Gomes, Emile Smith Rowe, as well as Foden and Sancho.
Much of the success was due to his players, not only for their talent, but also for leading meetings and sessions thanks to Micciche's encouragement.
Liverpool star Curtis Jones once devised a corner routine inspired by Philippe Coutino on the Melwood training grounds.
Jones eventually scored from a corner in a match for England, leading to it being dubbed the “Curtinho”.
Their performances on the field have allowed players such as Jones, Foden and Palmer to break into their respective teams and represent England at major tournaments.
Nwaneri and Lewis-Skelly could be next for Thomas Tuchel's side after breaking through this season, having also stood out with big moments in their youth careers.
When asked what stood out to him, Micciche said: “Those two are technically excellent. He (Mikel Arteta) had them there from a very young age. He knew them when they were fourteen.
“First of all, their focus was to play football. They are great boys, but when it comes time to train and play, they were always 100 percent focused and committed to what they do.”
“There was never a lack of focus or willingness to improve. Their mentality was incredible, even though they ticked all the boxes.
“Technically excellent, physically they were efficient movers and their football athleticism was good.
“They delivered when it counted, they won a lot of youth tournaments together, when it came to the semi-finals and finals they would deliver.
“They would score goals, they would score goals, they would dominate games. That's what the best players do, they perform in big moments and that's what they did.”
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