Villarreal take a step forward and carry out specific training session for academy goalkeepers

It is normal that young boys and girls want to be professional footballers, but it is not as common for them to want to be goalkeepers. Saying that, more and more want to all the time. Villarreal look after their youth goalkeepers with the aim of helping them take massive steps in their growth.

As well as training sessions with their respective teams, goalkeeping coaches from all of the sporting structure have come up with the idea of a series of specific training sessions which can help the youngsters improve even further. It means everyone needs to put in a little bit more work. The coaches work more and the youngsters train for more days. But the hard work will pay off.

One of the coaches involved is Marc Ramírez, Villarreal B coach. The training sessions are focused on constant improvement and also so the youngsters have a good time. “Each day more and more kids want to be goalkeepers. What is important is that they have a good time and learn as much as possible. We work on co-ordination and we also simulate situations that they may find themselves in during the weekend’s games,” he underlines.

Alongside Ramírez, there are ten other goalkeeping coaches involved. “We are 11 goalkeeping coaches and I think we need to thank the club. Each coach has three academy players and it’s marvellous to have the opportunity to work in conditions like this. We do sessions alongside various teams and we’re also focusing on 8-a-side football. We believed that we needed to move one step forward with specific goalkeeping work. It’s heartwarming because the boys are grateful and are really keen on learning,” he underlines.

The sessions usually take place once every two or three weeks, although ahead of next season, the idea is to reduce the time between them. “We didn’t want to separate the goalkeepers from their team-mates too much,” he says.

The fruit of the hard work is clear: “The level of the academy is one of the best it has been. There are a lot of goalkeepers being called up by the regional or national sides. The club has everything for the kids to grow a lot,” Ramírez concludes.