Academy 01 April 2022, 13:06

The German Federation learns about the Rouge et Blanc expertise

Last week, AS Monaco welcomed a delegation from the German Football Federation (DFB), who came to learn about the club's training methods, a meeting rich in lessons for both sides.

While the German Federation will inaugurate its new academy this summer, a delegation from the DFB is now traveling the world, meeting clubs and other sporting entities, recognized for their expertise in training. The goal ? To identify good methodological, organizational and infrastructural practices, in order to adapt them and then apply them across the Rhine, with the 15 national men’s and women’s teams for which the Federation is responsible.

On March 22 and 23, Tobias Haupt, Director of the DFB Academy, and Thomas Hauser, Head of Medicine and Science at the Academy stopped by the AS Monaco training complex. The DFB delegation was joined by Markus Hörwick, consultant and ex-director of communication of Bayern Munich. As AS Monaco is “one of the leading clubs in talent development in Europe. It was interesting for us to make a deep-dive into the club’s approach on and off the pitch, as well into its infrastructure”, explained Tobias Haupt. “We are constantly looking for new approaches and solutions to become World Champion and to make German Football as successful as possible.”

A series of enriching exchanges at La Diagonale and the Performance Centre

They spoke with Pascal De Maesschalck, Director of Young Player Development, alongside whom they were able to appreciate the operations at La Diagonale, which has welcomed players and Academy staff since the end of 2020. “We are impressed with the club’s creative way to make the best of the limited space, regarding both the new Performance Center and the Academy”, shared the Director of the DFB Academy. “The way the club links the first team and the Academy is very interesting. Everyone here is very open-minded, it’s a very good thing for us to be here and to have such a good exchange” he added.

Pascal De Maesschalck underscored that the visitors were “sensitive to the creativity of the club to make our young players develop in all areas and to train players capable of playing at the highest level, despite the constraints which it faces.”

Accompanied by Laurence Stewart, Technical Director, the representatives of the DFB also discovered the inner workings of the Performance Center. “They wanted to see the infrastructures and technologies used, but also to learn more about the organization of the building, our operating processes, the management of the different flows of people and the synergies between the different departments”, said the Technical Director. “They appreciated the way the Club managed to place the players at the heart of the Performance Center, both in terms of the architecture of the building itself and in relation to the organization put in place, allowing them to develop on a daily basis in excellent working conditions.”

Another meeting in Germany?

“Thank you to AS Monaco for the excellent welcome and the time the Club devoted to us”, said Tobias Haupt. “Our visit was very rewarding.” This satisfaction was shared by Laurence Stewart: “The DFB is very innovative in the way it works. Confronting our ideas is therefore stimulating in our desire to constantly develop our approach to performance.” It was the same feeling for Pascal De Maesschalck: “Because of their different vision on certain subjects, this exchange was very interesting and valuable for us.”

It was a first fruitful meeting which could mark the beginning of a closer collaboration in the future, the DFB wishing to soon welcome representatives of the club in its brand new academy, located in Frankfurt.