You have been overseeing academy processes since February. How do you feel in Kispest?
The better I got to know my colleagues, the more at home I felt at the club. There are enormous opportunities in Kispest, as the youth results also demonstrate. I am fundamentally challenge-oriented, and that is how I approach every area of life. Based on the work of recent years, the results and the traditions, there is no doubt that Honvéd holds elite academy status.
At the end of February our club signed a partnership agreement with FK Csíkszereda. How can we benefit from the relationships that develop from this? Can similar agreements be expected in the future?
For the development of the players, it is very important that they play as many international matches as possible. In February – as you mentioned – we signed a cooperation agreement with Csíkszereda in Transylvania, and we are currently in contact with several clubs with the aim of concluding similar agreements. Several agreements are expected to be signed in July, creating opportunities to share professional experience and organise joint programmes and events, during which coaches will be able to learn about the other party’s training methods and practices. In addition, the clubs may organise joint training camps and pre-season matches.
At the academy, several of our age groups have prepared using a new training method, unique in the country, called NORT Complex. What are the advantages of the method? How is it generally regarded?
We currently use the method in our pre-academy. In order to develop the players, in addition to international matches we also use an additional development system at the academy. The NORT Complex system ensures that in certain training sessions both physical and cognitive abilities receive the appropriate load. This makes it possible to develop important functional parameters of the player’s nervous system in the same way as the coordination and physical abilities that enable ball control, for example. During the various training exercises, players must quickly process visual information arriving via displays positioned around the edges of a small-sided pitch and respond according to the task at hand. Making this division of visual attention and the operation of working memory at “high revs” routine helps players make quick and correct decisions in real match situations as well – situations in which they must not only control the ball at their feet, but also accurately assess the movement and positioning of teammates (and opponents), as well as their likely reactions.
How would you assess the results of the academy teams?
Overall, we had a successful season at academy level. Our U17 side finished second at the Puskás-Suzuki Cup, beating Real Madrid and Genk, and they also finished second in their own league. Right up until the tournament in Felcsút it looked as if they could even reach the very top. Our U16s, meanwhile, won the championship with an excellent performance, our U15s recently achieved another fine result at an international tournament in Germany, and the U19s finished just three points off the podium. It is important to add, however, that we rarely had everyone available, as players were appearing for older age groups or even for the senior team. Eight players born in 2004 or later made their debuts (Liziczay, Hetyei, Pintér, Földi, E. Kovács, Petrók, Somogyi, Szamosi), seven of them as home-grown players. One debuted while still an U16 player (Liziczay), two as U17s (E. Kovács, Petrók), and three (Szamosi, Somogyi, Á. Szabó) made their senior debuts as U19 players. I think this shows a good development pathway for our youngsters.
