Yet another advantage is that Schalke can have a decisive influence on the player’s development, whether sporting or on their character. An important factor at Schalke is U19 coach Norbert Elgert, who applies the final touch to the rough diamonds and keeps the aspiring first teamers’ feet on the ground.
“Norbert Elgert is an institutional product of Schalke with the U19s because no other coach can even get close to his years of service and his successes. Let’s make it clear: nobody can cultivate the players like him,” says Ruhnert. On 26th May Elgert scooped his third U19’s title with Schalke.
“A lot of the credit is given to me, but there are so, so many of us behind this. Football is a sport in which ‘we’ must be bigger than ‘me’,” stresses Elgert, who has been in charge of youth development at Schalke for 18 years.
Shaping entire generations of players
He is Schalke through and through (“born in coal and baptized with water from the Emscher [a small river running through Gelsenkirchen]”) and has shaped and developed entire generations of players with his moral concepts, words of advice and development methods. For him it’s not just about football development but also about the human elements, the character of the player and their mentality.
The secret to Elgert’s success? “There is no secret. If you believe that you’ve found the key, then you’ve already lost it again. You need to get stuck into things with the necessary calm and in good time. It is constantly hard work, but it’s the same for all coaches,” explains Elgert.
Playfulness and understanding the game
So it was Elgert who ultimately convinced Meyer to make the switch to Schalke. The 58-year-old brought Meyer, at the time only 16, into the U19s, let the strong dribbling midfielder play freely and imposed on him a playfulness as well as an understanding of the game. “He is in the position to play under the highest pressure, and these are the abilities that you need to have. And Max has kept his feet on the ground, which we greatly emphasise in our training,” according to Elgert.
Despite this down-to-earth nature Meyer still has great aspirations. Not only with Schalke but also when wearing the national shirt. His next big objective is the Euro U21s in the summer, and with that his first major silverware.
Around 50 first team players have already graduated from Schalke’s youth academy. One of these is U21 international Max Meyer. DFB.de tells you all about the academy.
Barely six years ago Max Meyer faced a life-defining decision. The highly-rated young talent had several offers on the table. In reality the then 14-year-old wanted to move to Borussia Mönchengladbach because he already knew some other teammates there. Meyer, however, signed for Schalke. Gelsenkirchen was the most obvious choice because of his home nearby in Oberhausen. And with the benefit of hindsight it also turned out to be the right one.
Since then the 19-year-old has already made 62 appearances in the Bundesliga. On 13th May 2014 he was handed his first cap for the senior national team and is also in the preliminary squad for the European U21 Championship in the Czech Republic in June.
"Incredibly important”
Max Meyer is one of roughly 50 senior players to have so far come through Schalke’s youth academy. These include World Cup winners Manuel Neuer, Mesut Özil, Benedikt Höwedes and Julian Draxler. “When you see that Germany won the World Cup with four players trained by Schalke, you realise then how incredibly important the junior section has been. We are a very, very important piece of the jigsaw in the structure of Schalke,” says Oliver Ruhnert, Schalke’s head of youth development.
Barely four years after the disappointing certification of the development work, Horst Heldt took up the position of sporting director and set about accelerating the upgrades to the youth academy. He made money and staff available and restructured the system.
Since then the full three stars have again been awarded in the certification by the DFL-commissioned Double Pass. In the process aspects such as staff, strategy and finance management, communication and cooperation, as well as efficiency and opportunities for further progression were all evaluated. The academy has two boarding schools at its disposal where non-local players are housed. The educational and psychological care during school years is guaranteed by “Gesamtschule Berger Feld”, the DFB’s elite school.
A high degree of association
There is also a further advantage of the successful development work, and one which the club has cashed in on, even if it isn’t the primary aim. In an ideal situation the club can receive high transfer fees for players that leave – for example Manuel Neuer for just under €30 million and Özil for €5 million. In any case, with investment in the academy in the low single-digit millions it is a profitable business.
But the development still strongly benefits the first team. At Schalke the young talents bring with them a high degree of association, which is essential at a club like Schalke. Kaan Ayhan comes directly from Gelsenkirchen, Höwedes (Haltern), Draxler (Gladbeck), Matip (Bochum) and Meyer from Oberhausen, on the outskirts.
Yet another advantage is that Schalke can have a decisive influence on the player’s development, whether sporting or on their character. An important factor at Schalke is U19 coach Norbert Elgert, who applies the final touch to the rough diamonds and keeps the aspiring first teamers’ feet on the ground.
“Norbert Elgert is an institutional product of Schalke with the U19s because no other coach can even get close to his years of service and his successes. Let’s make it clear: nobody can cultivate the players like him,” says Ruhnert. On 26th May Elgert scooped his third U19’s title with Schalke.
“A lot of the credit is given to me, but there are so, so many of us behind this. Football is a sport in which ‘we’ must be bigger than ‘me’,” stresses Elgert, who has been in charge of youth development at Schalke for 18 years.
Shaping entire generations of players
He is Schalke through and through (“born in coal and baptized with water from the Emscher [a small river running through Gelsenkirchen]”) and has shaped and developed entire generations of players with his moral concepts, words of advice and development methods. For him it’s not just about football development but also about the human elements, the character of the player and their mentality.
The secret to Elgert’s success? “There is no secret. If you believe that you’ve found the key, then you’ve already lost it again. You need to get stuck into things with the necessary calm and in good time. It is constantly hard work, but it’s the same for all coaches,” explains Elgert.
Playfulness and understanding the game
So it was Elgert who ultimately convinced Meyer to make the switch to Schalke. The 58-year-old brought Meyer, at the time only 16, into the U19s, let the strong dribbling midfielder play freely and imposed on him a playfulness as well as an understanding of the game. “He is in the position to play under the highest pressure, and these are the abilities that you need to have. And Max has kept his feet on the ground, which we greatly emphasise in our training,” according to Elgert.
Despite this down-to-earth nature Meyer still has great aspirations. Not only with Schalke but also when wearing the national shirt. His next big objective is the Euro U21s in the summer, and with that his first major silverware.
