In his end of year review interview with City Studios, Kruecken reflected with pride on what has proved another hugely successful 12 months across the Academy.
Alongside a haul of silverware as well as the development and progression of the latest crop of outstanding young City talent, the Academy Director also pointed to another hugely pleasing aspect of the year.
Namely the way City’s beguiling brand of beautiful football has filtered down from Pep Guardiola’s first team across the rest of our age groups.
“To lift trophies at the end of the season it’s always great and an indicator of our fantastic development work over the last couple of years,” Kruecken pointed out.
“Especially when I see the fact that 75% of the players across the PDP started their journey with us aged Under-9.
“So, this is a clear indicator that so many people were involved in the journey of the generation that won the titles at the end of the season.
“Without mentioning a specific group across the Academy, we competed in so many finals. At the end we won seven nationals which was great to see and was a clear indicator of the talent pool of high potential players across the whole Academy.
“But what makes me proud is not just the fact that our players develop in that way, what makes me proud is also the way we played.
“To bring our game model into life, with our principles of the game. We call it beautiful football, and it makes me proud when I see the U13s or U11s to play like this similar style of the game with the right attitude.
“And when we lose a game that we have the class in how we deal with opponents, referees and also the impact of parents, especially in the younger age groups, we are very thankful for the great support we got over the last couple of months.”
Play the video to watch Thomas’s interview in full…
