The past 12 months have seen Ben Wilkinson’s Elite Development Squad and Oliver Reiss’ Under-18s win a remarkable 19 and 21 respective league games as their teams went on to win the Premier League 2 League Phase, Premier League 2 play-offs and the Under-18 Premier League North.
The Club also saw five Academy prospects make their senior debuts under Pep Guardiola, while a host of other young, aspiring players competed in the UEFA Youth League, FA Youth Cup and EFL Trophy.
But most importantly for Kruecken, City’s football principles were implemented on the pitch as we showcased style and substance.
“We have a clear game model across the whole football club with clear principles. We want to play beautiful football, be in the opponent’s half, be really dominant, and this is what we did this season, which was great to see across many teams,” began Kruecken.
“How we played, the way we played which is important. And our teams showed an increased intensity level compared to last season and more resilience and a great spirit.
“There were a couple of moments from the season which stay in my head. For example the late goal that we scored in the Under-18s against Derby County, from Matty Warhurst. I remember the celebrations from Oliver Reiss, Kolo Toure and Sam Fagbemi celebrating with the players, it was just great to see.
“And the EDS team winning really late against Liverpool in extra-time and the same one week later against Arsenal. So great moments and it was great to see the players who had their last games for the Academy, had been together for many many years, I think this was one of the key success factors as to how we won these trophies.”
Watch Kruecken’s 2024/25 Academy review in full via the video above...