Aston Villa U18s Head Coach Jimmy Shan was delighted with our FA Youth Cup triumph, and gave some fascinating insight into his preparations for the Final.
Villa came from behind to defeat Manchester City 3-1 in front of over 25,000 fans at Villa Park on Monday, as we recovered from conceding an early goal to storm to victory and win the trophy for a fifth time.
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Naturally, Shan was left proud of his young players for the quality and resilience that they’ve shown throughout the Cup run, and this will hopefully set them up for bright futures, be it with us or elsewhere.
Of course, we always love to see Academy products coming through the system to eventually make a breakthrough at senior level, and so it will be fascinating to see how this crop develop in the coming years after seeing what the group who won the FA Youth Cup in 2021 have achieved since.
One particularly intriguing point that Shan made though was about how there are similarities and traits running through the club from senior to youth level, as we try to develop an ‘Aston Villa identity’.
As we’ve seen at successful clubs elsewhere over the years and at international level, when there is that synergy at different levels and there is a shared approach and vision as to how we want to play the game, it can lead to positive long-term results with an identity and culture being developed.
“I’m really proud,” Shan said, as per VillaTV. “You set your stall out at the start of the competition to go as far as you can and we’ve done that, plugged away and had to dig deep at times, especially in the last round.
“I’m delighted for the boys. It just shows the progress of the club, not just the Academy.
“What the club has done to advertise the game today and get people through the door is fantastic. The club is going from strength to strength in the right direction.”
Meanwhile, he added in his post-match press conference: “We try and steal and pinch a lot of what Unai does. His work on the grass is fantastic.
“The first team have a bit of a unit model, and we have a unit model in the 18s. So there are lots and lots of things on best practice that we try and follow and try and copy.
“So nothing directly, but of course, we’re all working towards, you know, an Aston Villa identity.”
We’ve seen how selling top prospects can be a pivotal part of our transfer strategy in order to balance the books and fund our own spending with PSR concerns to be considered, and so there may be others who head down that path as they develop into senior players.
Nevertheless, it’s hoped that we can continue to integrate and keep the top talents at the club moving forward to be part of Emery’s plans, and that process of adapting and adjusting to the senior squad will hopefully be less daunting and a smoother experience for them given the similar principles and philosophy that the club is implementing from youth to senior level under the current coaching staff.
With differing approaches it would surely be a more difficult task for them to once again adapt to what Emery wants, but if the Villa boss sees their development in the way that suits his style of play and system, he may well be more inclined to give them opportunities next season and beyond.
