Manchester United coach, Eamon Mulvey, expressed his pleasure on Wednesday at the week-long football camp which was organised in association with the Dion La Foucade Coaching Clinic at CIC Grounds, Serpentine Road throughout this week. Mulvey, who was also a part of the camp last year, said that he was impressed with the general organisation of the camp and this was the reason he came back another year. “The way it is set up and organised is a credit to Dion. We came here last year and that’s the reason why we came back, to have fun with the kids, and share with them what we do back home, it’s all for the kids and the grassroots,” said Mulvey. He shared that the potential of the kids at the camp was very good and the girls in particular appeared to be a lot more focused than the boys.
“There is a lot of raw talent and I say raw talent because most of them are very young, but the quality of the players across the board is very good. The level of the girls’ attitude is very good, they are very focused if not more than the boys. The quality is great as well,” he said. He then went on to explain his belief that the development of the women’s game should start at the grassroots, rather than at the top. “I think it’s great that the development of women’s football is very good, I think that it should be started off at a younger age though, so you can build from a foundation rather than going straight to the higher level right away,” said Mulvey. The top coach also gave his views on Manchester’s chances of lifting the Premier League title.
“I think we never take anything for granted, we’ve taken it three years in a row, so four would be a record. They’ve put themselves in a good position and I think by February next year if they’re still thereabouts they’ve got a very good chance. But in football, you never say never, because you never know what’s around the corner.” He gave credit to ace striker, Christiano Ronaldo, who moved to Real Madrid this season, explaining that though the loss of the striker would be an obvious blow, he has contributed a lot and in his absence others have stepped up when given the opportunity. “Obviously Christiano Ronaldo is a world class player and I think the important thing was that as a club we had some good years with him and people appreciated what a good player he was and respected him for it.”
Ronaldo’s absence, he explained, has also given Wayne Rooney a little more freedom to play in certain areas, and at the end of the day, it’s all about the squad, which has done really well. “Rooney has been outstanding. He’s a totally different player to Christiano Ronaldo and we don’t make comparisons with players a lot of times because everyone is their own player. If you watch him in the games, his work rate is phenomenal. He’s exciting going forward, but he gets back behind the ball, he puts in tackles, he covers his players and he’s been scoring goals, important ones at that as well.” Mulvey and his Manchester colleague, Kevin Ward, left T&T last night while the camp ends today.
