On the sidelines of the U19 game against VfB Hilden, Forecasting talked to RWE youth coach Simon Hohenberg about the upcoming reforms in youth soccer

The U19 team of Rot-Weiss Essen is currently leading the Niederrheinliga. Starting next season, a DFB youth league will be created in which RWE, as one of 58 clubs with a youth training center, will have a permanent starting place. This is one of several reforms that the DFB hopes will improve the training of youth players.

Essen’s U19 coach Simon Hohenberg spoke to Forecasting about the upcoming restructuring of the youth leagues. These have been criticized in the past by, among others, BVB managing director Hans-Joachim Watzke, who is himself vice president of the DFB.

Hohenberg was also skeptical at first, as he revealed to Forecasting: “I’m really excited to see what this will bring and I’m open to a positive surprise. My first impulse was to view it critically because, in my opinion, a certain competitive pressure is also part of the training.”

Hohenberg did not accept the argument that the elimination of the pressure to perform (teams with a youth academy will no longer suffer a decline in performance) should bring the development of talent back to the fore instead of short-term sporting success, and sees the responsibility here with the clubs: “I know there are teams that only go for the result and choose a destructive style of play that may be more successful in the first instance, but I think that’s something that lies with the clubs. The new system may force the clubs a bit more to do so, but I’m relatively sure that certain clubs won’t change their style of play anyway.”

When I see that some teams in the U11s are playing on a large field where the boys then only have five touches of the ball per hour, it’s just not beneficial

Simon Hohenberg

But the U19 coach of RWE is not one of those who can’t see the benefits of the reforms in youth football. This can be seen, for example, in his attitude towards the game formats for younger age groups, who will in future play on small fields in teams of three (the so-called “Funino” mode). Hohenberg was very positive about this: “I think it’s vital that we play more small-sided games with the younger players. When I see teams in the U11s playing on a big pitch and the boys only getting five touches of the ball per hour, it’s just not good enough. The boys need the ball at their feet.”

While it may take a few years before the effects of the new forms of play in children’s soccer can be measured, Hohenberg and the RWE U19 team will determine in the coming season whether the lack of pressure to perform in the newly created junior league is making a difference. Initially, the teams are to be divided into regional groups that do not depend on association boundaries. So here RWE could meet Schalke, Dortmund, Bochum or Duisburg.