Marios Alexandris: We are here to build the future for the pupils of FA "Kryvbas"

The director of the Kryvyi Rih Football Academy "Kryvbas" Marios Alexandris answered the questions of the online publication Football 24. The most relevant moments of the conversation are for your attention.

- How much have you changed the methodology since your arrival at "Kryvbas"?

- It was a complete replacement. We have to work on players and develop them with different methods compared to those that were before us. It is logical when a new person comes to the club and wants to work differently, to improve the process.

- Are you responsible for the methodology of "UFC-Kryvbas", which is located in Dnipro?

- UFC also has a very strong academy. There is a strong connection between us. But they use their own strategic plan, I am not involved in this.

- What are your personal goals while working at "Kryvbas"?

- First of all, the Academy is not a race, not a sprint. This process is not completed in 10 seconds. This is a constant development. For me personally and the Club, it means seeing our players in the first team, youth, youth, and then in the national team, Ukrainian and European clubs. We are here to build a future for these children.

- Children's football in a frontline city - how difficult is it?

- If I, a person from Greece, am used to the situation that exists here, then what can I say about the locals? I have never had the experience of life during the war. Children live with their parents in Kryvyi Rih, some live with us in the academy hotel and they are much more used to life here. As bad as it may sound, people get used to life during the war.

There are safer places, but in reality you cannot be completely safe in any corner of Ukraine. The situation can worsen anywhere and at any time. I wish this situation to end as soon as possible so that no more innocent people die. This goes beyond football, and people all over the world should understand the situation that has developed here.

- Should the player transfer system be changed so that richer clubs do not lure young talents from small clubs?

- We cannot deny that Dynamo, Ruh, Shakhtar have excellent Academies that prove that they do a very good job on a regular basis. But if there was no war here, we do not know how the situation would have developed then.

Every country has rules regarding youth football. In my homeland, free transfers of players are not allowed at any level. A club can take a player on condition that they sign a professional contract and pay compensation for upbringing according to FIFA rules.

The system in Ukraine gives an advantage to more reputable or richer clubs. Anyone can transfer for free. To keep a player, you need to sign a professional contract. Having a professional contract in a professional team is the greatest peak of a career in Europe. For them it is a big thing, they want to achieve it. But in Ukraine it is the tool that allows you to keep a player in the club.

We offer contracts only to those players who, in our opinion, have a future in our Club and the potential to play for the first team one day. Therefore, we lose the main element of development. Players should try to become professionals, understand that the Club believes in them.

People should review these rules. If there are three teams in Ukrainian football, then why do all the others try? I hear that 2-3 teams put young players. They make transfers from other countries. But if you have lost the main talents, then what will you work on? If you have lost a player, then you should receive compensation. This is your job, what you have worked on all these years. This is how Europe works in youth football.

- Kryvbas' head coach Patrick van Leeuwen also worked a lot in youth football: he was a methodologist at Feyenoord and headed the youth sector of Shakhtar. Does that help you?

- Of course, we have constant communication. He is an excellent professional with experience of successful work. Van Leeuwen's invitation also shows how the club thinks. Kryvbas thinks a lot about youth and youth football if it invites a coach who knows how to work with young people.

Patrick takes young players. He knows how to motivate them, how to train them when they come to the first team. If you have a coach of an adult team who doesn't care about youth teams, then what we are building in the academy makes no sense.

Media of FC "Kryvbas" Kryvyi Rih according to the materials Football 24