David Serano, Coordinator at the Ludogorets children and youth football academy: The kids at the academy are talented an ambitious

The coordinator at Ludogorets Academy – David Serano, was interviewed for the club’s official site.

- David, how did you end up joining the Ludogorets’ team and was it easy for you to take on such a challenge?
- I spoke to Jose Portoles who had previous experience here. He managed to convince me in just a minute about the ambition and potential of the project and all the related opportunities. Considering the already completed brand new club base, the coach staff – the best in the country, the fine selection of young players from all ages and the support of the management and the owner Mr. Kiril Domuschiev, we have all the chances to achieve high results and contribute to the further development of Ludogorets as a whole. Even better, we can rely on Jose Portoles’ support, who is among the best specialists in working with young players in the world and has a lot of knowledge gained in the countries with the highest football level. This is a serious advantage and we rely on it.

- What is your opinion about the conditions provided by the club?
- In the club everything is at a maximum level – organization, professional level of the team members and staff and condition. The same applies for the new facility which offers the best possible conditions for practice in Bulgaria and maybe even on the Balkans. To be more specific, I should add that we are talking about a European elite facility level. We should not underestimate that Razgrad is a small town and there isn’t much here to distract our young players, they are entirely focused on the game and is easier to maintain their discipline on the correct level.

- What is your opinion about the level of the boys at the academy, do you see in them the potential to be professional players one day?
- There are many good players. Our main goal is to be able to provide the main team with the most talented players in the country, but this is a long and complicated process and it will take time. We are here to help with whatever we can for these children to develop their potential – training sessions, games and both individually and team analysis. There is a certain way of seeing thing in Spain, but we have to adapt our methods to the Bulgarian point of view of the game and thus be able to help shape the skills. But as I said, it will take time and patience, although we already experience some good days – not long ago we won 5:0 over Levski (Sofia) in a game for the Cup, and the total score from all the games was 9:2.

- Which are the strong sides of the naturally gifted children in Bulgaria?
The technique is a natural skill with most of them and that is a good thing, for which the other can be envious. The best thing is that they have the desire to learn and grow. Their ambition is so big that they spend all day chasing us and asking how to improve themselves.

- What should the boys be working on mostly?
- The most of the work is on the tactical part of the game. The evolution of football globally is very fast, literally everyday there is something new. We are following the trends in Germany, Spain, England and the other leading countries in order to be informed and up to date, and we try to deliver all of this to the boys.

- Is there time for fun among all the work?
- This is always a part of everything we do. If a player cannot enjoy the game and feel pleasure doing it, there are always problems. We know that the young players need the time to enjoy themselves, to have free time for family and friends, to study, but when in a training session all that they are thinking of should be football.

- What is more important – results and trophies or building at least a few quality players?
We never cared much for specific results and do not require such from the coaches. If we keep working at such a high level, equal to the best in the world, results will eventually come both individually and as a team. Not everyone will make it for the main team, the level there is like the one in “Champions League” – the best in the world. We must demand the maximum performance of the boys and we truly believe that someday a few of them will not only be part of the main team, but will also ne transferred to big European clubs.