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Harambee Stars legend Dennis Oliech has identified one problem hindering Kenyan football academies from producing world-beating footballers.
Former Harambee Stars captain Dennis Oliech has identified the flaws within Kenyan football academies, which he blames for not producing good young footballers.
Oliech, who played in France for nine years with Nantes, Auxerre and Ajaccio, says he was shocked at how training sessions are conducted in Europe unlike what he had was used to back home.
“African football is different from European football, especially on tactics. We are behind in things like ball control, juggling…you get there and you feel like you don’t know football,” Oliech told Radio 47.
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“In Europe, there is no 11-aside training, they play seven, eight or nine-aside because with 11-aside, players will get tired. They do it to make the pitch small so that everyone gets the ball.
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“In 11-aside, you will find a full-back staying for minutes without touching the ball and the training is just one-and-a-half hours.”
Oliech says such things are taught at academy level in Europe where there is an emphasis on basics like ball control and passing but have been overlooked by most Kenyan academies, whose intention is to make a quick buck.
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“At least in Kenya now we have many academies but the problem is that they are in it for the money,” Oliech went on.
“In our academies, when you bring a kid and start teaching them passing, they feel like they have not played. They go and tell their parents that they did not enjoy it, not knowing that where he is going, that is the system.
“So, a kid wants to play 11-aside to enjoy the game but they do not know how to control or pass the ball. They just want to hit the ball and as they grow older, they do not know these basics.”
Kenya’s second all-time top scorer with 34 goals revealed how he was forced to learn the basics when he switched to France and wants this to be the emphasis in Kenyan academies, otherwise they will struggle to produce well nurtured young players.
“It affected even me when I went to Nantes, controlling the ball was a problem and I had to start afresh,” said Oliech.
“Those are the things we need to be teaching in these academies. Passing should be done everyday until you perfect it but our kids will tell their parents they did not enjoy it and they will be taken to another academy. We have to change that attitude and system.”
Oliech played for Nantes for one season between 2006 and 2007 before moving to Auxerre where he stayed for five years, leaving in 2012 to join Ajaccio for a two-year stint.
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