Secret is to find best local players with brilliant scouting, says Stuttgart's Thomas Krucken

VFB Stuttgart's academy director spoke to Khel Now in an exclusive interview.

Thomas Krucken is the Academy Director at German Bundesliga outfit VFB Stuttgart. The club is one of the most prestigious institutions in Germany that regularly produces sensational young players and gives them a platform to shine.

Khel Now’s Ashish Negi spoke to Thomas Krucken about several important topics in an exclusive conversation recently. He spoke about the Indian U-17 football team that was training with the coaches at VFB Stuttgart at the time. The Blue Cubs were defeated 1-3 by VFB Stuttgart juniors in a training game as part of the preparations for the AFC U-17 Asian Cup.

“We are proud that you are here and feel familiar with the club. Our coaches are very motivated to give their best.” Krucken said enthusiastically.

In addition, Thomas also gave an insight into how VFB Stuttgart scouts and what is the process of transitioning a youth player into the national team. Here are the excerpts from the exclusive interview.

On producing young stars

VFB Stuttgart is popular for developing young players. In this context, Thomas Krucken explains the club’s vision and said, “It is true that this is a very popular place for developing young football players. It is part of the vision of the club to produce and develop young players. One secret is to have a brilliant recruitment and scouting department to find the best local players. The other thing is how to develop and work with players and we do it in a very individual way. For instance, 50% of our sessions in our program is what the player needs in the position at the age of U-6, that’s where we start with.”

“A centre-back needs a totally different style of training than the winger needs and this is what we do in seven sessions a week. These are the two secrets for us.” he continued.

Scouting process 

Explaining the scouting process of the club, Thomas Krucken said, “Till the age group of Under-15, we scout regionally, 100km around from Stuttgart. We have 12 satellite centres so that a player does not have to sit on a bus for two hours (to the session). They work in our training style. The best players come here at the club and we have a look at them and that is how we recruit our Under-11 team.”

"So it is a massive operation, we start to look for players nationally from Under-15 and internationally from Under-17. It is our vision that we try to work with regional and local players.” he said, putting emphasis on scouting local talent in the younger age groups.

Advice to youngsters

Working with young players is a challenge. Recognising this aspect of youth development, Thomas Krucken advised, “I think the most important thing in my experience is persistence. They do their best and work hard every day. It is not easy for everybody to go to the gym three times a week but they have to work hard in their position, don’t look at what others do, look at yourself and be the best you can be every day.”

Transitioning from youth to senior level

Knowing when to promote a youth player to the senior team takes instinct and experience. Thomas explains how this is a team effort at Stuttgart by saying, “It is important to find the right time to put them into the first team programme. When it is too early, it is not good for the player as the first-team coach thinks that the player is not ready or good enough. We do it as a team, the first-team staff meets weekly to talk about the weekly program of the player.” 

“So, they know everything about the player, how they work, behave, and play and that’s the secret - working closely with each other. We decide as a team as to when is the correct time for a young player to train with the senior team,” he added.

Importance of media interaction

Thomas Krucken is of the opinion that international exchanges are crucial in the development of young players. He said, “It is important for us to give this international experience to the players, to get in touch with other cultures. It is so good that despite not knowing each other’s language, they are doing the same sport - football - and for the development of young people, it is outstanding.”

Laurin Ulrich and other young prospects

Thomas suggests that the 18-year-old Laurin Ulrich is one of their best academy products and there are more players willing to follow in his footsteps. He said, “Laurin Ulrich is one of our best players and we have several other players who we believe in. We are 100% motivated. Playing against Bayer Leverkusen was the first step for him and I am sure in the next two years, about four players from the 2004 to 2006 age group will play in the Bundesliga for VFB Stuttgart.”