Finch Farm
They have a network all around Liverpool. They have many “spies” that keep track of their players wherever they go. He (Neil Dewsnip) used one example of two boys being caught in a restaurant having a bottle of wine. They confessed, were fined and given a three week suspension. Dewsnip spoke of Wayne Rooney and his time in Everton youth academy. They new where he was 24 hours a day. If he was in some sort of trouble, there was someone close by to pull him out immediately.
Everton is employing a sophisticated electronic monitoring system. The players wear belts around their chests (like heart rate monitor), but the field is surrounded by sensors to report back to a central laptop on the field about each players’ heart rate and muscle reaction. The information indicates when players are properly warmed up and ready to train; if a player is having a hard day physically; or if players are ready to come back from injury. They even go so far as to take small blood samples before or after training to measure glycogen levels and to monitor the athlete’s health and nutrition.
Excerpts from “NSCAA Master Coach Class Trip to England” by Lang Wedemeyer, NSCAA Staff Coach
soccer journal November-December 2008, Vol. 53 No.7
