Chelsea’s U18’s coach on what he learned from Brendan Rodgers, Neil Bath

Chelsea develop coaches as well as players at Cobham by having them follow a similar progression through the age groups. U18’s assistant coach James Simmonds talked about what he learned from two of his youth coaches and how he applies that as a coach himself.

Part of the success of Chelsea’s youth players in the first team this season stemmed from the decision to bring Jody Morris and Joe Edwards from the academy staff to Frank Lampard’s first team staff. Morris and Edwards progressed through the ranks of the academy as coaches in tandem with many of the players they now oversee at the top level.

Cobham is as much a site for coaching development as it is for the players. Most of the coaches in the Chelsea youth levels have worked their way up, starting with the U8’s, through the U12’s, into the teens and ultimately to the U18’s, Academy and Development teams. This is every bit as effective for coaches as it is for players, particularly those coaches who did not have much of a playing career. Remember: the Frank Lampard path is the absolute exception, and even other players should not expect to follow it.

James Simmonds played his youth football at Chelsea and had a short professional career before moving into coaching. He started with the Blues’ U8’s, and is now the assistant coach for the U18’s.

Two of his coaches when he played for Chelsea’s academy were Neil Bath – currently the Head of Youth Development – and Brendan Rodgers.

Simmonds talked about what he learned from these two coaches with The Coaches’ Voice Academy (pay wall).

Bath “created a culture where everyone would feel like they let themselves down – and him, if we hadn’t given 100%. So not giving 100% or reaching that level was unacceptable. He struck a real good balance between balance and high standards in training as well as matches.”

Having worked his way up the age groups as a player and as a coach, Simmonds understands how training has to progress and stay appropriate to the players’ age and level. The early year focus on the fundamentals of techniques. As the players progress, tactics take on a larger share of the sessions.

Simmonds played under Bath at an earlier age, so he recalls how Bath “was massive on your core techniques: making sure you’re balanced on both feet, heading technique, volleying techniques, dribbling techniques. He brought those techniques to life in real situations.”

A few years later, he was playing for Brendan Rodgers.

"What I loved is the variety and creativity he brought into all his sessions. It was always fun but also challenging… Say he was watching the Champions League the night before. The next day he would come in and we would work on certain movements the likes of Xavi and Iniesta would work on in midfield.Bringing in real examples, particularly visual examples, is something I’ve looked to take on board."

Rodgers also taught Simmonds the importance of teaching: coaches have to communicate what they are doing and why. This way the players learn how to apply those lessons and techniques to a wide variety of circumstances, but it also helps the players buy in to the training: if they know why and how something is important and will help them improve, they are obviously much more likely to do it. Also, if they know that they coach knows why they are doing something, his credibility with the group goes up.

“He always had a purpose to the things he was doing, and he would always communicate that.”

For people who follow coaching and management, the Chelsea system offers plenty of fodder for conversations about who might go on to make it big somewhere else, and who might someday be on the touchline or alongside the head coach at Stamford Bridge – just like we do with the young players.

Hopefully the Lampard – Morris – Edwards triumvirate will stay atop the first team for some time, which may create a bottleneck for youth coaches ready to move up to the first team. Like the players, they may need to go elsewhere to get the first team experience they crave, and then hope the timing works out for them to return to Stamford Bridge.

If promoting youth coaches to the first team bench is another precedent Frank Lampard is setting, perhaps Simmonds or one of his colleagues will be the right hand man for John Terry in a few years.