ETS & PSS
As from 2015 ETS will team up with Panathinaikos Soccer Schools (PSS). PSS is a football school network with branches/outlets all over Greece, USA, Australia, Poland, Germany, Serbia, Egypt, Israel, Cyprus and the world which operate under the aegis and with the certification of Panathinaikos FC.
The Network is constantly growing and is also building a dynamic presence abroad with certified soccer schools.
The Network’s objective is to offer a complete sports education to children between 5-17 years old in order to reach the prime of their soccer abilities through an educational and competitive process which follows the notions of “fair play”, emulation and the spirit of
competition. These core values have always characterized the long history of Panathinaikos FC.
The competitive evaluation of the young athletes is based on strict scientific methods, thus giving the opportunity to the most talented of them to join the academies and the competitive teams of Panathinaikos FC.
ETS headed up by Lloyd Tuffney has teamed up with Panathinaikos Soccer Schools - South Africa (PSS) as performance director for the new centre of Excellence in the Western Suburbs of JHB. ETS have the advantage of owning their own grounds. With a "2022 vision" aimed at preparing and delivering young players capable of being sent for trials to European clubs within six - eight years from now, with the first steps on that path already taken.
“A performance strategy has been implemented which will contain youth team set ups from U6 to U17 and the most important objective is to start building a new generation of young football talent. In 2022, the level of the players coming through our football education system has to be of a higher level.”
“We are looking for two fundamental changes: the players' mentality and their style of play. "We've set out in a booklet the way we want to play. "We are starting to work with these boys in a 4-3-3 – a new philosophy of playing football, a more continental style.
"I've analysed all of the successful teams in the world and I couldn't find any team that didn't play 4-3-3 – the Spanish, the Germans, the Dutch. You can see there's a benchmark, they were always playing a 4-3-3 or a flexible 4-3-3.
"It's not always possible because you need to have the players for it and the level of the players can dictate whether you can play like Spain, or you have to play like Bafana. In SA they have an ocean to choose from yet we only have a pond. We have to find a mix, but eventually it has to be a blueprint and patience is required.
"It's also a bit about the mindset in this country; it's not 'we can do it' but more 'let's see if we can do it'. In this country the coaches are a bit overconfident and that's our downfall at times. I always say to the boys: 'We are better than we think we are.'"
“We are always humbly looking to learn and improve and that is why this set-up has been created because we want to share the youth development experience and philosophy PSS brings along".
