Head of player development Darren Ryan has spoken about the large emphasis the academy have on producing players for the international stage.
A number of players who are coming through the Compton Park ranks have featured at international level this season, while others are regularly in the thoughts of their national team coaches and have been placed on standby. Ryan believes that although the priority is, and has always been, to produce players for the Wolves first-team, there is a real focus on providing players with an opportunity to get themselves into an international set-up. And when those selections do arise, Ryan says it is a pat on the back for both the individual and also the work of the coaches within the academy building.
On getting international recognition
“You’re always looking at your own programme but to get the international recognition is a bonus.
“First and foremost it’s about Wolves and what we’re doing here and the players are developing through our programme. It’s really good to see the international recognition we’re getting with the players now.
“When you do have those international breaks, we’re having quite a lot of emails coming through of international teams wanting our players and I think it’s down to the good work that’s being done at the academy.”
On producing players for the international stage
“There’s a big emphasis on it. To get international recognition is a massive achievement for the individual first and foremost, but also for the club.
“We’ve done a bit of a review over the last few months about how the programme has developed and the international recognition we’re getting now.
“When we started in 2020 with an individual based programme to where we are now with the number of players we’ve got playing international football has massively risen.
“We don’t want to stand still, we want to produce more international players – that’s the aim going forward, to get more recognition for our players.”
On players being in a different environment
“To get picked for your country is a massive achievement. Going into a different environment, psychologically and socially, for them to be around players at different clubs and how they interact.
“It’s interesting when we go out to watch the players to see how they interact with the other players off the pitch.
“I went out to France to watch Luke Rawlings and Wes Okoduwa for England under-16s and you always wait for them after the game, they come up and speak to you. It’s interesting to see how they interact with the other players, the coaches and the different teams they play with different styles.
“The tournament was about winning and they won the tournament so they’re in that pressure environment where they’ve gone there and the focus, speaking to Neil Ryan from England, was to win the tournament which they did – they succeeded in what they set out to do.”
Wes Okoduwa and Luke Rawlings on @England under-16 duties 🦁 pic.twitter.com/hOsJofdK0I
— Wolves Academy (@WolvesAcademy) November 3, 2023
On the work being done at the academy
“It just shows how the academy has developed over the last four or five years. We get a lot of the (international) coaches coming to watch our 15s, 16s and 18s games.
“That’s a massive pat on the back for the work that’s being done here and it just shows how far we’ve come.
“The same with the Wales boys – Brayden (Clarke) and Makenzie (Bradbury) were away. It was a pity for Makenzie because he got injured in the first game but they’ve obviously qualified to go into the elite round for the under-17 Euros.
“It’s a massive achievement for Brayden and Makenzie. Brayden was involved in the tournament earlier this year so for him to be involved again is a great opportunity and you want them to progress through these rounds so they end up playing in top championships.”
Copa America qualification for Dexter Lembikisa and Jamaica 🇯🇲
— Wolves Academy (@WolvesAcademy) November 22, 2023
Brayden Clarke and Makenzie Bradbury move a step closer to #U17EURO 🏴
On Dexter Lembikisa’s Jamaica exploits
“It’s been fantastic for Dexter. Watching him develop at Rotherham, he’s playing week in week out and you can see how he’s developing on the pitch.
“I know Steve Davis has a lot of contact with Dexter and I drop him the odd text. He’s gone onto duty with a really tough schedule and we were reviewing it and looking at what it’s been like for the 10 days while he’s been away with Jamaica.
“He came back for the Leeds fixture which was a really tough game, but to qualify with Jamaica was fantastic for him.
On not standing still
“We’ve got to keep producing these players – first and foremost for the Wolves first-team but also that international recognition as well.
“We speak to the lads when they come back and they really enjoy going away, playing for their country and being in that environment.
“It’s good for them to get out of this environment and experience other environments, playing against other teams and countries, socially as well with different players from other clubs.”
Academy players with recent international recognition:
Dexter Lembikisa (Jamaica), Owen Hesketh (Wales U21), Tyler Roberts (Jamaica U21), Palmi Arinbjornsson (Iceland U21), Marvin Kaleta (DR Congo U20), Aaron Keto-Diyawa (DR Congo U20), Nathan Fraser (Republic of Ireland U19), Jimmy Storer (Republic of Ireland U19), Lewys Benjamin (Wales U19), Caden Voice (England U18) Leon Chiwome (England U17), Alvin Ayman (England U17 standby), Brayden Clarke (Wales U17), Makenzie Bradbury (Wales U17) Bjorn Marwa (Norway U17), Luke Rawlings (England U16), Wes Okoduwa (England U16), Emilio Ballard-Matthews (England U16), David Osifo (Austria U16).
