The project that began last season to revamp the Cremonese Youth Squads continued this season with the addition of several new coaches plus the appointments of Regis Le Bris, and Alejandro Rosalen, as the Under 20s and the Under 18s manager respectively. Ultimately, I would still like to upgrade on Le Bris despite him being a recent arrival but he’s still quite the upgrade on Antonio Cassano who had previously held the position for the best part of two decades. So far the revamp seems to be working well with both youth squads winning their respective leagues last season while also looking good to repeat that this year.

Fabian Birkenbach



Nothing but my own indecision has been responsible for holding back Fabian’s development at the club. When he first arrived the plan was to turn him into a right back in the mould of Damian Puente but as time has gone on I’ve come to notice we’ll soon have quite a big gap in the defensive midfield position what with Kalinin now approaching his 34th birthday. So, with that in mind, Birkenbach has now been assigned as the third choice defensive midfielder with the plan of having him succeed Roden in the B-Team when Roden eventually moves up to replace Kalinin as the starter. It’s not ideal for the lad but I need to do what’s best for the club and at the moment he can offer more in a central role where we’re lacking for numbers.



Current PPMs: Dictates Tempo

Nathan Bull





The plan initially was for Bull to make the jump to the senior squad at the beginning of the current season but due to injuries, he ended up being fast-tracked into the first team at the end of the previous season. Even going on to feature in the disastrous Cup Final loss to Pescara that will take a long time to live down but hopefully it will prove a good learning experience for the lad in the long run. As for his current development, well for the most part he’s been training with the senior squad while turning out for the Under 20s during the first half of the season but now that he’s fleshed out a little attribute wise and with his tutoring completed, I want to see how well he can cope with being the B-Team starting left back for the rest of the season.

Current PPMs: Stays Back At All Times

Neil Jules



With Abdelaziz Hamzaoui suffering yet another long-term injury this season the club needed another midfielder to step up and take his place alongside Lucas in the B-Team. I had initially planned to rotate a few different options in the role before giving the best performer the nod for the rest of the season but Neil Jules had other ideas. Right from his very first start this season the English midfielder has been utterly fantastic in the Roaming Playmaker role and as he shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon he’ll likely own that place in the team right through to the end of the campaign. Particularly impressive have been his driven long balls over the top of the defensive line for our attackers to run onto and it’s just great to see a young player with the vision to execute such moves.

Current PPMs: Looks For Pass Rather Than Attempting To Score, Dives Into Tackles

Dionysis Zisis



The downside to Nathan Jules brilliant performances this season is that chances have been few and far between for the likes of Dionysis Zisis who is for all intents and purposes his direct opposition for a starting place. Perhaps if Zisis hadn’t missed the opening game through poor fitness things would have been different but for now he’s stuck playing second fiddle to Jules and mostly turning out for the Under 20s. I am hoping to use him more with the first team squad during the second half of the season, however.

Current PPMs: Runs With Ball Often

Francois Laborde



An interesting talent and certainly an underused one so far but with Hamzaoui’s injury record to date there may well soon be a permanent opening in the B-Team for an Advanced Playmaker and Laborde will be top of the queue for those looking to act as understudy to Futschik. His failure to add any new PPM’s to his game ,however, has been quite the disappointment but the focus from here on out is solely on improving his attributes and gaining him some more first team experience.

Current PPMs: Likes To Lob Keeper

Kamil Byczkowski



Made the jump to the senior squad this season and despite spending most of his playing time with the Under 20s he’s been given a few chances of late in the minor competitions such as the Club World Cup where he performed admirably, and the TIM Cup. The plan from here is to keep utilising him in the TIM Cup throughout the remainder of the season while also using him as relief for the likes of Pop and Bertin in the league campaign.

Current PPMs: None

Riccardo Mariani



Stepped up last season to force his way into the B-Team ahead of Huet on the left flank and with the Frenchman suffering a bad injury this summer Mariani has been able to carry on in the role. He may face some stiff competition in the second half of the campaign, however, with Huet returning to fitness soon and the youngster Tartaglione needing more game-time.

Current PPMs: Places Shots, Runs With Ball Often

Matteo Tartaglione



I am extremely excited about this guy and ,as a result, I’m really keen to get him included in the first team as soon as possible. To date, the majority of his experience has come with the Under 18s and Under 20s but I’ve now removed him from Under 20s duty so that he can spend the rest of the season either starting against weaker opposition or acting as an option from the bench. He’s performed well for the first team when called upon already, even going so far as to score a wonderful hat-trick during his TIM Cup debut against Vicenza just a few days ago.

Current PPMs: Tries First Time Shots

Juan Pedro



It’s unfortunate that a recent injury has robbed us of Juan Pedro as an option for the first team over the next few months as the youngster was really starting to impress of late. At the moment, he’s the third choice striker at the club but if he can kick on a bit more he may very well be capable of displacing Alper Gursoy in the B-Team set up. I’m also tempted to take him to the upcoming European Championship’s with the Spanish National Team in what would absolutely be a serious case of cronyism.

Current PPMs: Avoids Using Weaker Foot

Roberto Chianese



A Cremonese Youth Academy product who came through last years youth intake and, as a result, made the signing of Francois Laborde look somewhat redundant. During my time at the club the academy has produced some decently talented footballers but in terms of raw ability Roberto Chianese may just eclipse them all. Development wise Chianese has been focused on picking up the Advanced Playmaker role as best as he can while also looking to improve his somewhat lacklustre passing ability. I’ve high hopes for him at present and would love to see him possibly assume the Bastian Futschik role for the club one day but it’s entirely possible I just have my academy product tinted glasses on.

Current PPMs: Plays One-Two’s

Ian Leese



Signed last summer for a hefty 10.25m with the aim of him perhaps one day being good enough to succeed the legendary Alexandru Pop. That’s a tall order for any player, so for now, the priority is to simply give him the platform to succeed. At present that means helping him adapt to his new surroundings with language lessons and getting some quality tutoring time in with Rachid Saidi. Something which already appears to be paying off with Leese graduating from a Fairly Ambitious personality type to Determined during his short time at the club. Given that the plan is mostly to work with what Leese already has he’s being trained as a Winger but with some special attention also being paid to his Stamina and Strength which could do with some improvement.

Current PPMs: Likes To Switch Ball To Other Flank

Stephane Boumal



Since arriving last summer Boumal has shown remarkable improvement in a number of areas which is rather impressive given he’s only been with the club for around 6 months or so. His tutoring, at the hands of Dmitry Kalinin, has perhaps been responsible for the majority of that change as the former light-hearted player now has a far more professional resolute personality which is likely being reflected in his attribute improvement. He’s also quite capable of playing in a number of positions which is a valuable asset but currently, I see no reason to develop him as anything but a rampaging left full back.

Current PPMs: None

Simone Bontempi



Another prospect to have come through the ranks of the Cremonese Youth Academy last season and this time in a position that the first team squad is somewhat lacking too. With Linares getting on a bit and the likes of Da Silva and Abreu yet to prove they are worthy successors to the Spaniard there could be quite the opportunity for a homegrown player like Bontempi to succeed. For now, though, he’s going to carry on learning the fundamentals of the Cremonese system with the Under 18s before hopefully progressing to the first team squad in the summer

Current PPMs: Plays Short Simple Passes