The captain and goalkeeper of the Ukraine U-19 national team, David Fesyuk, has received dual registration in Croatia. Fesyuk will continue to work with Hajduk's first team and play for the youth team, but will now also have the opportunity to play in the Croatian second league for NK Croacija.
Давид ФесюкIn order for a young player to progress quickly, they are given the opportunity to gain experience in adult football. When you play for a long time at the same level, you need new challenges to continue to progress. Adult football at the level of the Croatian second league opens up new opportunities and gives you new experience. Everything is faster, there is more power football, there is responsibility to the audience, pressure from the opposing fans. All this is not available at the level of youth football.
Plus, it is an individual motivation for a young player. He goes beyond his own limits. He learns something new. He builds his relationship with a team of adult footballers. The main thing is that you come out of a warm bathroom. Fesyuk is the main player of the Haiduk youth team, he trains with the first team all the time, and has a strong position in the Ukrainian youth team (he became captain in autumn). It seems that somewhere he can calm down, because for a goalkeeper of his age, this is already quite a lot. The lower league, adult football, is a trigger that does not allow you to stand still, to get better, to move forward. When you play for one of the best academies in Croatia, you can't have a lot of work a priori. In the autumn, central defender Luka Vušković, who was bought by Tottenham for almost €14 million, played for Hajduk's youth team. And at the level of the eighth team of the second division of Croatia, there will be many times more work. Every goalkeeper has to concede his or her conditional thousand goals before achieving success.
If a young player (especially a goalkeeper) is thrown into the top flight of almost any country at this age, almost everyone will have problems. Only a few can win competitions at the age of 17-18. There needs to be a gradual transition from youth football to adult football. The player must gain experience and skills that he can use later. When you play for the first team of your club right away, you have nerves, lack of experience, because it's all new. Through the lower leagues, a player acquires the necessary qualities. Then he becomes more ready for the first team.
Hajduk has two sister clubs - NK Croacija and Solin (generally in last place in the second league), which are located near Split. The most talented young people join these clubs. They don't even have to change their place of residence. On the right days, the player goes to training and matches. He lives, eats, is treated, and gets paid in Split.
This approach is much more effective than the youth championship. Because with all due respect, the youth championship is not yet adult football. "Borussia, Barcelona, Ajax, and Juventus have second teams at the lower divisions, where young players gain experience in adult football, not youth or youth football. These clubs know how to educate young players. Haiduk doesn't have the money for a second team. That's why they use neighbouring clubs to develop their youngsters. For such teams, this is also a plus, because they get players for free for a certain period of time and do not have to spend their own money.
Serhii Tyshchenko
