Takumi Minamino grew up learning to play the game in Japan based around the Coerver Coaching method. And now he’s signed with one of if not the best football team in the world, Liverpool. Minamino joins Liverpool after staring for Red Bull Salzburg. I’d like to hear Minamino talk more about how he used the Coerver method in the early stages of his youth soccer career.
Liverpool’s January signing Takumi Minamino made his Liverpool debut versus Everton in the FA Cup third round on Sunday, playing 70 minutes before being subbed off for Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.
Here’s every touch of the Coerver kid in his first game for Liverpool. At about the two minute mark in the video Minamino should have scored with a header! Yes, Coerver is more about mastering the soccer ball at your feet and not so much heading! Minamino has a bright future at Liverpool as an attacking midfielder who takes people on.
And expect more “Coerver kids” from Japan to sign with big European clubs soon too. This from ESPN:
A raft of Coerver graduates have gone on to represent the Japan national team but the wider breakthrough of Japanese players into elite club level has been restricted to only a handful of players including Shinji Kagawa, Shinji Okazaki, Maya Yoshida and more recently, Takumi Minamino at Liverpool.
Here’s Minamino scoring for Liverpool and Coerver founder Alfred Galustian tweeting about it.
Proud of Japan Coerver Kid Minamino https://t.co/DwNHeNLLMY
— Alfred Galustian (@coerveralf) August 29, 2020
The rise of Takumi Minamino – from Coerver kid to Liverpool signing:
Minamino always had a great hunger for football. As a kid, he defied his brother’s orders and followed him to training, playing against players older and stronger than him. Even at such a young age there were signs of his talent and determination.
His coach at the time, Keita Yoshikawa, recalled Minamino as follows in an interview with Coerver. “Takumi was a rare being who could continue to work even at higher levels.”
At Cerezo Osaka’s academy, Minamino would stun managers and coaches with his explosive style of play. He’d pester his opponents and fight for the ball as if his life depended on it.
And he’d usually top the scoring charts, too. Even in Japanese football, which is heavily concentrated on team-work and hard-press, Minamino stuck out like a sore thumb with his aggression and skill.
