The Goalkeeper Department was born in the middle of this year, with the aim of promoting the feeling of belonging and the qualities of the goalkeepers within the youth academy.
Málaga CF goalkeeper coach, Toni Mengual, combines his daily life in the first team with being the head of a specific department whose main objective is to create a goalkeeper model made in MCF.
“We are working on different content. The main idea is to share that specific training and adapt it in stages. The aim is to help them in their sports and personal training, conveying the Club’s values,” Toni said to MCFTV.
Francisco de la Torre Castillo, known as 'Caco', is the coach of the Atlético Malagueño goalkeepers and coordinates the department working side by side with Mengual. “It’s important to create that feeling of belonging, those values that the Club demands of us from a sporting aspect,” he stated.
Mondays, known as 'The day of the goalkeeper', are of utmost importance as they bring together the goalkeepers from the MCF Academy youth teams at the start of each week. Prebenjamines, Benjamines and Alevines (7-a-side), and Infantiles, Cadetes and Juveniles (11-a-side) train together, either at the Federación Malagueña ground or El Viso, showing their abilities and progress. “It's an exciting day for everyone and you enjoy watching them progress,” highlighted Mengual. “The demanding training creates camaraderie,” said 'Caco'.
Málaga CF’s Sporting Department, headed up by Manolo Gaspar, deems this department very important, not only for improving the technical and tactical qualities of the goalkeepers, but also in order to strengthen the player's sentimental bond with the Club from a very early age.
“We’re very happy, but we’re ambitious and we want to improve. We have a joint philosophy, from the first team to the youngest, using the same model both in defence and attack. The work is being carried out, we can see the progress of the goalkeepers,” said Toni Mengual in relation to the first months of this department, aiming for the constant improvement and the commitment to continue growing each day.
