Nara Club’s methodology department, under the leadership of the Ekkono Method, has released its annual report highlighting significant achievements in sporting results and club growth. The department, headed by Darío Rodríguez and supported by the Ekkono Engine team in Barcelona, has successfully established a recognizable club identity and enhanced overall performance.
Below you will find a summary of the most important points discussed in the annual report.
Key Achievements (2021-2023):
Processes Implemented:
New Initiatives for 2024-2025:
Nara Club aims to continue its upward trajectory by consolidating existing processes and incorporating new initiatives to strengthen its identity and community ties.
Mitsuru Hamada, Nara club’s president states: “Investing in the long-term development of Nara Club is one of the most important strategic lines. It is precisely for this reason that, in 2021, I decided that if we wanted a strong, stable club with its own identity, it was necessary to develop a methodology department. Three years later, I couldn’t be more satisfied with the results achieved, as well as the work carried out by all the club’s staff”.
On the occasion of the start of the 2024 season, HJK Helsinki and Ekkono Soccer Services announce their collaboration agreement. This agreement involves HJK Helsinki’s use of a license for the Ekkono Pro Data service.
The service, entirely focused on the performance of the Finnish club’s first team, will allocate all its resources to the individual improvement of players, game analysis, and support in scouting processes. In all cases, the focus will be purely technical. In other words, the Ekkono Pro Data service will provide tools, resources, and knowledge so that players, staff, and responsible individuals can make better decisions with the maximum amount of quality information available.
During the preseason, both organizations have dedicated time to testing the service and adapting it to the club’s actual needs.
To kick off the 2024 season, an agreement has been formalized between the GIF Sundsvall club and Ekkono Soccer Services consultancy. The aim of this partnership is to provide guidance, with Ekkono deploying one of its certified coaches permanently to the club in addition to the support from Ekkono Engine in Barcelona.
While the primary focus will be on advising the first team, there will also be implementation of certain processes within the academy.
By signing this agreement, GIF Sundsvall gains access to the Ekkono Pro Data service. This entails Ekkono primarily focusing on tasks such as video analysis, performance keys, mentorship for key club personnel, and methodology.
After the successful previous season where IF Elfsborg finished in 2nd position in the Allsvenskan League with one of the youngest squads in the league, the Swedish club and Soccer Services Barcelona have agreed to extend the use of the Ekkono Method in their structure for another season.
The primary objective of this agreement is to assist the club in achieving its goals both in terms of the first team’s performance and the development of the academy through the Ekkono Method.
In this regard, IF Elfsborg, in collaboration with Ekkono, has commenced preparations for the upcoming season with a training stage in Portugal, where they faced off against various Nordic clubs before kicking off their initial matches in the Svenska Cupen.
After completing the first half of the season, IF Elfsborg tops the league standings, being the team with the least goals conceded and averaging 2.4 goals scored per match. Additionally, several young players, such as Gustaf Lagerbielke and Jeppe Okkels, who are following the Individual Players Performance Program (IPPP), have become crucial in the team’s impressive performance.
Furthermore, the club’s academy continues to produce young talents, making IF Elfsborg the third-youngest squad in the league, with an average age of 23.5 years.
As a result, IF Elfsborg, with whom we reached a collaboration agreement last season to support them in achieving their first-team performance objectives, is consolidating its position as one of the reference clubs in Swedish football.
Jimmy Thelin, the head coach of the team, states that “Ekkono Method, with their technical support and coaching education, has been a great compliment and support for me in my professional career”.
In early May, Ekkono had the opportunity to travel to China as part of the collaboration between Soccer Services Barcelona and Shandong Taishan FC. During this visit, technical coaching educations were conducted for the coaches and technical staff of the club, as well as some physical education teachers from the Shandong province.
The main objective of these educations was to test a new collaboration model designed to assist and guide schools of the province, in creating a training program for their physical education teachers, with the purpose of improving the teaching of football in a more didactic and enjoyable manner in schools.
Albirex Niigata Singapore, the most awarded club from Singapore, and Soccer Services Barcelona have reached an agreement for the use of the Ekkono Method in order to enhance the identity of the Club by implementing a Methodology Department.
This methodology department will be a centralized hub for knowledge sharing and best practices across the club. This promotes a culture of continuous learning and improvement among the coaching staff and players, which can have a positive impact on the overall performance of the club. In the long run, coaches will become capable of developing and molding the youth into national talents which are good players both on and off the field.
After signing the agreement, Daisuke Korenaga, Albirex Niigata Singapore’s president stated that “The collaboration between Soccer Services Barcelona and Albirex Niigata FC (S) is a promising development for Singapore football and our Centre of Excellence (COE) youth players. The Ekkono methodology has been proven successful in developing young players in Japan and other countries, and the adoption of this method by Albirex Singapore is a positive step towards improving the quality of football in Singapore.”
With the implementation of the Ekkono methodology, we can expect to see improvements in the technical skills and decision-making abilities of our COE players. We hope to create a new generation of players who can compete at the highest level. This will lead to a more competitive and exciting Singapore football scene and may even help to produce future stars of the game.”
Meanwhile, Miquel Farrerons, CEO of Soccer Services Barcelona, highlighted that: “We very excited to kick off this new project with Albirex Niigata Singapore. We are looking forward to meet all the local staff and move forward together.”
Hapoel Tel Aviv FC, the century-old club and 14-time winner of the Israeli League, has recently announced several key additions to its football operations following the entry of new American owners.
Among these additions, stands out Soccer Services Barcelona, which will serve as a Football Methodology Consultant for the club with the aim of optimizing the development and performance of players, coaches, and the entire academy. The new ownership has valued the experience and knowledge of Soccer Services Barcelona’s consultants, as well as the added value of the Ekkono Method processes.
In early March, the CEO of Soccer Services Barcelona traveled to Tel Aviv to begin the technical audit, kicking off this exciting new project. In addition, Nick Hammond (former Sporting Director of Celtic FC and West Bromwich Albion, and more recently Recruitment Consultant for Newcastle FC) and MRKT Insights (a London-based scouting and analytics firm) have also joined the project to boost all areas of the club.
Liran Muchtar CEO of the club states: “[…] We would like to thank our new ownership group for providing these resources to the club during the current ownership transition period and beyond […]”
The Amazing Academy Yamanashi teams will begin their 5th season, using the Ekkono Method in the coming weeks after finishing the previous season with great sporting achievements.
The U15 team won the League, achieving promotion to the Kanto League, the highest possible category of their age. In addition, they managed to win the Club Kanto Challenge Cup after beating Kashiwa Reysols in the final and in the Club Cup that pitted all the Yamanashi teams against each other.
For its part, the U14 team was promoted to the highest division of Yamanashi Prefecture, which was the fourth consecutive promotion in 2 years. In addition, they won the New Face Cup which pits the best teams in Yamanashi Prefecture.
Finally, the U13 team managed to finish the season in a meritorious second position in the Yamanashi League.
These results are the consequence of the great work done by all the Ekkono coaches involved in the project, as well as the club’s staff. During these four seasons, the Methodology Department, led by Ekkono, has focused on carrying out the most important processes within the Ekkono Smart and Ekkono Identity proposals.
Within these processes, it is necessary to emphasize the rigorous content planning work reviewed bimonthly, in which the content is adjusted under the adaptability of the players.
In addition, all the training sessions follow the Ekkono Smart proposal, basing the tasks on real game situations and giving special attention to the perception and understanding of the game.
Finally, it is important to mention the Co-Analysis activities in which the players of the different categories analyze each other, guaranteeing the correct understanding of the game model.
For the third consecutive season, we are carrying out a “Co-Analysis” activity at the Amazing Academy Methodology Department, in which all the academy players participate. This activity, which is included in the Ekkono Identity Co-Learning pillar, pursues the objective of improving players’ understanding and ability to analyze the game.
Co-Learning is one of the four pillars on which the Ekkono Method is based to create or enhance an identity, and it consists of decentralizing teaching processes to accelerate learning processes.
During the “Co-Analysis” activity, players from one category (A) analyze different aspects of the game from players from another category of the academy (B). These aspects are previously defined by the Director of Methodology, taking into account the level of knowledge and the age of the players. After the analysis, players A provide feedback to players A on how many good actions they performed and how also on the number of actions to improve in the analyzed aspect of the game.
Therefore, the process of the “Co-Analysis” activity is as follows:
After the activity, several players from the academy stated the following: ”The Co-Analysis activity is of great help to us since, on the one hand, it allows us to improve our ability to analyze the game, and on the other hand , helps us improve as a player by receiving an external opinion on our performance from a teammate”.