Citizens back in Jena: New opportunities for promoting young talent!

Citizens back in Jena: New opportunities for promoting young talent!

Henning Bürger, who was the sporting director of the youth performance center (NLZ) at FC Carl Zeiss Jena from 2022 to 2024, will return to this position from July 1, 2025. Bürger, who has significantly influenced the development of Jena's young talent, will also be responsible for ensuring that the new direction of the DFB is incorporated into future training and development processes. How Kicker reports, Bürger knows the club and the region very well, which makes him the ideal choice for this important position.

The step back into sporting management came after his previous term as head coach ended prematurely in March 2024. The aim of this decision was to give squad planning a boost. Sports director Miroslav Jovic firmly believes that citizens can provide the right impulses to further develop the NLZ. President Ralph Grillitsch describes him as a strong identification figure who shapes the club together with the coaches and players in the youth sector.

Complete coaching team for the FCC

Bürger is not only an experienced specialist, but has also put together a fresh team of trainers. Assistant coach Florian Matk, a former player at 1. FC Gera 03 among others, brings valuable experience from his career as a coach at Berliner AK. Goalkeeper coach Bernd Jayme brings additional qualities to the team with his many years of experience as a goalkeeper coach and his work at NLZ Darmstadt. He will also take on a key role in the NLZ and be responsible for goalkeeping training for the first team JenaTV reported.

At a time when the German Football Association (DFB) is pushing forward new talent development reforms, the return of Henning Bürger is a particularly significant step. With measures such as the introduction of Funino, smaller forms of play and age-appropriate training methods, the focus is on the individual development of the players. The aim of these reforms, about which Soccertraining.de The aim is to introduce young talents to higher levels of play at an early stage and to increase the chances in youth football.

Bürger is not only faced with the challenge of building a new team, but also of integrating the DFB's new guidelines into daily practice. This means that players are specifically encouraged to handle the ball in creative ways, while at the same time they have to learn to act as a team and adapt to different game structures. With his experience and passion for the club, Bürger could make a decisive contribution to ensuring that Jena is highly popular in youth football not only at the regional but also at the national level.