In the searing heat of Quinta do Lago, with the European Championship ongoing, there were a small collection of youngsters going the extra mile before seasons they hope will define them.
James McAtee, Liam Delap and Tyler Morton were among a cohort out at The Campus, an exclusive complex on Portugal’s southern coast, for a week-long trip. To blow away the summer cobwebs, to give them an edge when pre-season starts.
All now 21, none of the trio knew with absolute certainty where the transfer market would take them - only that this year is a big one. Heading off to the Algarve, somewhere Jack Grealish and countless other Premier League names also went to train, offered a potential marginal gain over contemporaries. One session in the morning, one in the evening, although neither majorly intensive.
The jaunt wasn’t organised by their clubs but Dean Brathwaite, an individual coach who is having a profound impact on some of the north west’s brightest talents. McAtee, Delap and Morton are in England’s Under 21s squad for Friday's game with Ukraine and presumably will eventually be joined by another Brathwaite client, Nico O’Reilly, if his star continues to rise at Manchester City.
Individual private coaching has become more prevalent since Covid. Hundreds in the top flight utilise them now and some clubs sceptically watch on, but Brathwaite – a City supporter – owns the trust of his players. He touches wood when explaining that he’s never had a player go down injured in a session and took a strength and conditioning coach out with him to Portugal for additional support.
A cohort of rising stars trained in Portugal with individual coach Dean Brathwaite this summer
Brathwaite is having a profound impact on several of the north west’s brightest young talents
James McAtee is one of three England Under-21 stars to have trained under Brathwaite
Brathwaite says the technical side of their training, the repetitions of ball striking and movement off the ball, supplements their daily work rather than takes over. And if their game time and workload is high, players won’t see him often during a season.
He’ll do the bulk of work with the top performers during the break in late June and July; this year, the fruits of that tune-up before re-joining their clubs understandably pleased him.
During City’s tour of the United States in July, Brathwaite sat up watching 3,300 miles away as two of his prodigies – Micah Hamilton and McAtee – combined to equalise for City in a friendly against AC Milan at Yankee Stadium. In the dead of night, a quiet satisfaction swept through a house just a few minutes east of the Etihad Stadium.
‘We’ve laughed about James’ heading for a long time,’ Brathwaite says after the midfielder ghosted in at the back post to meet Hamilton's stood-up cross. ‘Seeing Micah on the tour when he drives down the line, crosses for James to head in. I’ve seen him do that a million times. He’s a natural freak in those situations, his feet are ridiculous.’
It was a goal spawned from the Whitebank Stadium, home of part-timers Avro and where Brathwaite holds his 60-minute sessions.
Brathwaite meets hours after travelling over the Pennines to witness Hamilton’s debut for Middlesbrough at Leeds after completing a £3million switch. Delap secured a £10m move to Ipswich Town and so far has four in eight games including a brace against Aston Villa, while McAtee scored his first City goal in the Champions League last week. Morton is still with Arne Slot’s Liverpool, too, after interest from Bayer Leverkusen.
‘That I can help people who are coached by the likes of Pep Guardiola is surreal,’ Brathwaite says. ‘I’m not silly enough to think other coaches haven’t coached them. Top coaches at top clubs. But there is stuff we’ve kept improving on.
‘Not many people will know but with City’s Under 21s and 18s, they’re not allowed to stay behind and get a bag of balls out. So with James, it’s always been finishing and repetition. There’s loads of position-specific stuff, whether he’s playing in the right or left pocket. We’ll work from different angles.
Brathwaite watched in the summer as two of his prodigies – Micah Hamilton and McAtee – combined to equalise for Man City against AC Milan during their pre-season tour
Brathwaite worked with the likes of Man City's McAtee on his finishing skills during sessions
Micah Hamilton joined Championship side Middlesbrough in a £3million move from Man City
‘It’s just about constantly training his brain really. There are a lot of times he gets into positions and he doesn’t do what we’ve worked on and he looks for the pass. It winds me up! Hopefully this extra work will see him start banging them in soon. It’s just the confidence to do it. And not feel guilty that he should’ve passed. We’ve probably created four or five different shooting techniques since he’s been with me.’
Brathwaite knows that he looks for the extra pass because that is how City teenagers are taught and that is how City play. But McAtee clearly sees the benefit of dedicated individual focus on his own time. A different way of training, technique rather than tactical, and one the club is made aware of. Brathwaite has seen evidence it enhances performances. When McAtee was in with him regularly throughout a season, he ended up top scorer in Premier League 2 with 18 goals in 23 appearances from midfield.
‘Everybody has faults and I’ll pick on those straight away, so it goes from there,’ Brathwaite adds. ‘And improve what they’re doing well. It’s ball striking, body shape. What part of the foot they’re striking with. It’s nothing major.
‘Micah’s inside foot, finessing, is the best. That’s just him, his natural thing. One of his coaching areas is to use that but with more whip. It’s me being ultra critical and have that slight change. He might only need it once in a thousand.
‘It’s surreal for me that he’s not at City. I’ve only ever known him there, since he was eight. We had a love-hate relationship when he was younger. I saw him not at it, switch off for a bit. I was on him. You know when a young lad’s swearing at you, the eyes.
‘But if he didn’t see the benefit of the sessions he wouldn’t come. I didn’t want to see him slip. He’s a natural talent. I’ve seen him destroy people with the ball.
‘I’m honest with them. Liam’s probably the best ball striker you’ve got but if I see something less good, I’ll say, “what’s that?” There’s never an argument.
‘There have been times with James where I’ve told him to move a certain way. “But I wouldn’t do that in a game.” Yeah, I’m not bothered, I want you to do it now. Just do it. I’ll find a clip from their games as a reason why I wanted them to do it. They’ve called me a genius at times.
McAtee scored his first Man City goal in their Champions League win over Slovan Bratislava
Brathwaite says it is 'surreal' to be able to help players who are training under Pep Guardiola
‘I’m not always right but I’ll never ask them to do something that doesn’t help. Or something I can’t do myself. It probably feels weird in front of a mannequin but I’m picturing it in a game.’
The big picture with Brathwaite is his back story. Owner of the renowned Bee-Inspired Academy, he’s coached Avro and Stalybridge’s Under 18s and 21s and doesn’t know if he fancies management full-time or to continue with individual coaching. He fell into this, picking up the bug when coaching a Manchester United Under 8 kid – ‘he couldn’t really kick the ball off the floor’ – and has flown since.
Word of mouth has seen him this far, McAtee the one who opened doors to the likes of Delap, and it’s spiralled.
Last summer he was actually a face of Selfridge’s Sportopia campaign to promote healthy lifestyles. At the Arndale Centre or Trafford Centre an inspirational Brathwaite quote in the window stared back. He spends his life travelling to matches to check on their progress, even if they’re not in his clinic much during the season. Messaging with clips, advice. He expressively talks of how McAtee – who recently gifted a £1,000 Veo camera to Bee - was unplayable for Sheffield United against Liverpool and devising ideas for drills when at games.
It’s a dedication to the craft and development of those under him and, when one of them impresses, you’ll regularly see him tweeting. He’s learned to make the most of successes.
‘I developed arthritis at 21,’ he whispers. ‘I couldn’t kick a ball for five years, couldn’t walk properly. I had to stop everything. It changed my life.
‘I didn’t know what it was and was getting palmed off by doctors until I got diagnosed with ankylosing spondylitis at 24. My ankles were bigger than my knees. My back was done. My hands hurt. Then it’s another two years before they find the right medication to help me.’
McAtee, centre left, has opened the door for other players to become Brathwaite clients, including Liam Delap, second left, Tyler Morton, third left, and Nico O’Reilly, second right
Delap joined Ipswich for £10million this summer and has scored four goals in eight matches
Brathwaite, a delivery driver at the time, briefly mentions a depression as a result. At 26, he began playing again, started coaching. Quit his job and never checked the rearview. ‘I had to re-learn my own technique and coach myself,’ he says. ‘It shows that lads at 26 can still improve. It’s a myth that you can’t.
‘In this field I’m competing against former pros who are in this one-to-one market without a playing background. When I first started seven years ago, the market is so different now. Crazy.
‘The next step is to work with more senior pros during the off-season. I see them working with other people - people I can do a better job than in a technical sense.
‘This isn’t going to make me a millionaire. What I strive for more than anything else is the feedback. No money in the world can make you feel better than the thank you. You’re actually helping them live their dreams.'