Yuri Ruhdos Santos

Yuri Ruh dos Santos, football coach and academy founder

Professional Football Coach · Academy Founder

Former pro, now coaching at both ends of the game.

Guiding kids and families towards careers in professional football. Working directly with world-class football clubs and talent agencies.

Working with players from

On the pitch

Yuri Ruh dos Santos with youth player Louie, signing for Manchester City
Youth player Louie signs for Manchester City
Yuri Ruh dos Santos coaching Shane Kluivert of FC Barcelona
Shane Kluivert, FC Barcelona
Yuri Ruh dos Santos running a technical session with Donny van de Beek of Girona
Donny van de Beek, Girona

Background

Yuri came through Marbella FC and Spanish youth football. At 17 he became the youngest player from Marbella ever to make an international transfer, signing for Ajax affiliate AS Trenčín in Slovakia, then on to clubs across Europe. Ten years as a professional, ended early by injury.

Professional football is ruthless, and it starts young. The competition, the agents, the clubs, the player ahead of you and the one coming up behind. Talent gets a kid noticed. It doesn’t get them through.

Euro Weekly News, 2015Euro Weekly News, 2026

Today

Yuri built the academy he wishes he’d had. Proformance Football prepares young players for all of it: the football, the fitness, the mindset, and how the business around the game actually works.

Full-time, year-round programmes for boys aged 8 to 18, based in San Pedro de Alcántara on the Costa del Sol, with players enrolled from over 22 nationalities across Europe, the Americas, the Middle East and Asia.

He has also been hired to coach a local Spanish side that works in collaboration with Atlético Madrid.

Clubs and agents now send him their professionals. Intensive one-to-one and small-group technical work, built on his own YRDS method.

The YRDS method

Most coaching methods come from one football culture. Yuri played in three, and built his out of all of them. Every coach at the academy is trained in it.

  • 01 — Spain

    Technical foundation

    Tiki-taka and the Spanish grassroots grounding. First touch, close control, and keeping the ball under pressure.

  • 02 — Netherlands

    Positional freedom

    Total Football, learned under the Dutch model at Trenčín. Players who read space and drop into any position rather than hold a slot.

  • 03 — England & Eastern Europe

    Physical standard

    The other half of the game. Duels, intensity and the physical level he had to meet playing in England and Eastern Europe.

Coaching in