Two quick glimpses into the future of Irish football, both short-term and long-term. The first comes at the University of Limerick. It's Kennedy Cup week, the competition that brings together Ireland's 32 schoolboy leagues and both showcases and determines their greatest talents. The future itself.

Sitting beside the FAI Chief Executive John Delaney in the campus's sports bar is the organisation's new International Performance Director, the former Dutch defender Wim Koevermans. In the job of nurturing the next few generations of Irish talent since September, this is his first Kennedy Cup. He's a coach who's worked with the Dutch FA's celebrated academy for seven years, who's seen many a Nike Cup, Holland's esteemed international youth tournament. And he's about to pass judgement on ours.

"I'm impressed. It's not like I expected: kick and rush. There are nice patterns and good play. There's a lot of raw talent in Irish soccer. And this competition is what youth football and coaching should be about, the best with the best so the level increases overall."

But.

"This is only one week, too tight a schedule. It needs to be the whole year. Then the level will increase dramatically. A pyramid structure right up through Irish football, step by step, is the best thing to do. I know there are politics but there are gaps we must fill to properly develop the talent that's here."

Alongside, Delaney explains the work already done with the Emerging Talent Programme and development officers to merge underage football. He's called Koevermans "the biggest appointment we've made in the past few years" and "the last piece of the executive jigsaw", and he repeats such assertions here. Koevermans is the man charged with setting up an eventual system whereby our youngsters learn to play with the technical ability of, say, the Dutch. It isn't after all in their nature, it's nurtured from a young age.

Outside, Delaney is nodding. This time listening to a scout offering his own engaging opinions on the structure of Irish youth football. Another coach then asks how the new stadium is coming along. Ah yes. Just over 170km from Limerick, that second glimpse into the future of Irish soccer: the near-completed roof that is already dominating the Dublin Four skyline. The future home.

Speaking back in Limerick, it's a source of great pride for Delaney. "Anyone we've taken for a tour has been blown away. And it's going to be like a coliseum, with the fans right on top of the pitch. For Uefa to award us the Europa League final is also a great endorsement."

But despite the pride, the new Aviva Stadium has also been the source of some pressure. Other than both Stephen Ireland and the League of Ireland righting their wrongs, its funding and the vaunted Vantage Club have been the FAI issues most questioned over the past international season.

"Well I think there is a fixation on that. It's become almost like you have to keep giving a running total of what money you've put in, the seats sold. We set out with a two-year plan, so judge us after it. We've just been getting on with our jobs. I must say, even here one of the guys from Malahide spoke to us about selling 100 seats through their members. So we're going OK. We're working harder than we would have before the economic downturn but I know we'll get there. Particularly with the two grassroots schemes."

Two caveats that keep cropping up though. Firstly, the first of those grassroots schemes was scheduled to be sold out by the end of June. Secondly, the FAI has been reluctant to give out figures.

"Well, one of those schemes was due to end in June but will go a little past. Nothing extraordinary though. We'll sell 2,000 of them. There are two reasons though why the figures haven't been released. One, we came to a confidentiality agreement with ISG who are handling the sales and didn't want figures put out externally. The other is I don't want to be giving that running total all the time so every week it's a public exclamation. We said two years and that's how it should be left. We've been getting on with our jobs, paying the money we've been required for funding and getting on with sales."

As important as funding the stadium, however, is filling it. And not necessarily with fans but the right calibre of players. That's where Koevermans comes back in, as he and Delaney explain the groundwork they hope will eventually underpin the institution. How will Koevermans turn our kids into mini-Cruyffs?

"The difference starts with the youngest age groups. Not just from under-13s here [the Kennedy Cup]. Small-sided games so they touch the ball as many times as possible. But also, coaching must be different. To let them play, make it interesting, build curiosity. Results come later and players develop quicker. That responsibility falls on us. For example, the coach can ask one of two questions. 'How did they play' or 'what was the result'? At that level, if they played well and lost it's good. They're learning and enjoying.

"We have the talent here but the thing is to develop it. That only happens in the right environment and with the right coaches. Clear pathway, structures and training. So there is always a next level for the players to work towards. Look at the under-21 championships in Sweden now. All the players come from the big professional academies, Manchester United to Clairefontaine. In Ireland we don't have that but slowly it will happen."

Delaney interjects: "One of the keys to that is Abbotstown, so we can have our own academy… from next year players won't be allowed go abroad until they're 18 so the responsibility comes on us, the League-of-Ireland clubs to be tapping into the talent that's there – although the under-19 league will be a big thing – and also our development officers."

As Kovermans surmises, "that's the future".