The Soccer Coaching Podcast

Send us Fan MailEpisode 124Brought to you in association with our friends at Soccer Coach Weekly (@SoccerCoachWeek)Episode 124 – Deep Dive Episode 2: Playing a HIGH BLOCKIn this episode, Paddy and I take a deep dive into the concept of playing a high block, using a fascinating tactical example from the Carabao Cup Final where Manchester City surprised Arsenal with a bold and aggressive approach.We explore how City implemented a high block structure, committing four attacking players high up the pitch to disrupt Arsenal’s build-up and create immediate pressure in advanced areas. Through analysis of match footage, we break down how this tactical adjustment impacted the game, the positioning and roles of the players involved, and why it proved so effective.We also discuss: What a high block really looks like in practice  The benefits and risks of committing players high  Key coaching points for implementing a high block with your own team  How coaches can adapt this approach across different age groups and level

Send us Fan MailEpisode 123 Brought to you in association with our friends at Soccer Coach Weekly (@SoccerCoachWeek)Episode 123 – Being a Confidant to Elite Football Managers, a conversation with Ray PowerIn this episode, Ray and I explore a fascinating and often unseen aspect of his coaching business, his 1-2-1 work with elite, top-flight football managers.Ray shares what it means to act as a trusted confidant at the very highest level of the game, and why even the most experienced managers need someone they can speak to openly and honestly. We dive into the types of conversations they have, from handling pressure and decision-making, to managing relationships, maintaining clarity, and navigating the complexities of modern football.We also discuss why top-flight managers reach out in the first place, what they’re really looking for in that support, and how Ray creates a space that is both challenging and psychologically safe. This episode offers a unique insight into the human side of elite coaching and lead

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Send us a textEpisode 117, Brought to you in association with our friends at Soccer Coach Weekly (@SoccerCoachWeek) Episode 117 – The Importance of Philosophy and Culture, a conversation with Jason CarneyIn this episode we speak again with the superb Jason Carney about the importance of Philosophy and Culture. Jason is the Director of Coaching at FC Portland, and is an A licensed coach and author. Jason talks about his experiences in developing a philosophy and supporting culture, and the benefits he’s experienced when you get these right.Please do leave a review, like and share the episode!www - Jason Carney – www.fcportland.org X - The Soccer Coaching Podcast - @SoccerCoachCastThe Soccer Coaching Podcast, Email - thesoccercoachingpodcast@gmail.com This episode was brought to you in association with our friends at Soccer Coach Weekly.Established since 2006, Soccer Coach Weekly is a leading source of inspiration and advice for all grassroots coaches. Join thousands of youth soccer coaches, just like you, savi

Send us a textEpisode 116, Brought to you in association with our friends at Soccer Coach Weekly (@SoccerCoachWeek) Episode 116 – Positional Play, a conversation with Paddy KingIn this episode we speak again with the awesome Paddy King. Paddy has a passion for positional play and in this episodes, we speak about what he’s been up to since we last spoke on episode 39. Paddy tells about his new online coaching course and how it can help all coaches better understand the concepts discussed and support their players.Please do leave a review, like and share the episode!X – Paddy King- @KingKnightEdwww – Kingknighteducation.comX - The Soccer Coaching Podcast - @SoccerCoachCastThe Soccer Coaching Podcast, Email - thesoccercoachingpodcast@gmail.com This episode was brought to you in association with our friends at Soccer Coach Weekly.Established since 2006, Soccer Coach Weekly is a leading source of inspiration and advice for all grassroots coaches. Join thousands of youth soccer coaches, just like you, saving time a

Send us a textEpisode 115, Brought to you in association with our friends at Soccer Coach Weekly (@SoccerCoachWeek) Episode 115 – The Importance of Coaching Principles, a conversation with Osku Partonen UEFA Pro Licensed CoachIn this episode we speak again with the awesome Osku Partonen about the importance of coaching principles, why they are important and how to embed them. Osku shares with us his nine key coaching principles that underpin all other aspects of his coaching philosophy and game model. We also discuss how these principles become part of your match day focus.Please do leave a review, like and share the episode!X - Osku Partonen - @Coach_OskuSkool – https://www.skool.com/football-coaching-hub-1926/about?ref=40a60970cda6440b8debed4480880436 X - The Soccer Coaching Podcast - @SoccerCoachCastThe Soccer Coaching Podcast, Email - thesoccercoachingpodcast@gmail.com This episode was brought to you in association with our friends at Soccer Coach Weekly.Established since 2006, Soccer Coach Weekly is a le

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Send us a textEpisode 113, Brought to you in association with our friends at Soccer Coach Weekly (@SoccerCoachWeek) Episode 113 - Formations and Playing Positions, a conversation with Ray PowerFootball formations mystify many coaches – are they essential blueprints or merely starting points for something more fluid? Ray Power, Head of Football at Bangladesh's National Academy (BKSP), masterfully deconstructs this question through the lens of both elite and grassroots football development.Power introduces the refreshing concept of a "base formation" as simply your team's home – a familiar structure players return to when uncertain, rather than a rigid tactical straightjacket. This perspective immediately transforms how coaches might approach formations with their teams. "Your formation is like home," Power explains. "When you're struggling or not quite sure what to do next, you have home base."The conversation illuminates crucial distinctions between formations and

Send us a textEpisode 112, Brought to you in association with our friends at Soccer Coach Weekly (@SoccerCoachWeek) Episode 112 - A Look At Grassroots Football, with Jason Carney, Director of Coaching at FC Portland and AuthorIn this episode we speak again with the wonderful Jason Carney, who is the Director of Coaching at FC Portland. We discuss his coaching background and updates since we previously spoke back in 2022. We discuss grassroots football, the obstacles to player development and some of the solutions. We also look at his latest book “US Grassroots Soccer, Great on Paper, S**T on Grass”Please do leave a review, like and share the episode!Jason Carney – https://www.fcportland.org/our-staffUS Grassroots Soccer, Great on Paper, S**T on Grass - https://www.amazon.co.uk/US-Grassroots-Soccer-Great-Paper/dp/1966442378 The Soccer Coaching Podcast, Twitter - @SoccerCoachCastThe Soccer Coaching Podcast, Email - thesoccercoachingpodcast@gmail.com This episode was brought to you in association with our friend

Send us a textEpisode 111, Brought to you in association with our friends at Soccer Coach Weekly (@SoccerCoachWeek) Episode 111 - A Look At Scouting In Grassroots Youth Football, a conversation with Chris Robinson, Director at The Scouting Game and Head of Academy Recruitment at Southampton FCIn this episode we speak with the awesome Chris Robinson about the world of scouting. We look behind the curtain of grassroots youth football scouting and Chris helps us demystify the scouting process. We talk about some of the challenges for scouts, clubs, coaches and players and ask if the process of scouting young players could be improved.Please do leave a review, like and share the episode!Chris Robinson – The Scouting Game - https://thescoutinggame.co.uk/ The Soccer Coaching Podcast, Twitter - @SoccerCoachCastThe Soccer Coaching Podcast, Email - thesoccercoachingpodcast@gmail.com This episode was brought to you in association with our friends at Soccer Coach Weekly.Established since 2006, Soccer Coach Weekly is a l

Send us a textEpisode 110, Brought to you in association with our friends at Soccer Coach Weekly (@SoccerCoachWeek)  Episode 110 – Giving The Game Back To The Kids, a conversation with Chris Fraser In this episode we speak to Chris Fraser about grassroots football and discuss if adults are taking the game away from the kids We talk about the experiences Chris has seen this seen and how youth grassroots football has changes over the past few years. Chris suggests some possible options for us to consider and how by making a few changes to how we go about things as adults, the young players could benefit. Please do leave a review, like and share the episode! The Soccer Coaching Podcast, Twitter - @SoccerCoachCast The Soccer Coaching Podcast, Email - thesoccercoachingpodcast@gmail.com This episode was brought to you in association with our friends at Soccer Coach Weekly. Established since 2006, Soccer Coach Weekly is a leading source of inspiration and advice for all grassroots coaches. Join thousands of youth so

Episode 109, Brought to you in association with our friends at Soccer Coach Weekly (@SoccerCoachWeek) Episode 109 – What’s too far? A conversation about behaviour in youth grassroots football In this episode we speak with James Brooks and discuss behaviour in grassroots football.We look at coach matchday behaviour and what’s changes over the past 5-10 years and discuss some of the reasons. We also look at spectators and players and the role the FA and leagues could and possibly should play in supporting a positive training and playing environment. Please do leave a review, like and share the episode!The Soccer Coaching Podcast, Twitter - @SoccerCoachCastThe Soccer Coaching Podcast, Email - thesoccercoachingpodcast@gmail.com This episode was brought to you in association with our friends at Soccer Coach Weekly.Established since 2006, Soccer Coach Weekly is a leading source of inspiration and advice for all grassroots coaches. Join thousands of youth soccer coaches, just like you, saving time and effort in thei

Episode 108, Brought to you in association with our friends at Soccer Coach Weekly (@SoccerCoachWeek) Episode 108 – How To Deliver An Effective Training Session, a conversation with Mark Rivers, Arsenal Pre-Academy Manager and FA Tutor In this episode we speak with the awesome Mark Rivers who is the current Pre-Academy Manager at Arsenal and an FA Tutor.Mark talks us through his own coaching journey and how that influences his delivery as well as what he believes helps make an effective coaching session. We discuss the importance of plan, do , review as well as  what to consider to get the most of your training sessions for your players. Please do leave a review, like and share the episode!Marks Podcast - The Grassroots Football Coach PodcastThe Soccer Coaching Podcast, Twitter - @SoccerCoachCastThe Soccer Coaching Podcast, Email - thesoccercoachingpodcast@gmail.com This episode was brought to you in association with our friends at Soccer Coach Weekly.Established since 2006, Soccer Coach Weekly is a leading s

Send us a textEpisode 107, Brought to you in association with our friends at Soccer Coach Weekly (@SoccerCoachWeek) Episode 107 – Maximising Coach Delivery, a conversation with Temisan Williams former academy UEFA A coach and founder of Excellence Academy In this episode we speak with the awesome Temisan Williams (Temi) about his top tips for coaches to maximise their coaching delivery.Temi talks us through his own coaching journey and experiences. We talk about how his own views on coaching has changed over the past 13 years, how formal coach qualifications can support and what coaches might want to think about when planning and delivering their sessions as well as wider curriculum planning.Please do leave a review, like and share the episode!Temisan Williams – X (formerly Twitter) - @become_excelWebsite - https://www.excellence-acaddemy.co.uk/ The Soccer Coaching Podcast, Twitter - @SoccerCoachCastThe Soccer Coaching Podcast, Email - thesoccercoachingpodcast@gmail.com This episode was brought to you in asso

Episode 106, Brought to you in association with our friends at Soccer Coach Weekly (@SoccerCoachWeek) Episode 106 - Designing effective training practices and adapting for winter training, a conversation with Macauley Musgrave coach and owner of The Coaches Zone In this episode we speak with the awesome Macauley Musgrave (Macca) about how he goes about designing effective training practices. We also discuss what coaches could consider as many of us move into winter training.Macca talks us through his own coaching journey and experiences. We talk about what he means by ‘effective’, what coaches might want to consider before they plan the individual sessions, and his work with The Coaches Zone.Please do leave a review, like and share the episode!Macca – X (formerly Twitter) - @MaccaCoachingThe Coaches Zone - X (formerly Twitter) - @TheCoachesZoneWebsite - https://www.thecoacheszone.com/ The Soccer Coaching Podcast, Twitter - @SoccerCoachCastThe Soccer Coaching Podcast, Email - thesoccercoachingpodcast@gmail.com

Episode 105, Brought to you in association with our friends at Soccer Coach Weekly (@SoccerCoachWeek) Episode 105 - A Look At How Coaching Player Behaviours Can Support Player Development, A conversation with Dan Abrahams, sports psychologist, podcast host and authorIn this episode we speak with the awesome Dan Abrahams about how coaches can focus on player behaviours to help the players developDan talks us through his own coaching journey and his passion for sports psychology. We discuss how import behaviours can be in player development, what specific behaviours coaches may focus on, some of the ways these can be embedded and some of the things to be conscious of when it comes to the psychological part of player development.Please do leave a review, like and share the episode!Daniel Abrahams – X (formerly Twitter) - @DanAbrahams77Website - https://danabrahams.com/Podcast – The Sport Psych ShowThe Soccer Coaching Podcast, Twitter - @SoccerCoachCastThe Soccer Coaching Podcast, Email - thesoccercoachingpodcast