How to Coach a Low Defensive Block
While it’s fair to say that the low defensive block is no longer in vogue, it has been effectively deployed by successful coaches throughout the 21st century. Two of the tactics main supporters are Jose Mourinho and Diego Simeone, with the latter’s defence-minded and...
The Age of Coaching – Is Management a Thing of the Past?
Nowadays, the combination of a technical director and head coach is commonplace in football, with this particular model proving highly successful for clubs like Manchester City, Bayern Munich and Real Madrid. This is a far cry from the 1990s, which saw a number of...
How to Defend Against a 4-4-2
People almost talk about the iconic 4-4-2 formation with a sense of nostalgia, with this having become less commonplace in an age where midfield dominance and the deployment of fluid attacking lines take precedence. However, this shape has enjoyed something of a...
How to Counter the High Press
Pretty much all of Europe’s leading sides now adopt some form of high pressing game, from EPL giants like Liverpool and Manchester City to Bayern Munich and Xavi’s Barcelona team. Of course, this philosophy was a direct response to the threat posed by low defensive...
How to Defend Against a 3-5-2
Tactical trends in football tend to be cyclical, with the notion of playing with three at the back once again in vogue at elite level. Certainly, managers like Thomas Tuchel (primarily with Chelsea) and PSG’s Christophe Galtier have deployed a 3-5-2 formation or...
Has England’s 2012 Coaching Shakeup Delivered Rewards?
Back in 2012, the FA voted through a number of major changes to how youth football was structured in England, in order to place a greater emphasis on the development of technical skills rather than winning in the short-term. Of the 778 votes cast in total, some 87%...
Effective Warm Up: A guide for footballers & coaches
Effective Warm Up – A guide for footballers & coaches A warm up is a vital part of football preparation. At the elite level of football, the warm up protocol continues to evolve. A few minutes of stretching and touches on the ball is no longer considered...
The FA launches ‘Player to Coach’ scheme
Towards the end of last year (2016), the FA offered to assist selected ex-players with their UEFA A and Pro Licenses as a path into managing and coaching. Frank Lampard, Paul Scholes, Steven Gerrard and Ashley Cole among others were all been contacted by the FA but...
How to Become a Football Scout
How do you become a football scout? What are the steps needed to go from regular fan to professional scout? How many of us can answer these questions? In fact, how many people would even know where to begin researching to find out those answers? Our article aims...
An in-depth look into player power
Dimitri Payet has recently secured his ‘want away’ move to Marseille, which will see West Ham United pocket £25 million. The process is usually simple, a club make a bid for the player, the selling club fight to secure the best possible transfer fee and the player...
Pep Guardiola Career Timeline
Josep ‘Pep’ Guardiola is a quite private man and happily keeps it that way with a simple life with his wife Cristina Serra and their three children. Shielding his family from the public eye and not one to flash his wealth, the extrovert Pep we see on the touchline is...
A letter from Poppies 4 Kits
Poppies4Kits is working with support of the Royal British Legion to raise funds for the Poppy Appeal. After seeing the Premier League stars raise thousands by having their shirts embroidered with the poppy emblem, we thought it would be a fantastic idea if all youth...
