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The teams behind the teams in professional football | Elite insights | Contact: info @trainingground .guru
Manchester, England
Joined November 2016
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Pinned Tweet
Big thank you to everyone who joined us at St George’s Park last week for
#TGGLive
2024
Here are some highlights of a great 2 days
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This was Japan’s dressing room after heart breaking injury-time defeat by Belgium. They left it spotless... and even a note saying ‘thank you’ in Russian.
#sweepthedecks
302
5K
13K
Anthony Barry has committed to staying on as 1st team coach
@ChelseaFC
under Thomas Tuchel.
Was offered Fleetwood Town manager's job/ they were confident/ had v difficult decision... but has decided chance to learn from Tuchel was too good to turn down.
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2K
“A dickhead makes everything about them. Often teams put up with it because a player has so much talent. We look for early warning signs and wean the big egos out pretty quickly. Our motto is, if you can’t change the people, change the people.”
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The value isn’t in the pundit who says Arteta/ Arsenal are doing well now (there are lots)
Value is in the pundit who understood what was being built last season when they weren’t getting the results
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"A Sporting Director said, 'You can’t measure attitude with analytics.'
"But if a player keeps making off-the-ball runs, that shows good attitude. We made a metric and re-named it the Firminho metric, because he came out on top."
@Soccermatics
🎧
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1K
Sean Dyche has been labelled a long ball manager & a 'Brexit boss' who doesn't sign foreign players. May have put bigger clubs off signing him.
So could he play a different style than he showed at Burnley at a new club?
This is what he said 👇
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122
1K
.
@GNev2
~ "Man Utd came away from their long-term strategy, values and principles. Louis van Gaal brought in 11 players for £260m. Out went nearly all those 11 and Mourinho brings in a wave of players who suit his style. As a fan it’s painful to watch."
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“I was about 13 when Kieran Richardson had just made the first team squad. He came into training one day with the car roof down and his music blaring out. He thought he was the man. Unfortunately for him, Roy Keane was walking into the car park."
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392
1K
Before December 2020 takeover Burnley had:
🟪 £42m in the bank (at y/e 30 June 2019)
🟪 Category 1 Academy
🟪 Sean Dyche
🟪 Premier League football
Now:
🟪 £102m debt
🟪 Academy set to be downgraded
🟪 Big portion of £65m to be repaid
🟪 No permanent boss/Championship
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279
1K
Research was done on what 250 elite players did before receiving the ball.
⚽️ Steven Gerrard was exceptional, scanning 0.61 times per second
⚽️ Frank Lampard even better, scanning 0.62 times/second
⚽️ Xavi was off the scale, scanning 0.83 times/second
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👏
@ChelseaFC
invited entire
@ChesterfieldFC
Academy to Cobham on Saturday before sides played each other in FA Cup third round.
A group of 237 players & 30 coaches trained with Chelsea’s Academy teams & had lunch before watching game at Stamford Bridge
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“I divided the penalty area into zones and then you think about what to do in each one - lace kick, chip, inside foot, one touch or two...”
@rmeulensteen1
- How to polish a 💎 like
@Cristiano
Image via
@PeterPrickett
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Liverpool have built a new cage football pitch nicknamed the ‘Melwood Arena’ to 'create the street' and improve their attacking play.
#LFC
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Message from a Premier League coach - ‘Levi Colwill will get 100 England caps. He’s the best left-footed centre back we’ve had.’
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Chelsea staff:
❌ OUT = Thomas Tuchel, Arno Michels, Zsolt Low, Benjamin Weber
✅ IN = Graham Potter, Billy Reid, Bjorn Hamberg, Bruno, Ben Roberts, Kyle Macaulay
#CFC
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Big changes in Chelsea's Performance & Medicine departments:
▶️ Head of Performance Medicine = Craig Roberts
▶️ Head of Performance = Bryce Cavanagh
▶️ First Team Doctor = Stephen Lewis
▶️ Lead Performance Therapist = Meirion Jones
▶️ Head of Performance Insights = Richard
.
@ChelseaFC
have hired former South Africa Rugby and AFC Bournemouth Medical Director Craig Roberts to become their new Head of Performance Medicine.
@Sportsmedoc
#CFC
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Germany has launched new regulations that will transform the way football is played by U11s in the country.
DFB VP Ronny Zimmermann: “We need to think like children, not like adults. Only children who develop fun & joy in the game will stay in football.”
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Arsene Wenger 🗣️“The problem in football is you learn how to play the wrong way round - first execution, then decision making & perception last. I've lost many top players because their head was on the ball. They were not seeing what was around them."
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A Premier League coach said something interesting in private last week - that we focus too much on tactics & not enough on technique in way we analyse/assess the game.
Eg there's talk about Brighton midfield box. But key thing=having technical profile of player to execute that.
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Brilliant from Jurgen Klopp in his programme notes:
“All that matters today is today. Yesterday is merely information & tomorrow we think about when it arrives. We speak so much about the ‘what ifs’. I have my own ‘what if’ - what if we just try to enjoy being in every moment."
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Eddie Jones: “I want to coach the perfect game. No-one has ever coached the perfect game. Imagine coaching a game when from the first minute to the 80th you’re in total control.”
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.
@ChelseaFC
have hired former South Africa Rugby and AFC Bournemouth Medical Director Craig Roberts to become their new Head of Performance Medicine.
@Sportsmedoc
#CFC
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This is where we need to be careful, in general.
He was Academy Director when these players were in Man City’s system.
But no single person is ever responsible for a player’s development - there are parents/ many coaches and not least the player themselves.
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Carlos Cuesta is a 25-year-old who holds the Uefa Pro Licence, speaks six languages and plays a key role on the coaching staff at Arsenal...
#AFC
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When Bielsa was manager of Marseille, fans spotted him in his club tracksuit in McDonald’s after a win over Toulouse.
He was doing video analysis on a laptop and was apparently so engrossed that he didn't notice the crowd gathering around him...
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Just to give some context on West Ham.
They don’t have a data science department. Their Sporting Director is in his first job after playing. Their scouting and recruitment department isn’t very comprehensive.
So sacking the manager won’t necessarily be a magic bullet.
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Andy Gray laughed about
#LFC
employing throw-in coach, but in an average match:
⚽️ 40 to 50 throw-ins
⚽️ 12 mins = throw-ins
⚽️ 50% of time ball is lost
⚽️ long throw can open up >2,000m² of pitch
⚽️ great counter-attack opportunity
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Interesting to look at stats for homegrown players in EPL this season. Man City = U18 & U21 champions 3 years in a row.
Only 6.6% of minutes for club-trained players (
@CIES_Football
)
Operating at v high level but Guardiola said 1 of key reasons for coming to City was Academy.
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Helps to explain why players from foreign leagues can take time to acclimatise to the Premier League (and some never do).
Big step up in terms of intensity. This shows average number of high-intensity activities + average peak sprint velocity
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Anthony Barry has taken training at the club today
Jody Morris will leave Chelsea with Frank Lampard. Unclear yet which other backroom staff members will go.
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Brighton have also fielded more homegrown players than any other Premier League team this season. Following their strategy and also getting results now.
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Everton Director of Football Kevin Thelwell explains how underlying data convinced them team were heading in right direction earlier in season... even though results weren't going their way.
Charlies Reeves heads up the club's Insights team
@doidgyno9
#EFC
@HudlAnalysis
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You'll read a lot about Mikel Arteta the manager, but
@georgson82
has actually worked alongside him.
"The level of tactical detail and understanding of the game, I have never come across before. This guy does not leave anything to chance."
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“If you give young people your attention and an opportunity to succeed, it is amazing how much they will surprise you.” Sir Alex Ferguson
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"We had a clear development programme that he was part of. We spoke in detail about just a couple of areas and one was no chopping."
@JustinCochrane8
gives insight into work he did with
@agarnacho7
as Head of Development
@ManUtd
#MUFC
@tomandrewstew
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Top teams in Europe for average sprint distance so far this season...
@LUFC
off the scale
@rossburbeary
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“Long-term studies have shown that learning different sporting skills and abilities can have a positive impact on everyone's football performance” ~ Peter Wenninger
@FCBayernEN
Bayern Munich to scrap U9 & U10 teams and raise Academy entry level to U11s
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“A dickhead makes everything about them. Often teams put up with it because a player has so much talent. We wean the big egos out pretty quickly. Our motto is, 'if you can’t change the people, change the people'.” Gilbert Enoka,
@AllBlacks
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“I’ve seen football sessions where they look like they’re perfect, like clockwork. But the game’s not like that, is it? It’s messy, so you’ve got to create sessions that are messy.”
🗣 Eddie Jones
#TheFutureGame
@jeff_weigh
@GaryCurneen
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Manchester United have started the process of recruiting data scientists, machine learning scientists, analysts and engineers as they look to become “dominant” in data science.
#MUFC
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"The minimum requirement is maximum effort"
Sean Dyche on the 'legs, hearts and minds' motto he brought in at Burnley
And why he might go for a different playing style at a different club....
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If you want to know why
@BrentfordFC
are different…
This is their Tactical Statistician (a unique role) coming down to the touchline to alert Thomas Frank to something towards the end of tonight’s game
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Episode
#42
of the TGG Podcast, in association with
@HudlAnalysis
, is now live!
Sean Dyche reflects on his 9-and-a-half years at Burnley, tells us about his shock departure and let's us know what could be coming next 👇
@tomandrewstew
@sport_simon
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.
@Wolves
have had 99% player availability this season. Nuno Espirito Santo's advice to his players?
"Rest well, eat well, work well. Follow the advice of the medical team and coaches. There are no great secrets - do you see any magic powders around?"
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Pochettino ~ “Nowadays the more human leader is the one that is successful. The iron fist is a thing of the past.”
Klopp ~ “It’s important you have empathy, that you try & understand the people around you & give them support.”
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Significant news:
@ManCity
Head Physio
@lee_nobes
is leaving the club after 11 years to join rivals Liverpool
@LFC
#MCFC
#LFC
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England Under-21 boss Lee Carsley says he deploys players in terms of roles not positions.
“We try and not be too restrictive on playing in a certain position, it’s more the role and the responsibility in the area of the pitch they’re in."
4
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“We can develop 100 exercises, but the best thing is to create the street. We play 5 v 5 and winner stays on. What I see in these moments - the creation, the type of goals - it just blows my mind."
Pep Lijnders
#LFC
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424
“Edu would call the StatDNA guys, the scouts, the analysts – it would take a while. My solution was to have all that info ready by just typing in a player’s name to a database. Now here I am, sitting between the tech and football sides of the business."
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“That’s almost utopia, when you’ve got players leading each other. Grabs has been a top striker at this level for a long time & those nuggets of info & detail to Keinan were invaluable.”
@stevenreid12
@TomCorden23
How players drive analysis
@NFFC
👉
5
36
404
Yesterday was Tony Mowbray’s last day as Blackburn manager. Had meetings with staff/ said goodbyes at Brockhall.
Took over when club were on brink of Lg1/ after they’d had succession of different managers.
Brought stability/dignity & a strategy based on youth/development.
13
19
403
Brilliant piece by
@olivermpw_
on one area of Sheffield United's play we don't hear much about: their innovative and devastatingly effective set pieces...
#sufc
@sufc
@s24su
14
130
399
.
@Everton
have built family facilities as part of £4.5m Academy redevelopment
“When young players' families come here they often have other siblings with them.We want a place where they can check their emails,do their homework & feel part of the family."
5
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England Under-18s coach
@kevinbetsy
has been appointed as the new U23s boss
@Arsenal
Has developed a stellar reputation during his five years with The FA.
#Arsenal
#AFC
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Just found out, via a Sunday Times article, that the brilliant actress Jodie Comer is daughter of Everton masseur Jimmy Comer, who’s been with the club for 30 years !
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“We need to change players from being reliant on structures to having the confidence to play unstructured. You’ve got to coach the players to play the game, which in the most part is chaotic.” Eddie Jones, April 2017
5
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How would you feel if next England manager had:
1. only been an Assistant Manager
2. only managed one of the smaller teams in the league, a reserve team and national youth teams?
Step forward Lionel Scaloni, Head Coach of the World Cup winners and 2x Copa America winners 🇦🇷
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Liverpool have made a series of changes to their medical and performance department, which is now headed up by Dr Jonathan Power.
#LFC
12
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A few weeks ago Mourinho said you can't coach finishing: “It’s not about work, it’s about natural qualities.”
But this shows the work Ronaldo did to become a prolific scorer- "I divided the penalty area into zones and you think about what to do in each."
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Fans are obsessed with signings. The journalists who cover transfers have the most followers.
But research has shown that cohesion/ stability are key… and that the most successful teams don’t actually make many signings in one window.
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"We plan in 12-week blocks, with a 6-week plan that's repeated. Week 1 is build, 2 is finish, 3 is transition to defend, 4 is setting traps,5 is final-third defending & 6 is transition to attack"
@GraemeMurty
~how Rangers use tactical periodisation (2018)
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377
“I’ve come across players on £7k a week who've never played for the 1st team. They come to Lg2 & we pay 19-yr-olds £250 a wk.They look at you like, ‘what am I going to do with that?’"
@StevenageFC
boss Dino Maamria on 'fake environments' of top Academies
13
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"When you first look at the opponent, you call it man-marking. If you're looking first at your team-mate, you call it zonal marking. If you're looking first at the ball, you call it pressing."
@ReneMaric
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365
Training Ground Guru | Pep Guardiola and the half spaces
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354
"I put the back three in yellow bibs, the midfield four in orange & the front three in green. They can never play to the same colour.
What you create is a real flexible build-up. So if one centre-half cannot play to the other, you need a 6 giving the angle to support.
Or if
Inspired today by Pep Lijnders on
@ground_guru
and thought I’d design what I thought he was talking about.
2 teams
1 with multiple bibs
Can’t pass to the same colour as you
Forward passing or ball retention
Break lines
Movements
Decision making
Intensity of pass
@TacticalPad
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📊
@ManUtd
have made a major addition to their new data science department by hiring
@SouthamptonFC
Lead Data Scientist Alex Kleyn.
#MUFC
#SaintsFC
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“If you produce your own players, they will never let you down, never. They will run through walls for you.”
Pep Lijnders
#LFC
2
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354
The way that Belgium trains its coaches and teaches its young players has now become a template for countries around the world, including Germany...
@KrisVDHaegen
6
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342
Jonny King is leaving Leicester City after two-and-a-half years to become Senior Physio at Newcastle United.
Role is to replace Head Physio Danny Murphy, who left Magpies at start of year.
#LCFC
#NUFC
@Jonny_King_PT
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“Of all the things I’ve learnt as a Technical Director, the big one is that it's about giving young people a chance. That might be a young coach, a young player, a young physio - you don’t know quite what they can do until you give them an opportunity.”
Dan Ashworth
#NUFC
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50
344
Newcastle United have completed their new Academy recruitment department - and it looks pretty formidable
#NUFC
👇👇👇
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“I believe you build resilience into players and that protects them from injury, so we’ve had a much more aggressive training approach since I’ve been here.”
@Arsenal
Director of Performance
@darrenburgess25
#AFC
8
70
335
"Without the Academy,
@LaticsOfficial
may not have survived the crisis. I think this is actually the greatest compliment you could give to the Academy staff, players & parents."
@GJRioch
8
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Love this 👇🏻
Pochettino: “My mother said you are a llorona, a person who cries often and a lot. I am strong,but I cry. I take my car to my house & listen to some music & it translates to some moment in my life. I start to cry & when I arrive home my wife says ‘what happened?!’”
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Suspect this will resonate with many.
"The life of a support staff member in football requires 60+ hour work weeks, 11 months a year. These are the sacrifices necessary. However, I feel that now the sacrifice of the family is far too great."
10
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331
“A dickhead makes everything about them. Often teams put up with it because a player has so much talent. We look for early warning signs and wean the big egos out pretty quickly. Our motto is, 'If you can’t change the people, change the people.'”
7
61
325
“I worry there are people in positions of authority because they are good talkers, but they don’t have good ideas. It’s easy to confuse schmoozing ability with talent. We put too much of a premium on presenting and not enough on substance and critical thinking.”
@susancain
15
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Anthony Barry: Wigan 1st team coach a year ago; offered manager’s job at Fleetwood in January; only aged 34... now a Champions League winner
5
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“If they’d conceded a goal here, we’d have gone to standard punditry - ‘naivety’. I’m going to stop doing it. I’m going to change, because we have to change.”
@GNev2
👏🏻
6
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321
Simon Wilson ~ Squad building as part of
@StockportCounty
7-year plan
“We have tried to put our investment into these 20 profiles, which we believe are unique. We are able to construct any type of shape from these profiles.”
6
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323
.
@MarielaNisotaki
, the only female professional football scout in the UK (and one of only 3 in Europe), has been promoted to the new role of Head of Emerging Talent by
@NorwichCityFC
9
42
314
83% of players in Champs League QFs over last 10 yrs were playing 1st team football at 17,
@ManCity
research shows
11
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Major appointment for
@Lionesses
-
@DawnScott06
is leaving
@ussoccer
to become the new Physical Performance Coach for Phil Neville's side.
During her 9 years in US,
@USWNT
won Olympics + 2 World Cups.
@hopesolo
described her work as "second to none".
13
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Kyle Macauley was 26 when he wrote to Graham Potter asking about playing opportunities at Ostersunds. Now he's a key member of his inner circle of staff and has taken on a senior recruitment role at Chelsea.
#CFC
4
48
306
"He had a flipchart and said, ‘listen, Ren - I want to see possession with a purpose. When we attack I want to see pace, power, penetration and unpredictability. These are the four things you must instil in every single training session.’"
#MUFC
2
86
302
“Human physiology is infinitely complex. When a player breaks down, it’s because of the interaction of a number of variables, it isn’t linear. We shouldn’t jump to conclusions, or to a reductionist approach."
@StrudwickTony
8
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290
@GNev2
@CiaranHughes_
Dan Ashworth was our guest on the TGG Podcast - explained in depth what his role involves
Read and listen below
👇👇
4
26
294
New hires as Newcastle revamp recruitment:
- Edward Black (from Arsenal): Lead Academy Scout
- Paul Mclaren (from Man City): Head of National Youth Scouting
- Paul Midgley (from Man City): Head of Youth Recruitment
- Delroy Ebanks (from West Ham): Academy Lead Scout for South
Interesting new role as Newcastle switch to position-specific scouting model that Dan Ashworth used at Brighton.
Will provide video analysis + "occasional live game analysis... focusing on specific positions"
Reports into Lead Video Analyst (another new role being recruited)
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Davide Ancelotti: Has the Uefa Pro Licence at 33, speaks 5 languages and part of staff that have won titles in France, Germany and Spain
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England U17 staff in winning World Cup:
⚽️ Manager
⚽️ In possession coach
⚽️ Out of possession
⚽️ GK coach
⚽️ Analysts x2
⚽️ Fitness coach x2
⚽️ Physios x2
⚽️ Doctor
⚽️ Chef
⚽️ Psychologist
⚽️ Education officer
⚽️ Operations boss
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“I went to Ajax’s Academy and they have a saying - 'A successful 1v1 beats any formation or tactic.’”
@MyFootballCoach
6
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Do teams do enough to develop players? Rene Meulensteen tells us how he did it with Forlan,Ronaldo & even Scholes
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