Thank you @QPR & their @QPRAcademy for having us this week. Very insightful & educational. The thing that stood out is the people working at the club. Top practitioners hands down, but their kindness and openness as people is even greater. Great to catch up w the Legend @asmir1🧤
Solutions Switzerland used in all 3 phases vs. Bosnia yesterday, based around the concept of creating a free man to create confusion w/ M2M responsibilities:
- +1s lower > Do CHs follow?
- Central rotations (2v1s)
- Runs across the front of the back line
16m average team length in the low-block, 22m average in the mid-block.
That is very, very little space between the lines to play with.
📊: FIFA Training Centre
Both South Korea & Czech Republic looking to go more direct from restarts/deep build scenarios ~ taking no risks there and looking to gain territory with direct play instead
Goes hand in hand with something I’ve been looking at/thinking about with teams wanting to arrive in a more settled build up in the middle third after disengaging a more aggressive man oriented press ~ South Korea doing this well early on, achieving a more settled build in the middle third, which they can then use to control the game or go backwards to purposely trigger the man to man press of Czech, then looking to pick out runs beyond as the backline steps up
Norwegian Blues Win Supporters Cup - The <a href=https://t.co/Ho8WaMiGRF>Ipswich Town Supporters Club of Norway</a> won the annual Supporters Cup in Oslo this afternoon, beating Liverpool 2-0 in the final. https://t.co/GELXfEVsBj #itfc#supportercupen2026
How to defend in a 4-4-2 block with Unai Emery’s Aston Villa.🧠🎥
▫️Central tracking
▫️Triangles in wide areas
▫️Short distances between players
Aston Villa are one of the best teams defending in a 4-4-2 block, and they showed exactly why in the Europa League final, keeping a clean sheet⚽️
⚙️@tacticlipfutbol
Tony Pulis spent almost a year filming a documentary series for Sky Sports called "Chasing the Dream," investigating the academy system in English football. What he found should concern every coach and parent involved in youth football.
91% of young players in academies never play a professional game, but it's what happens to them after they're released that he thinks needs urgent attention.
I've broken down his key points in the comments 👇
🔵Man City assistant manager Pep Lijnders’ points system for small sided games insight.
🎯 ⚽️ 3 pts – Goal
⚡️ 2 pts – Counter-attack goal
🛡️ 1 pt – 1 minute without conceding
Mentality driven constraints rewarding actions in possession, in transition, and out of possession.
How do academy football coaches understand and evaluate “game intelligence”?
Really pleased to share our latest publication: “Perceptual-Cognitive Skills in Talent Development Environments: A Survey of Academy Football Coaches in the United Kingdom.”
DIAGONALITY: REVOLUTIONARY or OVERSOLD?
No, I’m not against the concept; I’m actually an admirer. However, having watched St. Pauli vs. Frankfurt last weekend, I felt that the internet analysis was somewhat exaggerated. I’m going to explain why here. #FCSP#SGE
THREAD 🧵
We’ve been building an extensive library spanning performance, talent development, match demands, skill acquisition and more. The depth and variation now available is remarkable. Here are four standout sessions I personally enjoyed 👇2/4
Lastly, against Inter Milan in the second-leg especially, Knutsen’s side showed their steel sitting in a more passive defensive block
4-4-2 dropping into a low block, quick to apply pressure in central areas and stayed strong despite Inter throwing a lot at them (30 shots!)