José Manuel Figueira

Professional Football Coach 🇬🇧 🇪🇸 | Pro Licence | New Zealand Men’s U20 Head Coach | “be somebody who makes everybody feel like somebody “

[José Manuel Figueira @JoseCoaching]

What separates players at the very top is a high level of Football IQ. Impressive to see Gavi with such habits - someone so young making a difference already.

Anticipation, Scan Direction, Frequency & timing 🧠⚽️

Top work as always @slawekmorawski
📽 via @m1ndfootball

[José Manuel Figueira @JoseCoaching]

From Aotearoa to the world! A huge congratulations to all 🌎 🏆 🇳🇿

Another exciting milestone for our national game, moment to inspire next generation of footballers & its culture

Looking forward to watching this team performance & do us proud 💪 🥝

[New Zealand Football 🇳🇿 @NZ_Football]

Introducing the squad to represent Aotearoa New Zealand at the FIFA World Cup 2026 🇳🇿

[José Manuel Figueira @JoseCoaching]

Honoured to be appointed @NZ_Football Men���s U20 Head Coach 🇳🇿 🌿

Grateful for the trust, proud of the opportunity, and excited to build on the strong foundations already in place.

Looking forward to the journey ahead.

[New Zealand Football 🇳🇿 @NZ_Football]

New Zealand Football are pleased to announce that José Figueira has been appointed as head coach of the New Zealand Men’s U-20 team 🇳🇿

➡️ Read in full at https://t.co/6akguRkEQG

[José Manuel Figueira @JoseCoaching]

@markstkhlm Great read Mark. I have recently written about this and shared some thoughts. Whether it be analysts or coaches, we see well informed players and poor decision makers

The Conditioned Player: are we in danger of creating dependent footballers? https://t.co/Dm5ZXWxImH

[José Manuel Figueira @JoseCoaching]

Ultimately players/athletes act on what they see\feel, not what we instruct. That’s the challenge in football as coaches - not just managing behaviors, we’re managing perceptions.

@GuardiolaTweets masterclass in communication & managing attention/perception of the team

[Netflix Sports @netflixsports]

"Maybe I was confused." 😮‍💨

Throwback to this Pep Guardiola dressing room speech to the Man City players after a 2-0 loss to Southampton in the Carabao Cup in 2023. They won the treble that season.

Arguably the best coach of all-time for a reason 🐐

[José Manuel Figueira @JoseCoaching]

@DanAbrahams77 Well said @DanAbrahams77 these environments are complex!
Ultimately players/athletes act on what they see\feel, not what we intend. That’s the challenge in football - not just managing behaviors, we’re managing perceptions.

[José Manuel Figueira @JoseCoaching]

A master of understanding the space around himself & finding the best solution @Thiago6 💡

Intention 🧠 > Perception 👁️ > Deception 🪄 > Execution 🎯

Top work as always @mfbnvideos ⚡️

Unfortunately finding this type of player in modern day is hard!, or not given freedom!

[Mindfootballness @mfbnvideos]

Thiago Alcántara was a player who set new standards in terms of game intelligence. The way he could scan space, receive the ball and manage information to achieve his goals, made his actions seem effortless.
@Thiago6

[José Manuel Figueira @JoseCoaching]

Olise FINISH is pure class but it’s what happens at the START…

Not letting context of game (time/score) dictate his decision - his intention before receiving is already made up…TO SCORE!

Intention 🧠 > Perception 👁️> Deception 🪄 > Execution 🎯 #UCL

[José Manuel Figueira @JoseCoaching]

@qiyyams23 @GuillemBalague Can you not be both? Why not?

PSG are “entertaining” team and won the champions league last season? #UCL

[José Manuel Figueira @JoseCoaching]

“I don’t think there is a system or style that guarantees you’ll win a final. But the journey is so much more fun done this way.”
-@GuillemBalague spot on here!

It is the journey not the outcome that people will remember for life. This is our WHY! #UCL

[José Manuel Figueira @JoseCoaching]

@stirling_j This is why for me at the moment nearly all modern football looks & feels the same.

Well informed footballers but poor decision makers who FOLLOW patterns (coach led) by don’t ADAPT to patterns within the game dynamic.

Great post @stirling_j 🙌

[José Manuel Figueira @JoseCoaching]

@stirling_j I have been writing a little bit about this “conditioned” thinking from players (by the coach). Players are losing the ability to focus on what’s important on the pitch - the game dynamics themselves - they are instead focused on what coach wants
https://t.co/QK1J8DfAqt

[José Manuel Figueira @JoseCoaching]

Intention 🧠 > Perception 👁️ > Deception 🪄 > Execution ⚡️

[José Manuel Figueira @JoseCoaching]

What separates Lamine Yamal is the clarity & consistency of his Intention (into Action) before receiving the ball:

Intention🧠> Perception👁️> Deception🪄> Execution 🎯

Always wanting to attack, knowing how to attack & where to attack⚡️

#UCL #Yamal

[José Manuel Figueira @JoseCoaching]

Check out my latest article: “The Conditioned Player” - are we sleep coaching our way to creating dependent footballers? ⁦⁦@LinkedIn⁩ ⁦⁦@PlayingFieldLtd⁩ @PlayingFldPro https://t.co/yrbTtfKpan

[José Manuel Figueira @JoseCoaching]

Are coaches today “trusting” players who can follow instructions, or players who can cause disruptions to game plans and states?

[José Manuel Figueira @JoseCoaching]

With modern teams more “tactically” prepared than ever. More physically prepared then ever, the importance of individual players 1:1 awareness, actions, & intention to break the game open is more necessary than ever 🧠 ⚽️ ⚡️

#UCL

[José Manuel Figueira @JoseCoaching]

“The team has earned the right to be themselves & I don’t want to take that away from them”

“I’m not centre stage, it’s the players”

Refreshingly open & normal interview with @FCBayern HC @VincentKompany about his teams “tactical performance”

#UCL

[Football on TNT Sports @footballontnt]

“We’ve earned the right to be confident”

Vincent Kompany on Bayern’s important win against Real Madrid tonight 👏

📺 Stream with TNT Sports on HBO Max

[José Manuel Figueira @JoseCoaching]

“The trend of elite player development is countless hours of both play and repeated practice”

There is no such thing as an elite 10 year old. We need to create more space for kids to play & explore. Their is also a parent education piece here. Kids weeks filled with structure

[José Manuel Figueira @JoseCoaching]

Excellent and thread from @scout_aussie could also replace Australia 🇦🇺 with New Zealand 🇳🇿 here! 🧵

Believe with some small shifts in player development mindsets, coaching & financial focuses at all levels can elevate our local/national game even further to grow future talent

[AussieScout @scout_aussie]

THREAD:

This is a fascinating report. There are many findings which are very relevant for Australian football. I have summarised the most interesting ones below.

[Steven Dillon @stevendillon]

Following @JoseCoaching's recent webinar on @PlayingFieldLtd - check out his excellent in-depth coaching article and full video on "Instruction vs Intention — The hidden cost of Over-Coaching" ⚽️

https://t.co/qGQSrszXXW