Modern Soccer Coach Podcast

Gary is joined by Dr. Jonathan Fader, a Sport & Clinical Psychologist with 11 years experience in some world class sports environments such as New York Giants and New York Mets. He has just released a new book called 'Coaching Athletes to Be Their Best: Motivational Interviewing in Sports.' Gary wants to challenge his own views on motivation and specifically how it applies to the current state of...

Gary is joined by current Bristol City Women FC (FAWSL) GK Coach, Tony Elliott. Tony has a vast range of experiences as a coach as a player, also with @ngland Blind Football GK Coach, and as FA National Futsal Goalkeeper Coach Developer. He is author of the book, 'A Modern Approach To Goalkeeping’ Tony tackles the challenges of not just incorporating goalkeepers in training sessions, but also in t...

Gary is joined by former Sheffield United defender and current assistant coach at the Central Coast Mariners in the Hyundai A-League, Nick Montgomery. Currently working on his UEFA PRO License, Nick played over 400 games for Sheffield United, some against the very best in Premier League history, and also played 5 years in the Australian professional league. Nick talks about: - The "crazy genius" o...

Gary is joined Jonas Munkvold, UEFA 'B' holder, BA in Football Studies, and author of player development eBooks. He talks about player development, specifically on 1v1 play, focusing on the model that he has put together and the work he has heavily researched. They cover the following topics: - How should you design sessions to focus on technical work AND game context? - Can coaches facilitate dec...

Gary is joined by Lee Scott, Lead Analyst for Total Football Analysis and author of the brand new book, “Mastering the Premier League - The Tactical Concepts Behind Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City” Lee discusses the aspects of the book that stood out to Gary: evolution of recruitment, player profiling, structure vs creativity, Pep’s management style, coaching jargon, how to beat this City team and...

Gary is joined by professional coach at Reno 1868, Christopher Malenab. However, instead of discussing tactics or training, they focus their conversation on mental health which Christoper is a huge advocate for He’s going to share his personal story as well as give the coaching community some advice and education in how to deal with it in our teams and our coaching community. - How do we remove th...

Gary is joined by Mark Spalding to discuss his recent experiences on the UEFA Pro Course with the Scottish FA. Having worked in the pro and youth game in the US and Scotland, Mark gives a unique insight into his preparation for the course, how and where it has challenged him, and how he has interacted with instructors, mentors, and colleagues on the course. Beginning September 23rd, we are now lau...

Gary is joined by former professional player, current TV broadcaster and founder of the ACL Club Jordan Angeli. As a professional player on the verge of breaking into the US women's national team squad, Jordan battled back from sustaining her 3rd ACL of her career and now mentors and inspires young players who are dealing with similar setbacks. She discusses: - Mental challenges involved in long-t...

Gary is joined by Tristan Thomas, Academy Coach at Aldershot Town and tactical analyst. As someone who is heavily involved on the analysis and scouting side of the game, Tristan discusses how he feels players should be developed at a young age to meet the demands of the modern game: - Has the definition of creativity changed? - How does a youth coach challenge but keep the fun included? - How to d...

Gary is joined by Discoveries academy manager, Ally Bain, who as a wealth of experience at both youth and senior levels in UK and the United States. Ally takes the topic of build-up play and gives an in-depth perspective on the following: - Philosophy in possession - Session design - Opposed or unopposed - Dealing with mistakes from players - Measuring a successful build - Sources of inspiration f...

Gary catches up with Gerard Jones, author of 'Lets Talk Soccer', academy director and USSF instructor. As Gerard believes there is too much emphasis on coaching the collective, they discuss how to connect and develop individual players within the team environment. How do variables such as winning, playing time, trust, setbacks, impact the experience for each player and what can coaches do to impro...

Gary is joined by Slawek Morawski, tactical analyst and coach, with experience in the professional game in Poland. He is passionate about combining analysis alongside training and cognitive methodology in the game at all levels. He discusses the intricacies of "Game Intelligence": Can it be coached? How exactly can we create an environment that facilitates decision making and the cognitive tools r...

Gary is joined by two college head coaches, Randy Waldrum (University of Pittsburgh) and Erwin van Bennekom (Indiana University) who have both experienced success at the national level of US college soccer and are currently in new roles where they are looking at building their respective programs towards similar heights. What is the first step in changing a culture? How long does it take to evalua...

Gary is joined UEFA A licensed coach and U9-U12 Colorado Rapids Director of Coaching, David Garcia to discuss how youth coaches can coach a possession based and/or positional play system. How should training be structured? What is the role of opposed versus unopposed training? How can we teach players resilience alongside tactics and the game? David discusses all of this, along with his unique coa...

Gary talks with Dr. Ceri Bowley, who has worked as a Senior Lecturer at University of South Wales a mental performance coach with the Welsh FA and has recently taken a new position as Head of Coaching Support - with City Football Group. He talks about how accurate observation informs the decision-making process and how what we actually see dictates how we act. Where does this hold coaches back? Ho...

Gary is joined by Minnesota United (MLS) assistant coach, John Pascarella. He discusses a recent tweet he posted about the following coaching methods from different cultures, challenging coaches to think differently on social media, the current state of the game in the United States, and how coaches should be more demanding of themselves than they are of the federation. This podcast is brought to...

Gary is joined by UEFA A License, USSF Coach Instructor, Technical Director for The Coaching Manual (https://www.thecoachingmanual.com), and AYSO United National Technical Director, Paul Bright. He discusses how the role of communication, both on and off the pitch, and looks specifically at where its changed, how we can improve it and what we can do to expand it to beyond the training session. Thi...

Gary is joined by UEFA A Licensed Coach, Joao Nuno Fonseca. He was recently a first team assistant coach at Nantes in the top flight of French football and was also the Coaching Methodology Analyst for the City Football Group. Joao discusses how tactical analysis can be used to help players understand the game better, improve process of scouting and match preparation, how animations can help coach...

Gary is joined by Ricardo Alves – a coach and football analyst, who has worked with Portuguese First Division side CD Tondela. He also has a degree in Sports Science and Physical Education at FCDEF-UC, a Master's Degree in Sports Training with a specialization in Football in Game Analysis at FCDEF-UC and currently doing a PhD in Sports Science, along with his UEFA B license. Ricardo discusses the...

Gary is joined by Ian Barker and Mark Bennett. Ian is no stranger to US listeners as Director of Coaching Education for United Soccer Coaches. Mark has trained, coached and mentored individuals at a number of levels, including English Golf, England Rugby, Great Britain Basketball, British Military Special Forces, Oklahoma Thunder in the NBA and many elite individuals. They talk about maximizing yo...

Gary is joined by MK Dons FC U23's Head Coach, Edu Rubio. He discusses how much he has changed as he has progressed through the levels and what has remained consistent throughout his development. This podcast is brought to you by Techne Futbol. Want to have the best, most fun and efficient training tool available at your fingertips? Now you can train on your own - or motivate your players to - wit...

Gary is joined by Ben Bartlett, a Senior Coach Developer at The FA and UEFA Pro-Licence coach. He talks about a Constraints Led Approach to skill development, how to maximize your time with your team, and how coaches can personalize their coaching journey. This podcast is brought to you by SportsLab360, a new and innovative online program focused on youth player development from a tactical and soc...

Gary is joined by leadership development coach, team builder, culture coach, Molly Grisham. They discuss "problem areas" that coaches face when when building culture including: - Can winning hurt the team dynamics? - How can you create a player driven culture when players do not understand the requirements of success? - Individually, a player who has never been exposed to adversity and is struggli...

Gary is joined by Fergus Connolly, one of the world’s leading performance experts. He is the only coach to have full times roles in every major sport, including soccer (Liverpool, Bolton Wanderers), professional and college football (San Francisco 49s and University of Michigan) and rugby (Welsh national team). Fergus discusses the following: - The price of success - Inflicting suffering versus en...

Gary is joined by David Tenney, High Performance Director for the Orlando Magic in the NBA. A UEFA “A” license holder from the Czech Republic, David worked with the Seattle Sounders in MLS for nine seasons. He has one of Major League Soccer’s most respected and progressive minds in sports science and also founded the Sounders FC Sports Science Weekend in 2011, an annual event in Seattle that has a...