Gary is joined by Karl Marius Aksum to discuss a very unique topic. Karl is a current PhD Candidate researching Visual Perception in Elite Football. He has a Master's Degree in Coaching and Psychology and wrote his Master's thesis on visual perception in real football match play on AFC Ajax players, aged 14-20, from where I received the highest possible grade He also has a Bachelor's Degree in Football Coaching. He discusses: - Importance of scanning and visual awareness - Difference between scanning and fixation - Exercises that help develop better awareness - If rondo's actually make scanning worse - How to implement better processes in our youth environments And much more! This podcast is sponsored by our good friends at HEJA. (https://go.heja.app/msc) On Heja’s free team management app, You can see exactly who reads the information you send out and, unlike whatsapp or a group chat, you can organise your training times and details using a separate team calendar within the app that’s easy for everyone to view, meaning those all important dates and times do not get lost in a buzzing group chat. Surprisingly, Heja is actually free-to-use for your whole team, and we recommend you download it now and give it a go to save yourself some time and get your team better organised and all together this season. You can search in your App Store for Heja, or just click the link here: (https://go.heja.app/msc)

Gary is joined by Sanjeev Parmar, a youth development expert who runs Futuro Soccer Academy in Ottawa, Canada. He has a unique approach and philosophy around development and talks about the following: - Training exercises that engage the players - Being competitive without focusing on result - Importance of physical training alongside technical - Educating parents in the process And much more!!! We have teamed up with Wildkard for this podcast. Wildkard's all-in-one app empowers you to manage your team or club, plus create social engagement directly with players. Your team can stay connected beyond game-time with blazingly-fast features like chat, virtual challenges, game recaps, and profiles. They've recently launched club management so you can easily manage 100s of teams, delegate responsibility, and communicate with everyone in your club simply. A desktop version of club management comes out mid-June - where you can import thousands of teams, events, and rosters in one click, and manage your entire club comfortably on your computer. If you sign-up for the summer and fall season with Wildkard, you will get it for FREE plus get grandfathered in. Use the link below to sign-up. https://bit.ly/3t3C1m5

Gary is joined by Eric Laurie who is currently working in Norway, Molde FK in the Norwegian Eliteserien, as Head of Academy Performance Analysis and a coach on the U16 staff. Eric discusses analysis at youth level as well as the career path for a young analyst in the professional game. This podcast is sponsored by Wildkard.Wildkard is the industry's 1st social and admin platform for teams. With Wildkard, you engage via virtual challenges, team channels, game reports, and player stats. They just launched the parent-mode feature. Allowing coaches to group players and parents, so parents are up-to-date. Parents love it! Coaches can take advantage of a special promotion - sign up your team in April and get the product for FREE, no hidden fees. Wildkard is easy to use. Team setup takes only two minutes. Register below.... https://bit.ly/3t3C1m5

Last week I sat down with the Double Pass team of Jared Micklos, Hans Vander Elst, Kevin Nicholson, and Stig Meylemans. Double Pass is a Belgian company that assesses and advises football clubs, (con)federations and leagues around the world, on ways in which they can optimize their talent development. In March 2020, FIFA enlisted them as a partner to roll out a new ‘Talent Development Progamme’. Double Pass make potential improvements visible on our Club & Academy Monitoring Platform (CAMP) using a unique methodology based on their scientific model and proprietary algorithms. Their experienced staff also help to implement tailor-made solutions alongside the clubs and coaches. If you would like to find out more about the Double Pass Master Class, which is designed to help coaches gain insights into the challenges and opportunities of running an elite football academy and optimizing its football technical management, please click below. The course is over 70 hours and includes 5 different chapters, webinars, personal mentoring, E-Modules, group work, and assessments. They currently have a special offer for coaches which ends on February 15th. https://education.doublepass.com/e-masterclass/

We were recently joined by TOVO Director, Todd Beane, to be the first to achieve a hat-trick of appearances on MSC for Todd, having previously done a podcast in 2018 and then a special guest slot at the MSC Roadshow event in Chicago in 2019. This chat was a little different and centered around the personality and leadership capabilities of the coach, so that they can maximize the impact on culture and environment. Todd has recently written a book called 'Clear Coaching', which he wrote this year and shares insights and perspectives on the youth landscape and what we can do to improve the experience for players and families. Would you like to support and continue the free content at Modern Soccer Coach? The MSC Lockdown Webinar Series is now available to download! For just over $1 per webinar, you can personally download all TWENTY FIVE webinar presentations. Each webinar is over one hour long and features a detailed presentation, followed by the live Q&A with the coaches in attendance. Our covered topics include youth and elite player development, sport science, tactical analysis, match preparation, goalkeeping, pressing, and other key specific areas. Click here to get your copy here: https://www.modernsoccercoach.com/product-page/msc-25-lockdown-webinar-series

Gary is joined by the scorer of the first ever goal in the FA Premier League in 1992, Brian Deane. He also played in the Premier League for Leeds United and Middlesbrough as well as playing top-flight football in Portugal and Australia for Benfica and Perth Glory, as well as England. He was also the manager of the Norwegian side Sarpsborg 08 and club owner of Football Superleague of Kosovo side Ferizaj. This podcast is sponsored by Wildkard. Wildkard is a social engagement platform for youth sports teams. From creating programs to managing schedules, Wildkard runs your team on autopilot. If you are a youth coach who not only wants to communicate with players on scheduling, but also wants to engage with them on videos, feedback, conversations around the game, then I highly recommend GETTING YOUR FREE TRIAL HERE: https://bit.ly/3lWGN06

Gary is joined by New York Red Bulls Academy Director, Sean McCafferty. He discusses his journey working as Director with FC Barcelona’s Barca Residency Academy in Casa Grande, Arizona, before moving to the Red Bulls and talks about the following: - How Barcelona make the complex simple - Coaching decision making and problem solving with US player - Is our game too transitional in US and UK? - What does he look for when hiring youth coaches for the academy? And a lot more!! Would you like to support and continue the free content at Modern Soccer Coach? The MSC Lockdown Webinar Series is now available to download! For just over $1 per webinar, you can personally download all TWENTY FIVE webinar presentations. Each webinar is over one hour long and features a detailed presentation, followed by the live Q&A with the coaches in attendance. Our covered topics include youth and elite player development, sport science, tactical analysis, match preparation, goalkeeping, pressing, and other key specific areas. Click here to get your copy. - https://www.modernsoccercoach.com/product-page/msc-25-lockdown-webinar-series

Gary Curneen joins Vin Blaine to discuss pressing systems in the modern game. This is an exert from Vin's podcast 'On The Sideline' and they talk about the following: - Understanding pressing 'triggers' - How a culture off the field must compliment the work on it - Creating player profiles - How to get to the details in training sessions You can order a copy of the Pressing book here: https://www.modernsoccercoach.com/product-page/modern-soccer-coach-pressing The 2nd edition of the Miami Soccer Convention is coming on December 17th & 18th, 2020 completely online! Go to www.soccercovention.com or @soccercovention on instagram to get more information. This week starts the unveiling of our top tier presenters that include former and current experienced coaches working in MLS, national teams, top South American clubs, former Copa Sudamericana Champions, and also a former player with Champions League and Italian National team experience from teams such as AC Milan & Juventus. Go to www.soccercovention.com or @soccercovention on instagram to register!

Gary is joined by former Tottenham Hotspurs defender and professional coach, Dean Austin, to discuss the relationship between head coach and assistant. Dean has worked in both roles in the professional game, as head coach at Northampton Town, and then as an assistant coach with Crystal Palace and most recently with Quique Flores at Watford. Dean kicked off the interview from a head coach perspective. How does he hire an assistant coach? What does he look for? How does he build that relationship? He then looks at the perspective of an assistant coach in how they can deal with certain scenarios, as well as how young coaches can help put themselves in potential opportunities in the future. This podcast is sponsored by SenseBall - www.senseball.com SenseBall is the training soccer ball developed by CogiTraining, the revolutionary soccer training method implemented in soccer clubs and Federations around the world. SenseBall is specifically aimed at young players between 6 and 20 years of age. Practiced individually or in groups, SenseBall improves a players touch and feel for the ball while helping them to become two-footed. As a coach, encouraging your players to practice with the SenseBall in training or at home will bring them many benefits. TRAIN LIKE A PRO. SenseBall is used by the youth teams of AC Milan, Sporting Kansas City, RSC Anderlecht, KRC Genk, FC Nantes, the Belgian Football Federation and many others. ACQUIRE THE ESSENTIAL SKILLS OF MODERN SOCCER. Learn to control, guide and kick the ball perfectly thanks to repetition. BECOME A TWO-FOOTED PLAYER. SenseBall is designed on the principle of bilateral activity. Thanks to the practice of SenseBall, they make an average of 500,000 touches of the ball in one season and use their left foot as many times as their right foot. AVOID INJURIES. Improve their concentration, perception, coordination and synchronization. There are special discounted prices for orders of 10 or more! Shipping is FREE. Get SenseBall now by going to www.senseball.com and become a better soccer coach!

Gary is joined by MLS veteran Wells Thompson and Dr. Brad Miller to discuss ways in which coaches can help players deal with setbacks in the game. Both have teamed up to develop Soccer Resilience Program to help youth, college and professional players’ build resilience to adversity and reach their potential on the field and in life. They discuss the following: - How the combination of Wells’ experiences of playing in MLS and Dr. Miller’s clinical knowledge, can help us understand the specific skills and tools needed to enable players to strengthen their mental toughness - Ways in which coaches can challenge and support young players today - Reaction to recent comments by Roy Keane and Jose Mourinho on the psyche required to compete at the highest levels - Ideas for coaches in leadership roles to facilitate learning with younger coaches and peers And much, much more!! The 2nd edition of the Miami Soccer Convention is coming on December 17th & 18th, 2020 completely online! Go to www.soccercovention.com or @soccercovention on instagram to get more information. This week starts the unveiling of our top tier presenters that include former and current experienced coaches working in MLS, national teams, top South American clubs, former Copa Sudamericana Champions, and also a former player with Champions League and Italian National team experience from teams such as AC Milan & Juventus. Go to www.soccercovention.com or @soccercovention on instagram to register!