Training Ground Guru Podcast

Our guest on Episode #81 of the TGG Podcast is Reed Shaffner, Chief Technology Officer at Teamworks. Reed oversees the engineering, design, product and data science teams behind a platform used across professional and collegiate sport. In this Episode, Reed told us where AI is genuinely working in football and where it isn't; warned about the security and privacy risks some clubs are underestimating; and explained how Teamworks Player ID is learning to identify how good a player will become, versus how good they look today. SHOW NOTES => 0:00: Introduction 1:39: Reed's role at Teamworks, and his route in through gaming and youth sport 3:17: What AI actually is — beyond the buzzword 5:42: How widely is AI being used in football? 6:45: Where it works well, and where it doesn't 7:25: Injury prediction — why the returns are still questionable 8:24: Hallucinations, and the two athletes who didn't exist 10:20: Case study: the NFL's Digital Athlete platform 11:28: Data quality, process and the role of human expertise 12:53: Privacy and security — what should never go into a model 14:12: It's not just medical data: contracts and schedules 14:43: The questions to ask any AI vendor 15:42: Data poisoning and the fabricated eye condition 17:32: Skills as a new attack vector — and what a skill is 18:49: Build or buy: what clubs are making themselves 19:41: Scout bias detection, and Kahneman on human bias 22:00: The rise of the 'head of AI' job title 22:50: Is US sport ahead of UK football? 23:27: Tracking data, and will AI mean fewer analysts? 25:26: AI inside the Teamworks products: from reactive to proactive 28:02: Player ID — what to do when metrics disagree 29:50: Predicting how good a player will become, not how good they are now 31:11: Bespoke clubs and individualised training 34:17: The future: cameras, youth football and undiscovered talent 36:04: Worries and fears: attackers, deepfakes and social engineering 38:01: Speaking at TGG Live '26 at Old Trafford

Our guest on Episode #80 of the TGG Podcast is the world-renowned sleep expert Anna West. She works with teams competing in the Premier League, Champions League and the World Cup. Her methods have helped change the way that football thinks about sleep and recovery.  In this Episode, Anna told me how she came to work in football, about the work she does with clubs and players, and also debunked some of the common myths about sleep.   SHOW NOTES => 0:00: Introduction 1:36: How did you first get involved in your line of work? Entry into elite sport and football  06:07: How important is sleep for athletes?  08:40: Sleep quality, not just quantity 10:45: Monitoring and sleep anxiety 12:44: The challenge of night-time kick-offs 14:06: The magic eight hours? 17:33: How do you work with a club? 26:02: Good sleep starts in the morning  27:01: Debunking sleep myths: Mouth taping 34:03: Working individually with players. Emi Marcondes case study  37:57: Universal truths: eating & sleeping before you go to bed, room temperature, napping, caffeine. 49:23: Mechanics of a night’s sleep 52:51: Looking at your phone/ social media before bed 55:38: Effects of alcohol  57:58: Advice on caffeine 59:56: Working at the World Cup  1:02:08: Sleeping tablets 1:07:14: Ambitions for the future      

Joe Newton, first-team analyst who rose from youth football to roles at The New Saints, Brentford and Tottenham. Adam Ridgewell, account manager at Genius Sports with a background in club analysis. They discuss Brentford’s staff culture, life working alongside Thomas Frank, the move to Tottenham and what went wrong there. They also explain how tracking data and Performance Studio are used by clubs for analysis, fitness and benchmarking.

Wilfried Nancy speaks for the first time since his departure from Celtic in this exclusive episode of the Training Ground Guru Podcast. The Frenchman opens up on why he took the job, the intense pressures of the Old Firm, what happened in those 33 days, and key lessons he's taken for the future. SHOW NOTES => 01:46: Intro. Back in Columbus and recharging. 06:47: Reflecting on short and turbulent tenure at Celtic. 'Beautiful experience.' 18:56: Style of play was very ambitious. Too ambitious? 34:17: Playing with fear. Banning Sky Sports News at the training ground. 39:15: Football in Glasgow quite conservative? 'They hired me to change that. But the idea wasn't to change everything.' 41:25: Weren't there realistic discussions with Board before taking job? 46:13: Friendship with Russell Martin. Shared philosophies and experiences. 47:34: Moving about a lot as a child, because his father was in the French navy. Helped him develop empathy for people. 51:24: Does he have a rigid style of play? 53:35: Ridiculed for using tactics board/ putting venn diagram on his X account. 57:43: Ambitions for the future.

Episode #77 of the Training Ground Guru Podcast, in association with Genius Sports, is with Ben Ryan, the Performance Director of Premier League side Brentford. Ben is responsible for making sure that the club's players are mentally and physically equipped for matchday.  Before joining Brentford four years ago, Ben consulted with a number of leading organisations and was Head Coach of Fiji's rugby sevens team, leading them to Olympic glory in 2016. Ben told us how someone from a rugby background landed a top role in football, what it's like to work with Head Coach Keith Andrews and about the club's secret supremacy rating.  We hope you enjoy this episode and if you do, please give us a follow via your preferred podcast provider.  SHOW NOTES => 01:31: Facilities at the training ground, where the interview is taking place. 03:05: Concerns about players being pampered? 04:39: What does your role as Performance Director involve? 07:19: What have you been doing today? 11:50: Changes that took place at the end of last season, when Thomas Frank left and Keith Andrews took over as Head Coach. 15:54: How Keith Andrews confounded the critics and doubters.  20:05: Brentford's supremacy rating. Taking a strategic view and not being overtaken by the emotion of results.  23:22: Clever recruitment and importance of developing players. 26:00: Coming into football from rugby union. Importance of looking outside football networks.  31:22: Head Coach of Fiji Rugby Sevens team - chalk and cheese with Premier League football.  39:47: GPS - one of the first teams to use it (with England Rugby in 2006) but not the panacea and won't be important forever.  42:07: Risk of over-monitoring players/ 24-hour surveillance. 43:58: Power of play/ how Brentford break up routine and regimen. 46:59: Setting up guard rails. Analogy about going across Firth of Forth Bridge. 48:52: Europe on the horizon. Challenge of extra games. 52:23: Premium Member question. Lessons from rugby. Chaos and surprise. 55:51: Ambitions: personally and for the club as a whole.  

Episode #76 of the Training Ground Guru Podcast, in association with Genius Sports, is with US Soccer Sporting Director Matt Crocker. Matt has been in role for almost three years and is responsible for setting the Federation’s sporting vision and performance strategy across all 27 national teams. 2026 is going to be a huge year for both Matt and US Soccer, with the opening of a new national training centre in Georgia and hosting a home World Cup.  Before joining US Soccer, the proud Welshman was Head of Coaching and Development for the English Football Association and Director of Football for Southampton. I spoke to him about his career, about his current role and about his ambitions for this summer and beyond. We hope you enjoy this episode and if you do, please give us a follow via your preferred podcast provider.  SHOW NOTES => 01:57: Opening of the new National Training Centre. 06:48: Big year ahead, with a home men's World Cup in the summer. 08:30: Almost three years in post now - reflections so far. 13:07: Pay to play in United States/ what is being done to make football more accessible for all.  16:18: Academy system in US compared to in England. 17:37: Composition of the senior squads - mostly based in Europe or at home? 19:13: Is this summer's World Cup key to growing the game in US? 20:52: What would constitute success for US at the World Cup? 23:10: How impressed have you been by Mauricio Pochettino?  24:42: Was it hard to land Pochettino and Emma Hayes? 25:54: US Women winning the Olympics just 10 weeks after Hayes had been appointed 27:37: Do the two Head Coaches - and others within the Federation - provide challenge for you? 28:58: How Hayes keeps him "on his toes." 29:44: Will Pochettino get longer with his players than eg Thomas Tuchel in run-up to World Cup.  31:18: Personal journey - starting his career at Cardiff City. Influence of Gavin Tait. 34:26: Joining Southampton as Academy Manager in 2006. 37:41: Pochettino developing young players at Southampton. 39:20: Joining Football Association as Head of Coaching and Player Development in 2013. 41:05: Three mentors: Dan Ashworth, Dave Reddin and Kirk Vallis. 44:04: Benefits of hiring people from outside football/ having diversity of ideas and experience. 46:10: Returning to Southampton as Director of Football in 2019. 50:49: Joining US Soccer as their second ever Sporting Director in 2023. 52:23: Confidence had been "rock bottom" after Southampton. 54:16: Difficulty of sticking to a long-term plan at a club. 56:02: One of first things he did was reappoint Gregg Berhalter as Men’s Head Coach through to the 2026 World Cup. A year later he was sacked after early exit in Copa America. 57:25: Ambitions for the future - return to grassroots coaching.    

In this podcast, Merijn Zeeman, the General Manager of AZ Alkmaar and former Sporting Director at Team Visma, shares insights from his unique journey in sports. He discusses how he creatively applied lessons from cycling, including data-driven strategies, to elevate AZ Alkmaar despite budget constraints. Merijn elaborates on fostering a collaborative team culture, innovative training approaches, and the importance of talent development over individual superstars. His partnership with Teamworks also highlights how data is revolutionizing football strategies and operations.

In this insightful conversation, Jamie Hamilton, a UEFA A Licence coach and influential football writer, critiques the dominance of positionalism in coaching. He emphasizes the importance of player individuality, arguing that rigid systems can stifle creativity and spontaneity. Jamie shares his journey and redefines tactical concepts, advocating for a shift towards relationism, which emphasizes player interactions over prescribed roles. He warns that over-coaching in youth football might hinder natural talent, urging coaches to embrace surprise and flexibility on the pitch.

In this enlightening discussion, Rob Mackenzie, Head of Scouting at Tottenham Hotspur, shares insights from his two decades of experience in football recruitment. He dives into the intricate role of scouting, the importance of character assessment using examples like Mohammed Kudus, and how athleticism shapes player selection in the Premier League. Rob highlights the challenges of finding hidden gems in today's market and recounts his experiences discovering talents like Riyad Mahrez, illustrating the complex interplay between scouting and club strategy.

Our guest on Episode #72 of the TGG Podcast, in association with Teamworks, is Manchester United and England goalkeeper Tom Heaton. Tom is playing his 21st season as a professional and is a member of United's new five-man leadership team, along with Bruno Fernandes, Harry Maguire, Lisandro Martinez and Noussair Mozraoui. In this Episode he told us what it's like behind the scenes at United, about establishing himself at Burnley under Sean Dyche, about his experiences with England and his ambitions for the future. SHOW NOTES => 01:30: What the non-internationals do during the international break. 02:28: Thoughts on new Carrington training ground.  03:16: Can facilities be too nice and spoil players? 04:19: Being part of the new leadership team at the club. 05:11: Being inspired - but not weighed down - by the past. 06:35: What's the culture like behind the scenes? 07:49: Staying focused on the long-term plan. 08:54: First impressions of new goalkeeper Senne Lammens. 09:23: Does he coach the other keepers? 09:49: Joining United as an 11-year-old. 11:43: Influence of Sir Alex Ferguson. 12:37: His six loans as a United player. Positive experience and 'real' football. 15:21: Returning to United in 2021. Has it gone as planned? 18:12: Finding a home at Burnley (2013 to 2019). Playing under Sean Dyche. Defensive detail and organisation. Goalkeeper factory under Billy Mercer and Craig Mawson.  23:36: Evolution of role of the goalkeeper.  26:40: Which goalkeepers do you admire? 27:45: How long will you carry on playing? 28:37: What do you plan to do when you finish playing? 30:35: Going to the Euros with England as a training goalkeeper. 32:45: Thoughts on the Sporting Director role. Have done the UEFA Football Management Course. 34:01: Sean Dyche or Sir Alex Ferguson as a hybrid manager-Sporting Director.  35:06: Hopes for the rest of the season with Man Utd. Optimistic? 35:49: Looking ahead to appearance at TGG Live 2025 at Old Trafford on October 8th.