Pressing has been one of the most commonly discussed topics in the past decade or so of the detailed scrutinization of football. Ideas around gegenpressing, and the high-control philosophies of managers like Guardiola and Klopp allowed pressing to come to prominence for all to see, and induced a belief that pressing must be the only proper way to defend.
After a decade of Sean Dyche, Burnley have officially kicked off a new era with Premier League legend Vincent Kompany. The Clarets played admirably in their first Championship match since 2016, with a new set of tactics on full display. Kompany's bright start got off without a hitch - his team achieving a brilliant 1-0 victory over last season's Playoff Finalists. Here is our in-depth analysis of Burnley's 1-0 win over Huddersfield on the opening day of the 2022-23 EFL Championship season.
In the summer of 2021, I took a youth team to an unbeaten campaign, in their first ever season playing together. While winning is never the most important part of youth soccer, I share some of the key tips and tricks that allowed me to achieve success with my team and instill a positive culture where each and every player wanted to return. In the first half of the episode, I also discuss the exciting opportunities coming up on TheMastermindSite.com. Follow the show and my body of work @mastermindsite and @desmondrhys!
Fifteen minutes to go in the 2021-22 Premier League season, the title looked likely to change hands for the first time in months, with Liverpool having every chance of stealing top spot away from Manchester City. But then came Pep Guardiola and three inspired second half substitutions, stealing the crown right at the death. Here are three ways to best support the substitution process, and make effective changes to change football matches.
One of the most common questions thrown my way is the typical - "How do you know what you know?" or "How did you develop your tactical craft?". Well, I finally have an answer for you.
There's a beautiful thing in the coaching community, where we all strive to share resources. But this inherently creates a problem. What works in one context, doesn't always work in another. Sam and I are both content creators who always get asked to come up with solutions to various coaching problems and share our thoughts on how coaches can accelerate their teams to new levels. While we love creating content and educating coaches, it must be said that everything we put out always needs to be adapted to the context of the individual coach, team, players and environment. The same could be said for taking things from the professional game, where very few lessons can actually be applied at the youth level.
Looking for a unique, innovative solution to help your players get through these tough COVID times? Look no further than B42. In this exclusive interview, Rhys Desmond is joined by B42 founder Andi Gschaider to discuss his football training app used by teams and coaches around the world, including pro clubs in Germany like FC Nuremburg. Rhys and Andi discuss how coaches can use the app to inspire their players, how B42 got its name, and the company's desire to make a social impact. Follow the show @mastermindsite on social media, and stay tuned for more exclusive interviews coming this month.
Antonio Conte's Spurs, as expected, have gotten off to a flying start. Conte's team have gone unbeaten in their eight Premier League matches so far, playing some fantastic, easy on the eye football in the process. The variety in their attacking play has helped the team to 14 goals in 8 matches, with just 5 conceded in the process. In our recent analysis of Conte's team, we posited that the team only had one key dilemma to solve - what to do against low-blocks who want to sit very deep against them. As opposition teams sort Tottenham out, Conte's quest to combat the low-block appears to be growing all the more difficult by the match. They failed to claim victory against 10-man Southampton earlier in the week, and yesterday had to wait until stoppage time for Davinson Sanchez's winner. So with that, we take a quick look at how teams like Antonio Conte's can disrupt a low-block and generate scoring chances, taking examples from Spurs' own 1-0 victory against Watford at the weekend.
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