Why Most Players Train Wrong (7mlc Explains What Actually Works)

Michael, welcome. Warm welcome to the

podcast. So good to have you here with

us today. Um, tell our audience please a

little bit about your football journey

and how you ended up with 2 million uh,

subscribers on YouTube.

>> All right. Well, Jimmy, first thanks for

having me on the podcast. As you know,

we've had some separate conversations

whoever's played a huge role in my life,

not only as a player, but in a lot of

what I'm doing now. So, I'm really

appreciative of all the work that you do

and it's an honor to be here on the

podcast. But nutshell of my journey.

Grew up in England playing football as

as many do. Just really grew passionate

about it more so in my teenage years and

fell in love with it to a point where I

knew I wanted to play for as long as I

possibly could. Yeah.

>> Amongst that time I was doing a little

bit of early social media, uploading

some free kick videos to YouTube and

whatnot. More of a hobby that

>> quite honestly I'd be devastated if any

of my friends found out about. I was

very shy about it and you know I'd be

filming at the pitch and if anybody was

walking within 100 meters or so I'd be

not speaking and shutting off the camera

waiting until they've passed. But that

out of that hobby grew a little bit of a

career opportunity down the road. It's

not something I thought would have been

possible at the time. It was more of

like I me just a a hobby. But through

playing, I ended up going out to the US

on a scholarship to go to university.

And we had a project in university where

we needed to create some kind of side

hustle that we could do along the side

of a 9-to-f5 where you could earn a

little bit of extra income. And I came

up with the idea of having an online

football academy. Yeah. That players

could train with from all across the

globe. You know, they didn't have to be

with me in person. So just for the final

project at university, I put together a

few training videos that I uploaded to

YouTube just because I had this platform

to present to the class. And after a few

months, I realized some of these videos

were getting some traction. And I think

it was just a sweet spot in time where

people were getting a little bit more

open to individual training.

>> Yeah.

>> And were requesting more of it. And so

fast forward a few years, I went on a

bit of a plane journey, played in a

couple of countries around the world,

went to Australia, came back to the UK

for a bit and I was in this phase of

time when I was out in the US waiting on

my green card and couldn't work properly

at the time. So I wanted something to

keep me occupied, keep me busy and so I

dove into the YouTube channel a little

bit just to make myself feel like I was

adding some value to the world, you

know, not just sitting in my apartment

waiting for my green card. And then by

the time my green card came through, the

channel was in a space where it was

growing pretty consistently. I was

uploading on a regular basis. People

were requesting certain videos and it

just ended up flourishing honestly and

very undeliberate, but at the same time,

you know, it makes sense with the

consistency why it it grew over time.

And I think it

>> the stars just aligned a little bit at

that moment. And I think what really

pushed it forward was 2020 when nobody

could train, you know, in a team setting

anymore. I'd had this library of videos

on my channel that were designed to help

players train individually and suddenly

the world was in a position where they

were forced to train as individuals and

suddenly they were all looking for

content or resources to keep them sharp.

And it just so happened I had about four

or five years worth of videos to help

the players progress. And it it boomed

during that period especially. And yeah,

we're at the point now we're about to

hit 2 million subscribers which is

>> unbelievable to think about.

>> Congratulations. That's awesome. And and

your journey is inspiring. And I think

that you know if we'll obviously include

the link to your YouTube channel. You

guys have got a much bigger presence

than we do and I'm sure a lot of our

audience will be aware of what you're

doing. And I guess sort of what we're

trying to do with our podcast is try and

help and support grassroots coaches with

the common sort of issues and challenges

that they have with young players,

female, male, uh, in youth football,

particularly around the world, but

particularly in America and the UK,

which is where most of our YouTube

audience is. So, Michael, the first

thing is, and your channel does this

really well, is sort of provide content

for individual training. Can you give us

some tips on what you think really would

help children, young young players

motivate themselves to train

individually? Because it's it's a common

challenge, right? Because for example,

my grassroots team, we only train once a

week. We play on weekends. So, we don't

have the necessary contact time to

really help help our players improve.

They're not with the ball enough to

improve. So, I know you you YouTube

videos would be a great way to do this.

Yeah. Could you give us a bit of an

insight on on other ways to motivate

players to train individually?

>> Yeah, it's tough. I mean, if if you

don't have a structure for your sessions

and kind of a a guideline or an ideal

self that you're trying to develop into,

it's really hard to get out on the pitch

and train individually in a productive

way. I mean, I grew up making a lot of

mistakes as a youngster, just getting

out to the pitch, wanting to do the fun

stuff only, wanting to hit, you know,

direct free kicks for 30, 45 minutes,

and

>> working on moments of the game that are

quite rare rather than what moments of

the game are happening more often, you

know, first touch, passing, all of the

fundamentals. So, working on the

foundation is a great way to boost

confidence, I think, in younger players

because it helps them get involved in

the game more. Yeah,

>> I always think of building a player.

It's almost like a lot of people use the

analogy of building a house, you know,

setting the foundation, building upon a

strong foundation. I prefer the analogy

of a tree because I think all the the

technical foundational work, your your

your basics like your dribbling, first

touch, ball striking, all of this can be

a bit repetitive and it's kind of the

stuff you don't see or the stuff you

don't appreciate, especially when you're

younger. be can be quite tedious, you

know, but that's that's what makes the

strong foundation of the tree, right?

You know, you you see the tree, but

what's stopping it blowing over in the

wind is that foundation is something

that you always rely on as a player. So,

even if you want to work on those

accessory or luxury actions such as

bending the ball top corner or working

on your 1v one dribbling moves, it's

only a small percentage of the game.

These are more gamechanging moments and

those things can only thrive if you have

that strong foundation first. So, I'm

sure a lot of younger players, they want

to skip ahead and they want to get to

those gamechanging moments because

that's what they see in the highlight

videos and whatnot. But I think if you

can incentivize that foundational work,

it really builds confidence in a player.

And I'm I'm talking from firsthand

experience because I was one of those

players that wanted to

>> just work on the free kicks, just work

on the 1 v one dribbling. And then my

abilities would be found out more in the

buildup play. You know, my my receiving

my awareness receiving the ball with

pressure and things like that. So you

need to incentivize foundational work at

an early age. Make it fun. And what I

started to do, especially as I start to

work with younger players now, I've

learned that masking the foundational

work amongst that luxury work is has

been really helpful because if you take,

for example, if you're working with a

left wing and they want to work on the

rub end, cutting inside and shooting as

most wingers want to, you know, if you

can have a piece of first touch work at

the beginning of that action, so you're

working on receiving with a certain

foot, taking it into an area, and then

working on that end product, the young

players is going to be engaged because

they're getting that reward at the end

of each action. So, if I'm working

specifically on first touch, if there's

a need for that with the player I'm

working with, I'll encourage them with

the shot, but what I'm really looking

for is the first touch, but instead of

exposing their weakness, which can

actually discourage, especially younger

player, they only want to work on what

they're good on, you know, good at, you

know,

>> it's a great tip. So, so disguising the

repetition work you're doing, you're

almost kind of putting setting a little

u it's not a trap. you you're kind of

you're you're the player doesn't really

recognize what you're working on. You

you're giving them the incentive to work

hard, but they're getting the reps that

they need to improve, but without them

really knowing. So, I think that's a

great way to do it. Competition is

another way to do it, right? And if

you're training in small groups or as

individuals, you can use a timer, you

can use player A against player B, etc.,

etc. But I think competition is another

way to to allow players to do the reps

that they require without them really

understanding the work that they're

doing to improve that foundational work

that you

>> Absolutely. Yeah. I mean, young players,

they really want to stand out. They want

to feel important. I think you probably

remember when you were younger, I was

the same way. You wanted to get that

player of the season trophy. You'd all

sit in the,

>> you know, the trophy announcement at the

end of the season. If you didn't get

one, you'd be so disappointed in

yourself. So if you can find a way to

give them that trophy with each session

and have those competitions in place,

sometimes that becomes more important

than the work, but as a byproduct,

they're getting that technical work in.

So I think if you only work on the

weakness, so if a player comes to you

and they want to improve their first

touch because they're weak in it, if

you're if you're just working on a first

touch drill that perhaps they're not

excelling at, it can almost demoralize

them a little bit. And you know, younger

players are shy when it comes to, you

know, exposing their weaknesses and

whatnot. They rather show what they're

really good at. So, if you can find a

way to enhance their good qualities

amongst, you know, working on their

weaknesses at the same time, I think it

really does help keep them engaged.

Yeah.

>> Success is another key way to

incentivize kids, right? If it's too

difficult, this is part of the art of

coaching. If it's too difficult, they're

going to get disincentivized. They're

going to get demotivated. If it's way

too easy, that can apply as well. So,

it's just I'd say from my experience

too, Michael, at the grassroots level,

just think about coaches out there,

adjusting, seeing, analyzing, trying to

think about what's working well for

players and adapting. Don't be afraid to

adapt. Make it easier, make it more

difficult.

>> Um, working with individuals or small

groups is good in that way. You can stop

it and you can adapt things on the fly.

There's nothing wrong with with stopping

your session and adapting it, especially

if you're only dealing with up to five

players. Yeah, I think one of the

hardest things to master as a coach when

working with players, especially younger

players, is mastering the sweet spot

between it being challenging enough

where you're stimulating growth, but

also being too challenging where the

players getting demoralized or

>> yeah,

>> unmotivated and shies away from progress

at that point. And I think that's what

makes a coach really good is finding

that balance

>> Yeah. between growth and and also not

making it too challenging because there

there is a a sweet spot for learning I

believe you know

>> absolutely

>> and I've learned this you know along my

own journey where things always need to

be pushing you slightly outside of your

comfort zone

>> but if you're too much in your comfort

zone you're also not motivated to work

at the same time every coach has their

way of doing that

>> I think you talked a lot about

confidence I think particularly with

with young players um they recognize

where their weaknesses are, where their

strengths are. I think they also in

their team setting understand that

completely about their teammates. And I

would say also, Michael, in my

experience, it's also a great

incentivizer to to point to strengths of

players in the same teams to say, "Oh,

Johnny's got a great first touch." I

think that almost is impactful as saying

that, I don't know, Messi's also got a

first touch. they they recognize that

and I think that can help them also work

harder and and see that it is possible

that that's a good role model for them

as well. So I I just encourage coaches

also to look within your team for good

role models to help incentivize the sort

of home home work that you need to do to

to get better.

>> Absolutely.

>> Yeah, great point. Okay. So, we talked

about sort of some of the ways to help

players motivate uh themselves to to

practice at home because it's with all

the distractions out there, all the

other commitments that they have, it's

difficult to to find the time and to

motivate themselves. So, so that's how

to do it. Let's talk a bit about what to

do in the sessions because you mentioned

fundamentals and and also some of the

stuff that obviously shooting is going

to be one that people want to do all the

time. Where are the areas apart from

foundations that you'd probably

encourage people at the beginning of

their individual work to to kind of

concentrate on?

>> Yeah, so we mentioned the foundation and

I think you know dribbling, first touch,

passing, ball striking, non-negotiables

for every player but I think beyond that

I think the earlier you can discover the

identity of a player the better. What I

mean by that is I think everybody has

natural giftings as an athlete. Some

players might be a little quicker than

others. Some players might naturally

have a better strike or understanding of

how to strike the ball. And I think it's

really important to encourage that early

on because as a player starts to find

their identity, it makes training a lot

easier and also gives you more of a

guideline of what sort of things you

should be working on and honing as you

progress in your career as a player.

Because I think it's as you get to the

higher levels, it's not necessarily

about doing everything well. Every every

top player's got the core fundamentals,

no doubt.

>> Yeah.

>> But as you really start to separate

yourself, it's usually those two or

three attributes or qualities that a

player has that makes them valuable to a

team and usually based upon position.

And I know at really early age sometimes

it's it's hard to see

>> what their game changes are. But as soon

as you start to see in a player that

perhaps they're really good at heading a

ball, they're really good at defending,

they're really good at 1 v one

dribbling, I think it's important to

encourage that and allow the player to

explore that at a more in-depth rate

because as they grow as a player, that's

only going to instill confidence in

them. If they feel like they have a role

on the pitch and they're important to

the team in specific areas, they're only

going to excel more. So, for example, if

you're a winger and you've noticed the

players really quick, they can push the

ball beyond players and get by them with

their speed. I think it's really good to

encourage that in your training as well

and get those repetitions in so that it

becomes muscle memory in a match so

they're not thinking about what to do

because that's one of the risks of not

having an identity as a player.

Sometimes you'll step on the pitch not

really knowing what you're going to

bring to the table that day. But I think

the earlier you can get a player

stepping on the pitch knowing I don't

have to do everything today. The central

midfielders have their role, the

defenders have their role, and we're all

contributing to the greater growth of

the team. that only gives more

confidence to that player and they're

going to grow at a better rate and

they're going to understand how to train

based on their qualities because

>> outside of the fundamentals I do think

>> honing in on two or three certain

attributes and becoming quote unquote an

expert in certain areas is going to

bring more success to a player than

trying to always go against

>> their weakness, you know. Yeah, I think

we talk a lot about strengthening

weaknesses of players and that's it's

important if it's a detriment to their

performance to not build upon those

weaknesses. I encourage to build upon

that. But at the same time, not every

player needs to do everything perfectly.

You know, you don't have to be able to

strike with both feet from 30, 40 yards,

but in terms of the fundamentals, both

footed is really, really important to be

able to navigate different situations

you find yourself in on the pitch. But

outside of that, I think it's those

gamechanging moments, whether that's

beating a player down the line, it's

turning as a number nine and striking,

it's that last ditch tackle, clearing

off the line with your athleticism. I

think once you can discover that a

player has a certain quality or at least

something that they're enthusiastic

about learning, because I think that is

also key. If the player wants to be good

at something, that's also going to

accelerate their development. if you're

trying to encourage them to be good at

something that they're really not

interested in, the rate of that growth

is just going to slow down a little bit

more.

>> Brilliant points. And I think um what's

also an interesting factor is age

related as well. Um I think my

experience at the grassroots level

coaching my boys and girls teams is

pretty much I'd say under 11. You're

looking for core fundamentals. You're

looking for you know um as strong a

weaker foot as you you can in terms of

weak foot. stronger foot, you're looking

for all the the core skill sort of

fundamentals that you mentioned. I would

say probably uh recommendation for

coaches is after 11 then really focus on

your points about what the player

superpowers. How do you encourage that

in your session planning in your

encouragement in in the way you you're

enthusiastic about what they do well? So

I think it's an interesting age factor

to to what you explained as well. And um

it was so so I would say that's at the

youth grassroots level. And it was

interesting speaking to Chris Ramsey um

who's now with England. Chris's view at

the pro level was we pretty much only

focus on their strengths. Of course, you

know, if there's they're the the best

players, so they're going to be of a

certain quality and we'll be able to do

everything well. But he said that in our

training, we only work with what they do

really well. And I thought that that's

that's also a nice kind of difference, I

guess, between pro game and and youth

game. And I know you you've coached pro

players as well. Have you found that as

well? Like

>> it's amazing the advancements in

coaching. I mean, years ago, you'd see

the head coach, maybe a trainer, but you

then you'd have a goalie coach for the

goalies. And I was working with a

striker coach recently, and they said to

me, you know, we have goalie coaches for

teams. Why why have we not had striker

coaches? Why have we not had defensive

coaches who specialize in certain areas?

because there is certain roles on the

pitch and everybody is collaborating to

bring out their greatest strengths for

the common goal of the team and so we're

seeing a lot more popularity with

position specific coaches even at the

very highest level national team level.

I think England hired a a striker coach

Alan Russell for a few years and he did

a fantastic job with top players and

it's not necessarily, you know, changing

the philosophy of what it means to be a

striker, but working on certain

movements and analyzing data for zones

within the box that typically the ball

drops into that a striker should be

occupying. And you can see you can see

an improvement in goals scored with

these types of coaches being hired. And

I think the future is only going to dive

deeper into that. I think it's great.

You know, it's exciting.

>> Absolutely. So, I think I think that

that's that's a really interesting thing

for coaches to recognize about

encouraging superpowers of your players.

Can you um going back now, Michael, to

training alone, sort of individual

training? Can you talk about good

habits, bad habits, and particularly

with the lens of of technical and also

mindset because I imagine, you know, if

you start off with the wrong mindset for

individual training and what that looks

like as well.

>> Yeah, I think number one bad habit is

getting to the pitch without any idea of

what you're about to do because you're

probably going to spend time at the

pitch thinking about that which could be

put to use developing your skills. So, I

think having a plan ahead of time as a

player is really important. Of course,

beyond normal warm-up and um ball

mastery, technical warm-up and things

like that. I think approaching each

activity with intensity is really

important because it's very easy as an

individual. You don't have a coach with

you in a lot of these settings. There's

no one there to push you. You have to be

a self motivator. So, I think working

intensely with the ball and then having

the recovery periods between all that

you're doing is really important. Trying

to find ways to imagine the game and

what you're doing is also really

important. What I personally like to do,

I like to train in actual areas of the

pitch that I'm going to be occupying

based on my position. So, if I'm a

winger, even my dribbling drills, I'll

set them up on the wing so that I'm just

getting used to being in that part of

the pitch and I can see the game.

imagine where the defenders are going to

be. I think having that vision while

you're training and actually putting

yourself in the midst of a match

naturally brings up that intensity. So

when you make a movement, you imagine to

yourself, how would a defender typically

respond to this situation? What would be

the moment that I go from slow to fast?

>> Trying to actually mirror certain

actions that you'll be performing in a

match is is really key because otherwise

you're going to go through the motions.

is you're probably going to train at a

consistent tempo which is not reflective

of the game. The game is going 10 out of

10 and sometimes going down to a two out

of 10 in terms of intensity. So if you

can match that in your training, you're

only going to equip yourself more. Is

there an optimal amount of like should

you be training with a friend uh with

dad or mom etc. like or or I guess I

guess it's also age specific as well.

Say for over 12 players

>> young players that are over the years

Yeah. 12 years old. What would you

recommend is the optimal sort of setup?

Also bearing in mind maybe you know

access to pitches etc might be limited.

>> I assume you can still do the work at

the local park with mom with dad etc.

Could you talk about

>> Yeah. I like a hybrid model. So I think

maybe if the the child or the player is

a lot younger having someone there to

guide them is only going to be

beneficial and just to help with a bit

of accountability keeping them

structured so the parent can work with

the player on this. And I would say

building a program that covers all of

the key fundamentals in whatever they're

doing.

>> So I think every session should involve

the fundamentals. First touch, passing,

dribbling, and or striking, whether

that's passing back and forth with with

a parent,

>> with another player is great, but I do

see the value as early as possible

getting the player spending some alone

time with the ball because I think

that's where the player really learns a

lot about themselves, what they like,

their tendencies. But again, I think

having a hybrid model is good because if

you have bad habits when you're training

individually and you're only training

individually, you're just going to

reinforce those bad habits. So having

another player there

>> can add that element of competition in

if you're working on some one v ones and

a little bit of match realism. Having a

parent there to push, to encourage, to

perhaps, you know, as a player loses

focus, bring the focus back to what

they're doing. In terms of the an ideal

amount of time, I'm a big advocate for

an hour of work. Even though a match is

90 minutes, when you get up to full 11

v1 senior football, I think an hour of

individual work is is a sweet spot

because, you know, in in the midst of a

90-minute match, you're not on the ball

all the time. Your actual moments with

the ball, I think they average about 3

minutes is actually a long time to be on

the ball over the course of 90 minutes,

believe it or not. Most of the work

you're doing is off the ball. your

positional awareness. So I think in

terms of technical work having a

structure of you know improving the

fundamentals and then as the player gets

to an age where they've identified a few

of their superpowers as you mentioned I

think it's good to involve some of that

towards the end where it's game actions

to goal or game actions to you know

clearing headers whatever their

specialty is involving that some way

amongst the end of their sessions after

they've touched upon the core skills in

a in a deliberate focused and intense

way

>> and say and say Michael for over 12

player that's training once or twice a

week match day on the weekend what would

you recommend one additional session

once twice in the week what do you

think's manageable

>> if they if they're training once a week

with the team playing once on the

weekend I would say a minimum of three

individual

>> additional sessions on top of that

>> yeah you know obviously depending on the

goals of the player what level they want

to reach assuming the player wants to

become the best player player they can.

I think spreading out three dedicated

sessions per week and then even in

between that finding some way to get

some ball work in the garden with a ball

mastery circuit, a juggling circuit,

knocking a ball against a wall,

something a little less structured, but

just it's play. Yeah. Just getting a

feel of the ball, spending that valuable

time getting those touches, all the

different surface areas of both feet,

different body parts to familiarize

themselves with controlling the ball.

>> Those things don't have to be quite as

structured. I think it's important to

have that fun time as well, build that

relationship. But in terms of structured

sessions, I'd say three.

>> And are those sessions different?

>> Yeah, I would always say involve those

core fundamentals that we mentioned.

>> And obviously depending on the player

themselves, their personality, if they

find repetitive work too tedious,

switching it up. But, you know, there's

so many ways to work on the fundamentals

and kind of disguise them, you know, as

we as we mentioned before, disguising

their weaknesses within drills, but also

disguising core fundamental work with

fun activities.

>> Yeah.

>> Just to keep the players stimulated.

Yeah.

>> So, for a parent that's or a volunteer

coach that's interested in sort of

assigning homework for their players two

or three times a week, Michael, what

what would a typical let's say the three

sessions, session one, what would that

look like? Could you just give a summary

of what you'd recommend for a grassroots

U12 player that's motivated?

>> Yeah, for for an under 12 player that's

motivated

>> around that age, you know.

>> Yeah, I I you know, I think it's okay to

also segregate individual skills within

those three sessions if you if you want

a full day working on dribbling. And

obviously, it really depends on what

resources you have. if you're in a back

garden that there's no rebound surface

and it's hard to work on the first touch

when you're only working on juggling.

But I think having games involved and

something I like to share with players

that I work with is always having

challenges. You know, if it's a juggling

challenge, you're not just juggling back

and forth, right foot, left foot. It's

like this week we're going to work on

inside of both feet and a pattern with

the so it's it's two on one foot, one on

the other, two on the other foot and the

other. And I've put so many of these

patterns out there. And it's just a way

to take a core skill, but add a new

challenge to it. Because what does a

good first touch actually mean? I

believe it's when you can take the touch

exactly where you want it to with the

actual part of the body part you

intended, you know? And when you work on

these patterns where you're deliberately

taking a certain amount of touches on

one side of the body, changing it to the

other side of the body, it it gives you

that mastery feel. you know, it feels

like you're in control of the football

and not vice versa. So, I think

incentivizing younger players,

especially with these types of

challenges, that's a great way to keep

them engaged because they'll want to

better their score. You know, if you're

giving them a certain target, like 20 on

both sides equally and they keep

dropping the ball at 18, they're going

to be motivated to get to that point.

You know, if you're giving them a goal

of 20 and they keep dropping it at two,

they're going to be less motivated. So,

I'd say work with the player based on

their ability at that moment. Don't set

goals that are way beyond their current

reach.

>> I think bite-size goals are really

important. Just being a little bit

better than the day before. Very good.

>> Because I I think what the temptation

now is with Project Mbappe, you know,

everyone's parents are thinking

longterm. They're thinking of them being

in the Premier League someday. And

that's great to have those goals

eventually, but it's kind of like

climbing a mountain, right? If you only

look at the peak looks a long way and

sometimes that can deter you from the

journey ahead. But if you focus on one

step at a time, just building the skill

a little bit more, slightly more

challenging than the previous week,

that's how you're going to see a real

consistent growth rather than setting

these really grandiose goals that are

just unattainable or you know they're

going to take a lot of work. You know,

staying on the course towards those is a

lot harder, especially as a young player

with all the other things going on in

their life as well, you know. So,

>> absolutely. So, in terms of some of the

the sort of content and stuff that you

recommend, Michael, obviously part of

the curve history is 1 v1 and ball

mastery, it's it's uh probably what

we're known spe uh most for uh globally.

And um ball mastery, the benefits, I

mean, you you've talked about a lot a

lot about this in your videos and stuff.

There's many benefits to ball mastery

and building slowly you know your

ability and manipulation the way you

flexibility all the all the other things

the coordination all those benefits that

you can have with ball mastery. Can can

you talk a bit about your journey with

ball mastery and how you saw a

development in your skills the harder

you worked etc etc and how you built cuz

for a larger person for a taller person

your feet are unbelievable left my foot.

Yeah, fantastic. And you can curver guys

can immediately see that you've had that

work and and you've absorbed the the

kind of finesse and the nuance of of how

you touch the ball with both feet like

that. Can you talk about your journey

with with ball mastery and and what that

looks like?

>> Absolutely. And and goes without saying

that Qu's hugely responsible for any

kind of technical ability with my feet

that I have now because I I built that

at a young age doing qu you know

coaching program. So my first exposure,

I was in a development academy at

college here in the UK and we had a

gentleman come in who was dressed very

slick in all black

>> adidas gear and he he looked the part.

He gave a small presentation, showed us

some quite a coaching ball mastery

sessions

>> and it was a line of players doing the

same movement in synchronization and it

looked so clean and it's not anything

I'd seen before. I think especially

growing up in England,

>> skills weren't exactly taught at the

youth level or encouraged. You know,

we're we're from a culture where playing

it simple is important. It's

physicality. These are the kinds of

things that make us what we are here in

the UK. But I think during that time we

were starting to open up our eyes to the

rest of the world and seeing what

Brazilians were doing, seeing what Dutch

players were doing and we were

fascinated by what they could do with

their feet. players like Dennis Bur camp

coming into the Premier League. Rob was

doing

>> so well, you know, and

>> you started to grow an appreciation for

the skill they have with their feet and

I wanted to develop that. So, we did a

session that day and I was hooked. I was

telling you earlier the coaches wearing

those black and white copy. I went out

the next week and I got them. I thought

they would help me. You know, he looked

so good when he was doing it that way.

And from that moment, I was I was really

drawn to ball mastery. And what I loved

about it so much, it changed my

perception of what training meant

because training before that meant I had

to get to a fulls size pitch, set up

loads of cones and, you know, doing long

distance sprints and and setting up four

sessions. What ball mastery allowed me

to do was condense a session and occupy

only small spaces and still get a lot of

benefits. So I could do it in my house.

I could do it in my back garden. So, no

longer did I have to wait for training

days to get touches on the ball. Yeah.

And I found myself really accelerating

as a player, the more comfortable I got

with the ball at my feet. And as I

mentioned, growing up, I had a couple of

those superpowers. I was fast and could

finish. But in terms of my linkup play,

handling the ball in tight spaces, it

wasn't my strengths and I wanted it to

be. And I found myself as I did more

ball mastery, having more ability in the

buildup and in the small spaces allowed

me to unlock more opportunities to show

my superpowers as well. So I really saw

the value of that technical training.

>> I think this is a good point for coaches

as well. Players will see the

improvement, right? And it's kind of

self-generating. It's like the fuel for

further improvement when you when it's

circular, right? You you felt like you

improved. You wanted to work harder. You

worked harder, you improved. And it goes

round and round and round. And it's

interesting that you noticed that as a

player, too, and and saw it improve your

game, which meant you worked harder.

>> Absolutely. Yeah. Oh, yeah. It was it

was like the small rewards. You know,

I'd step on the field each week feeling

feeling a little bit more

>> Yeah.

>> confident. Found myself getting involved

in the game more and more and more. So,

>> it felt like I'd found this secret

source. You know, I think back then

YouTube was wasn't what it is now. We

didn't have as many resources. I

remember my version of learning was

every Christmas I'd get some kind of or

DVD you know and then go out into the

garden and you know try and implement

what I've learned from this videotape

and I'm running back in the room seeing

what was on the telly running back

outside

>> the resources players have now is

unbelievable but Kerva felt like

>> this secret secret training method that

only certain players knew about and I

really took pride in that and I knew as

soon as I knew some of the players that

I looked up to you know a lot of Dutch

players grew up with this type of

training. It really it really pushed me

to want to with my feet. That's

brilliant. And I I think it's a nice um

opportunity then to talk about the power

of video because players and some

grassroots coaches out there might be

hurt. They might not be able to

demonstrate. They might not be able to

prescribe the ball mastery work that

that their players should be doing at

home. But the use of video to go to your

videos, to go to cover videos, etc.,

etc., is a powerful way to teach because

players can break it down. They can be

on their phones or their parents' phones

or whatever and they can see this more

complex ball mastery. This is how I do

it. Step one, step two, step. And I

think that visualization, that analysis

allows players that are motivated to

quick probably more improve quicker than

they could back in the old days. That

that availability of that kind of

technology. Is that kind of how you see

it as well? I think obviously it still

takes the same amount of time for the

player to improve, but I think the

player can get to a point where they're

training the right way quicker now just

with all all the resources

>> out there. So definitely a huge

advantage for younger players now. The

only problem that starts to become we're

quite saturated now

>> in the world with social media and

everything. So, I think the majority of

what I see a lot of coaches doing a

great job out there, but you know,

there's also there might be some

training methods out there that aren't

as beneficial or, you know, maybe not

>> preaching the right messages.

>> Um,

>> yeah.

>> So, or it can just be overwhelming

honestly. There might be a hundred

coaches all saying the right thing, but

you also don't know who to listen to

just because

>> there's so much available. Um but back

then there wasn't and and cov were

really you know you could feel the

development from from from the work that

you were doing. So nice

>> it felt like you know the gospel of

training at that moment. I think that um

the other powerful thing that hopefully

demo work in a live setting does or on a

video is it cuts down the the verbal

communication that's required. It's like

watch this. Yes. Try and copy this. And

if you need to dissect it and break it

down step by step in a live setting or

the kid or the child needs to look at

the video again to to do it, it's that's

available to them. But I think how

children learn obviously the visual way

probably more likely than other ways is

the best way to teach. So a good demo

and and coaches a quick tip for you as

well. If you can't demo it for whatever

reason, get your better skilled player

in your team to demo it for you. and

prescribe the homework, you know, using

them as an example. I think that's a

good tip.

>> Yeah, absolutely. I I just I remember

years ago I I played on a a team out in

the US down in Southern California and

as part of that project, we visited an

orphanage in Mexico to do some football

clinics with the young players there.

And I noticed one of the players was

really skillful and skillful, a young

Mexican boy, and he they had basically a

football court out the back of the

orphanage, concrete, and he was doing

elasticos and all these movements. And

then I noticed they had an iPad that

each child could get kind of rent for 30

minutes or something. They all get a

little bit of time with it to spend on

YouTube and whatnot. And he was there

watching like slow-mo clips of Ron

Alinho and then he'd put it down and

he'd go out and

>> work on the move and whatnot. So, I

think visual visual learning is

incredibly massive powerful. You know,

you you don't have to speak the same

language and none of us could speak

Spanish, but we're there teaching the

kids skills and whatnot. They're

watching us do it, but they're also

watching top level professionals and

whether they know it or not. This is

kind of a university for footballers

growing up, having YouTube, having you

you're getting to see the very best slow

the clips down. It's not something I had

access to as a young player. I had to

watch Match of the Day and hope I didn't

miss a moment. You know, I had to engage

to every single second because you miss

it. You couldn't just rewind back then.

So, if you missed a moment of magic or

you had to try and interpret it,

interpretate what you saw on the screen

and then try and get out to the garden

and recreate it, but you're not sure if

you remember it correctly. But now you

there's no mistake on what the player is

doing if you're willing to analyze. So,

>> very fortunate. I think young people

know exactly what they're doing as well.

And I think um I'm proud to say with

Kerver's history always analyzed

world-class players, what they do well.

40 years ago when the guy started Cerver

coaching, they they looked at players

like Lip Barski and and Beckham Bower

and Stanley Matthews and Johan Cro etc.

etc. What did they do well and then

break those moves down and and try and

teach them? And they at that time was

one v one. you know, uh, Will Kerver,

the brilliance of his idea was how do we

dissect what all those geniuses did and

allow young people, young players to try

and recreate those movements. So, if we

sort of pivot to one v1 now, Michael, I

know what sort of player you are as well

and what you like to do. One v one's

obviously a bit of an obsession of

yours. Yeah,

>> tell us about your journey there and

what you think's important to help

coaches or help young players on on

their journey to to for me being a

curver guy. One v one's my favorite part

of the game as well. Yeah. What excited

you about it and what was your journey

around 1 v one?

>> I just remember how it felt watching

players in 1 v one situations. If I ever

got to go to a football match, maybe

once a year when my dad took me, that's

the moments that excited me the most and

it would get the crowd out of their

seats because you can coach one v one,

but at the end of the day, it's it's

kind of left up to the player and their

imagination and you never really know

what you're going to get out of them.

And some of these moments that lead to

some of the best goals of all time, a

lot of them sparked from this one v one

moment. And I just think it is the magic

of football because you can coach

structure, you can coach tactics and

whatnot, but when a player's in form and

running at players, there's nothing you

can do about it. And I think that's what

takes players to the height outside of

goals scored. When a player's in form

and we we look at the best players,

typically they're great one v one

dribblers. And I knew when I was down

the path with my friends playing World

Cup and games like this where you're an

individual, you're trying to get to the

goal and you're trying to beat players,

you're trying to nutmeg your friends.

Those are my fondest memories with the

football at my feet. And obviously, if

you're doing that too much as a

youngster, you can get a bit ball

greedy. But at the same time, I think

one v one players are becoming a little

bit more rare. you know, in terms of

really dominant one v one players,

tactics are are a bit more important it

feels like in in the modern game. But

that's what I used to tune into on the

weekend was seeing the best players go

one v one and these moments of magic and

I think Messi is has converted a lot of

players into wanting to be one v one

dribblers as well just because he's the

best to ever do it. And yeah, I think I

think that same magic is still around

and the players are drawn to it and it's

I think it's just because it's the

ultimate freedom on the ball. It's not

>> it's not structured. You can't really

you can coach one v one in the

principles of it, but then after that

it's leading it to the freedom of the

player. Each dribbler has their own

style, their own way of unbalancing a

defender. Some are pure speed and a

quick change of direction. You know,

there's a, you know, throwing 75

stepovers around the ball. And I think

it's the ultimate expression on a

football pitch is how you go one v one.

And it's a great sign of confidence as

well. When you can face one v one with

an opponent, me v you.

>> Yeah.

>> It kind of puts the spotlight on this

one moment on the pitch for just a

second. The whole game seems to just

shrink into this 1 v one situation, and

the whole crowd is watching and wants to

see the outcome of this this small

jewel. So, it's almost like a battle

within the battle. That's how I see it

and that's what really drew me to one v

one dribbling growing up.

>> So, so coaches out there, you you can

teach it as well. It's something that um

you know the the your players will be

excited about. It's the ultimate form of

competition. Uh the player on the ball

that's attacking and the player

defending, it will engage your players

immediately. It's one of the things I'd

like to do right from the start,

especially with maybe younger younger

boys that require sort of focus and

attention. It's something that engages

the mind and the attitude immediately.

>> The curve of structure to teaching it is

we have a pyramid of moves divided into

three sections and we have a whole

library of of different moves that

players can learn. Now, you don't need

all of them, but there's certain

classics that I think every player needs

and it's also not exclusive to forward

players as well. Defenders in particular

now need the way that coaches at the

highest level, at grassroots level, at

my level. what we're asking from

defenders now requires some changes of

direction. For example, shielding the

ball and then moving the ball, keeping

possession of the ball. So one v one, I

guess my point is one v one is relevant

for everybody, not just for for the

forward players. Yeah, if you think

about the the game itself, it's it's a

collection of one v one moments, whether

that's defensive or attacking and and

usually

>> whoever wins those jewels more often.

Not always, but typically that's the

team that comes out on top rather we

call it a collective e effort, but it's

each player winning their matchup,

whether that's defensively or

offensively. So

>> yeah, I so important. The curve of

mission back in ' 84, Michael, was uh to

combine effectively with teammates or

have the ability to go alone if that's

not on. So, it was always like a it was

a card that a player we'd want to equip

a player with in the event that me and

you can't play together because you're

marked or whatever it is. So, the other

thing is and grassroots coach coaches

you'll see this every week. It's it's

difficult. I mean Messi's stats I think

over his career is I think it was like

his success rate was 55% or 60% in his 1

v1 Jules it wasn't 100%.

>> Right.

>> So so it's it's a difficult topic but it

like you you've sort of so articulately

examined it's it's it's probably the

most rewarding one. It's why I think

football fans whether you're at your

kids game on the weekend or you go and

watch your team on a Saturday it's what

we all love to watch. So so keep going.

I think keep encouraging. The other

point before I stop waffling Michael

which I thought was really interesting

when I was watching match of the day the

other day about Pep's all Pep's sides

but particularly the City side about the

reaction to losing a 1 v one in terms of

then the quick press to recover the ball

quickly allowing them and giving them

the confidence to do 1 v one because

they're confident they'll get the ball

back in a high up position. So the

consequences of it aren't as it's not

like we're giving the ball straight back

to the team and oh no, we're under

pressure immediately. They've got that

mindset that kind of instills a

confidence in 1 v one as well. I thought

that was an interesting interesting

point. Yeah. To to be able to go at a

player knowing your team has got your

back and they want you to succeed. So if

you've got other players wanting you to

win that jewel,

>> Yeah. It's only going to instill

confidence in you and knowing that like

you said even Messi is at 50%. And we're

talking about the best dribbler of all

time. It's not 100%.

>> Yeah.

>> So you can imagine the stats of players

who don't have that success rate. It's

not about

>> winning 10 v 10 out of 10 1 v1s. But

most players know that it only takes one

moment of brilliance to change a game.

You know that one time you do beat a

player

>> Yeah.

>> and create something. it can be a

game-changing moment. So, I think it's

great to to talk about that because it

is important to have a team and a coach

that backs you in that sure situation.

So for the coaches out there who maybe

have a player in their team who is

enthusiastic about 1 v one and perhaps

it's not always going their way, I think

it's good to encourage them even still

because someday they might be a great 1

v one player and we might be talking

about, you know, the next generation of

dribblers, you know. So I think it's

important to have that trust and backing

from teammates. So I think at a younger

age it's harder to get the other players

backing the 1 v one dribbler because

every player wants the ball when they're

11 12 years old. They want to be on the

ball. So if they see a player losing it,

they're going to maybe throw their hands

up. But if you can create a culture of

highlighting players strengths and

backing them through that, I think it's

it's really important at that age

because I knew I I've been in certain

settings where I wasn't necessarily

encouraged with my 1 v ons and I know

what that did to me as a player. It made

me feel a shadow of the player I wanted

to be. because

>> I didn't excel in the the build up play,

the one two touch until later on in my

career when I actually started to, you

know, implement fundamental training

into my my own program. I felt like if I

couldn't go 1 v one, I was stripped of

my personality on on the pitch. I think

it's really important when a player is

excited about 1 v one because it takes a

lot of courage to go into that

situation.

>> I think it's really important to praise,

you know, success or fail. I think I

think it's a really good point, Michael.

I think particularly at the youth

grassroots level, this atmosphere or

culture of mistakes are okay. Whether

it's one v one or whether it's a bad

touch or a bad pass, it's inevitable,

right? They're young children. They're

going to make mistakes. That's an

inevitability. But you're just looking

for this kind of this graph of constant

improvement and it'll go backward, you

know, go back two steps, you go forward

one step, all all the time, whatever

that expression is. But you're going on

this journey. So they're not going to be

each player is not going to be perfect

in every situation and that's part of

their learning journey and I get I get

the enthusiasm to to play well and

everyone wants to do well and obviously

win but also I think another tip for

grassroots coaches just just be on that

communication journey throughout the

season. This is where we're trying to

get to. Here's the reality of what we're

going to see on the weekends. It's going

to be bad one week. It's going to be

good in in moments in the game too. It's

going to be up and down. But just to

provide young people with that

opportunity to fail because it's

inevitable because Messi does it every

other time.

>> Absolutely. Yeah. Failure is one step

closer to success.

and they have five

and they're always

develop

on the other side of this 1 v one

opportunity there could be a great

option to pass to a player in a

dangerous area if they're if they're

doing it in the right moments I think

it's it should be encouraged and allow

them that room to to fail because

they're going to learn so much through

those failures because every time they

lose lose the ball. It's almost like

collecting data, isn't it? And that's

something I I really took on my

shoulders at a young age is within the

first five minutes, I wanted to go at

the fullback just at least a couple

times almost to feel them out. And I I

would it's it's a hard thing to do, but

really accepting that the first few goes

might not go to plan, but each time it

doesn't, you're learning something new.

Oh, this defender likes to bite on the

right side. Or, oh, they're they're more

reliant on their strength, so I know

I've not got to get close to them. I

need to push the ball and use my speed

against this one v one. It's all about

collecting data really. So, allowing

them to explore that is is great for

their

>> It's a great point, Michael, about

collecting data. I think that um and

part of players young players journeys

will be understanding what that means as

they as and acquiring the information

and interpreting it and then actioning

it right. I think about one of our

forwards that we have in our gr

grassroots team U13 boys team and good

excellent one v one player his area of

improvement is not taking on taking one

one v one that's the right situation to

do my 1 v one not when it's backed up

with one two other teammates and he's

trying now to do a 1v3

which happened a lot and he's getting to

the point of you know recognizing that

picture that he sees now and

understanding the decision he needs to

It's probably if it's three players in

front of him, he needs to pass the ball

now and go into space and receive the

ball again. Hopefully, he's now into a

more isolated 1 v one. Then we want to

absolutely that's where you take that

player on. So, you know, that that

mapping part, that picture part is that

might be the disconnect in their

journey. Technically, they might be able

to do the 1 v one, but understanding

when and where is is a big part of that.

>> Yeah. And I think just with YouTube now

and other social media platforms, it's

we're constantly getting the highlight

reels of top players. We've seen Lamin

just go through five players. And if you

only watch the highlight videos, you

could be led to believe that every

single time the players getting the

ball, they're dribbling. But I think

it's what's really important for young

players, which is I think it's very hard

to do, especially now with attention

spans probably not as maybe high as when

we'd grew up, but watching a fulllength

90-minute match. And specifically

watching players in the position that

the player wants to play in is so

important because not only do you learn

that they don't win the 1 v one every

time, but also you learn that over the

course of 90 minutes, they're picking

moments to go one v one. It's not every

time they got get the ball. There could

be a a 20minut spell where your mile is

just passing and just lending the ball

back and forth to a teammate getting in

new spaces and you're probing and then

you're trying to find those moments when

you're then isolated almost lulling the

other team into a bit of a slumber and

then trying to catch them off guard.

There's a lot of psychology involved

when it comes to 1 v one dribbling. And

players also need to realize that a

successful 1v one dribble is often

determined by the movement of your

teammates. You know, it's not always me

v you. So, as much as I love just

isolated 1 v one dribbling training,

it's not always a perfect representation

of a match because in that kind of

condition, there's one goal out of this

circumstance. you're trying to get past

this player, but in a match, you can

make it seem like you're going at a

player, then play the one, two around

the corner, or you can make it seem like

you're going to pass, then swivel the

hip. So, you're relying on a free

flowing match to actually present

opportunities to dribble, and you're

using that almost as a decoy for a

successful dribble. So 1 v one dribbling

is great for confidence and technique,

but also watching matches and and

playing smallsided that maybe is a

little less restricted in terms of rules

and points. Footsaw is great. Oh, I mean

>> that helps one v one a lot. A lot of

>> most top level South American players

grew up playing football and that's just

encouraging one v one and creativity.

You're forced into situations where

passing angles are non-existent. So you

have to find ways to get yourself out of

trouble. So they're almost doing forced

ball mastery in a free flowing setting.

And I think that's what's great about

Corev and and ball mastery training is

you're you're getting those repetitions

with the feet and the confidence

manipulating certain angles, keeping it

underneath your body and all good stuff.

>> And you're looking for automatization

of of those movements as well. Yes.

Especially as you get better and bigger

and stronger and blah blah blah, you're

under immediate pressure. So you don't

have time to think. It needs to be

automatic and you need all of that work

that we've discussed

>> in individual training and your team

training. You need that body of work to

get the automization.

>> Yeah.

>> Yeah. It's just like strengthening that

signal between the mind and the feet.

You're still processing all the same

information but just at

>> such a quicker rate. It's almost like a

piano player. Your first lesson on the

piano. I've never played the piano so I

don't know what we're talking about but

we'll pretend I do. So, you know, I

imagine your first lesson, you're

looking for the right key. Boom. You

know, and you're going along and then

years and years of practice, you're

still looking for those keys, but it you

don't have to look anymore. And you're

so fluid and maybe you can add a little

bit of panache to your music. And that's

the same foot skills. You might look a

bit robotic at first, but over the

course of time, start to lift your eyes,

>> start to understand how it feels in

certain parts of your feet to make the

movement even smoother. And then in a

match it's it's muscle memory at that

point. Like instead of you going into a

situation like I'm going to do a crieta

here. It's just it presents itself and

it's almost like a jerk reaction and you

and you'll do things that

will feel instinctive. It will feel flow

state but it's just really really really

quick signals between the mind and the

feet that you've developed over those

years that you slow and hit the ball. I

think a lot of people question ball

mastery sometimes and ask, "I'm never

going to use that exact pattern in the

match." And that's not really what it's

all about. It's about sharpening the

tools that allow you to use your brain

more because you can have players who

have great ideas, but if they don't have

the skill set to match the ideas,

they're going to be kind of behind on

progress. But it's about sharpening the

tools so much so that when you have an

idea in a match, you don't even need to

think about the execution. It comes

almost instantaneously with the thought.

Absolutely. Rather than you're always

working upstream against your abilities

and your lack of development, you know,

>> Michael, I've really enjoyed our chat.

I've got one last segment if that's okay

with you. One last topic. So, you

mentioned Yal. I was lucky enough to

watch him last season live. It that's

the best performance, the best player

I've seen for a very long time. Not only

just watching him how clever the the

intellect or the sharpness, the

intelligence was just it was so he made

very ordinary defender look not very

good

>> and and not directly with the one v1's

just with his sharpness and how he's

thinking and and his threat as well. And

obviously that also speaks to kind of

now what probably the better teams are

playing, how they're playing with the

front three with inverted, you know,

righty playing on the left and a lefty

playing on the right. This is also

something you're seeing now at the

grassroots level. Obviously, we all

aspire to to that now. So you're seeing

grassroots teams play like that with the

front three uh especially in the UK

where I'm seeing it front three and

you've got a right foot playing on the

left and vice versa. Can you give us

some tips because I know that was also

part of your game as well. Give give uh

our audience some tips on how to produce

players. What should they be doing in

training to improve that way of

attacking?

>> Yeah, I think especially as a modern and

just to touch on Yamal, another player I

like watching is Michael Elise as well.

Very similar in their their mannerisms

as well. But I think what a lot of

players will look at is how Yamal is

acting right now. you know, he's very

nonchalant in his behavior, kind of sags

his shorts, looks maybe not interested

at times, but is performing so well. And

what we're seeing here is closer towards

the finished product of a player, we're

not seeing the years of development. So

although he looks nonchalant and it

looks so effortless, that's coming from

years of effort.

>> Michael, I've got to jump in here

because we were lucky enough to go to

the Bar Academy in the end of November.

>> Oh, wow. Yeah, I think I saw you were

there. Wow.

>> It was It was so insightful. just the

experience for a lifetime. Anyway, the

coaches were saying about him two

things. One, maturity, ridiculous amount

of maturity and self ownership and

obviously self motivation, but also an

obsession. And I I was lucky enough also

to see that with Messi uh an obsession

with training and improvement. And

>> sorry I just when you mention that such

a good point you brought that up because

I think

>> you know young players want to emulate

the greats very natural but don't

emulate what you're seeing right now.

Don't go up to training sagging your

shorts walking around at a a slow pace

thinking oh this is how your mouth plays

so this is how I want to play. I'm sure

when he was 12 he was you know and he

still works very hard. It just looks

like he's putting in less effort.

>> Apparently, training wise, Michael Wear,

I mean, does kind of

>> over they they take him off all the

time.

>> Yeah. I mean, it's just that level of

perceived effortless

is coming from a a strong place of

effort to get to that point. Kind of

like the piano player I was mentioning,

the world's

>> best. It looks effortless, but it's

because they're just

>> the connection between the mind and

whatever skill they're faced with. the

volume of work like and

>> yeah sorry so I digress other little

tangent it's awesome no it's really

really good

>> so yeah um attacking in that way what

especially with grassroots what would

you sort of recommend

>> yeah I think really encouraging that

wingers these days that's like you

mentioned you're a part of typically a

front three now you're almost a forward

and you're you're not bound to the

constraints of being out on the wing

anymore everything is very

interchangeable so I would encourage

dynamic movement

not only getting them exclusive reps out

on the wing, but every so often put them

as a number nine and let them feel

having pressure on their back for once

because it's a completely different

dynamic when you're usually going 1 v

one at a player to having a player on

your back and, you know, quick spins in

behind. So, I think a bit of versatility

in terms of their exposure to certain

moments in the game is only going to

help them. And the more intelligent they

get with their forward play, that only

allows them to once they're back out on

the wing, combine better with their

forward because they start to get in the

mindset of what it means to be a

successful forward and certain

movements. So you can get what looks to

be a little bit more telepathic in terms

of connection with your teammates. Then

when it comes to training, I think

really breaking down certain moments of

a game that are gamechanging is so

pivotal. So cutting inside and shooting.

Cutting inside and shooting. I think

Robin is the perfect example because I

mean the the saying is everyone knew

what he was going to do but you still

can't stop it.

>> All of those players Michael Dembele and

PSG everyone Messi everyone knows he's

coming on the but

>> yeah but good luck stopping. You won't

you won't because it's not about

>> it's not about if it's just when. It's

just it's being relentless in the one v

one. Yeah,

if they lose

that muscle memory

of Robin at Bayern Munich just every day

after training, even well into his 30s,

still rehearsing it after scoring

hundreds of goals that way. He's still

perfecting it every day. You never fully

master the craft. And I think that's

really important to hit home. no matter

how good you get, you can always get a

tiny percent better. And like learn from

these players who are so successful, but

they're still honing those certain

movements. And I think if you can get

that identity as a player that everybody

knows what you do so well that even if

they know you're going to do it, you

can't be stopped. I can only imagine the

confidence that gives you when you step

onto a pitch. You know, it's and your

teammates as well that you have a

certain performance that people start to

expect from you. And one of the best

compliments you can give a player is

when you see a player like Messi and he

hasn't scored for two games and they

call it a drought or something. You know

what I mean? They say you're

underperforming.

>> Whereas another player would score three

goals a season and

>> they're delighted. You know what I mean?

So

>> I think take note from these players.

They're so hungry. And if you can get

that hunger out of your young players

and instill that early on, I think it

really does ingrain deep down in the

belly. Um cuz that's what you hear the

stories about these greats. They the

coaches talk about how hungry they were,

how upset they'd be balling their eyes

out if they lost a game and things like

this. So I I I would say encourage

fluidity especially in a modern

attacking style of football and then

just really dialing in on gamechanging

moments. I don't know if that answered

your question.

>> No no Michael no brilliant honestly

really really enjoyed that. Um

>> it's been absolutely brilliant having

you on. Great last segment too to

conclude things Michael. Thank you for

being on the podcast.

>> Thank you for having me Jimmy.

Appreciate it. Thanks.