Sitemap
- List of all 115 articles published on Technique Journal
- Articles ordered by section: Game, Player, Practice, Coach
- Click on article title to go to page
Game
- Dan Micciche: “I like my teams to be attacking, aggressive and adaptable”
- Steve Rutter: how to adapt your playing style to club and culture
- James Barlow: how to link performance data to a game model and playing style
- Brent Hills: why a high-pressing style needs players to go from ‘warrior to creator’
- How to translate your playing identity onto the pitch
Systems
- Noel Blake: “systems of play change as soon as the ball moves”
- Dan Micciche: “if you’re rigid in your thinking the game will leave you behind”
- Jake Henry: linking small-sided games to the 11v11 game
- Fabian Otte: why goalkeepers must search for space and information
- Noel Blake: the role of the modern central defender out of possession
- Noel Blake: the role of the modern central defender in possession
- Brede Hangeland: why coaches must focus on defending detail as well as playing out from the back
- Ben Osborn: how to play wing-back or wide midfield
- John Allpress: key skills and characteristics of effective centre forwards
- John Allpress: key skills and characteristics of effective full-backs
Skills
Out of possession:
- Noel Blake: 1v1 defending in wide areas
- Noel Blake: how to defend crosses effectively
- Brent Hills: how to use ‘body and limbs’ to regain the ball
- Steve Lilley: how to help young players press more effectively
In possession:
- John Allpress: why coaches must help young players with their receiving skills
- John Allpress: how to develop young players’ forward passing skills
- Paul McGuinness: seeing the game from the ‘player’s eye view’
- Martin Dean: ‘Sense, decide, do’ – how Reading FC academy are developing better decision-makers
- How to help midfield players ‘face forward and play forward’
- World Cup 2022: heading from crosses, penalties and direct play all prove profitable in group stage
Fundamental movement skills:
- How to add ‘rough and tumble’ play to your coaching programme
- Carl Wild: how ‘rough and tumble’ play can help young players develop their physical skills
Player
Journey
- Dr. Perry Walters: why players in the Professional Development Phase [17-21] need ‘time and space’ to experiment without fear of judgement
- Professor Keith Davids and Fabian Otte: how each player has their own individual needs
- Martin Diggle: don’t obsess on tactics at the detriment of the individual player
- Jorg van der Breggen: the dangers of selecting junior teams ‘too early and too narrowly’
- Mo Bobat: why effective ‘transitions’ are key to a healthy player development pathway
- John Allpress: why young players need to be given a ‘long audition’ to showcase their talents
- James Barlow: how Portsmouth FC use non-league loans to prepare players for their first-team
- Ben Dawson: helping young players move from U23 football to the senior team
- Dan Micciche: how to help young players transition into senior professional football
- John Allpress: what does ‘toughness’ mean in young player development
Needs
- Martin Diggle: how simple practices can help you understand your players better
- Liam Bramley: why an effective multi-disciplinary team should operate like a ‘formula one pit stop crew’
- Matt Crocker: how Southampton U18 and B team use ‘player driven but data linked’ individual development plans
- Stuart Lancaster: how to work effectively with elite players
- Dan Micciche: the ‘how to get the best out of me’ exercise helping Arsenal’s academy staff work better with individuals
- Brede Hangeland: how to communicate with the modern player
- Dr. Perry Walters: why giving ‘status and respect’ to adolescent players can help manage behaviour more effectively
- Jody Caudwell: why there is no substitute for time when getting to know your players
Learning
- Professor Keith Davids: why players learn best in ‘safe but uncertain’ practice environments
- Dr. Ed Coughlan: why practice tasks must be consolidated effectively
- John Allpress: the three types of learning happening in every coaching session
- Ben Osborn: “I enjoy it when we’re doing sessions that are game-related”
- Matt Crocker: how regular ‘reconnection and review meetings’ helped England youth players thrive in a specialist coaching model
Challenges
- Ryan Maye: how a social and psychological approach can ‘unlock’ technical and tactical learning for players
- Professor Keith Davids: ensure player challenges remain realistic by incentivising instead of dictating
- Dan Micciche: how to work with individuals in a group practice
- John Allpress: how to design challenges, constraints and conditions to meet individual needs
- Ben Osborn: “you can make a professional career from being good at your strengths”
- James Brayne: how Birmingham City use elite player role models to help design individual learning plans
- 5 top-tips: designing effective individual player challenges
Practice
Syllabus
- Ben Bartlett: design ‘football environments’ instead of practices
- Mo Bobat: why England cricket think ‘individuals first and programmes second’
- John Allpress: how to design a player development syllabus
- John Allpress: what makes a youth development programme ‘elite’
- Matt Craddock: how a ‘club framework’ can help coaches be creative and innovative in their work
Sessions
- Steve Rutter: the importance of ‘thinking in ink’ when designing practice sessions
- PSV Eindhoven: the ‘box’ method helping the club’s U8-U12 players develop game-realistic skills
- Stuart Lancaster: how Leinster rugby train at ‘overspeed’ to prepare for matchday
- Dr. Ed Coughlan: how sequencing practice tasks more effectively can lead to greater game transfer
- Martin Diggle: the dangers of ‘lifting’ coaching practices off the internet
- John Prince: why young players should leave practice sessions ‘smiling, thinking and sweating’
- 10 top-tips for designing effective coaching practices
Activities
- Prof. Keith Davids: use pitch markings instead of more cones to develop better practice sessions
- John Allpress: why using offside in your practice session will help develop young players’ skill
- Mike Skubala: the importance of 2v2 futsal practices for player development in football
- Dr. Ed Coughlan: why coaches shouldn’t repeat the ‘same play from the same place’
- Steve Lilley: how to improve young players’ finishing skills through effective practice design
- Matt Crocker: individual development work doesn’t need to mean one-to-one coaching practices
Games
- Martin Diggle: “arguably the greatest practice of all is the game”
- Martin Diggle: 7 ways to increase the volume and variety of football
- Paul McGuinness: the benefits of mixed age-group training games for young players
- John Allpress: how to ensure player learning starts before kick-off on matchday
- John Allpress: how to provide effective player feedback during a game
- John Allpress: how to conduct an effective post-match review with academy players
Coach
Values
- Prof. Keith Davids: are your coaching role-models appropriate to your coaching context?
- Matt Craddock: why consistency of behaviour is key to player and coach development
- Martin Dean: the ‘moral obligation’ academies have to help young players gain a career
- Brede Hangeland: “as a coach you shouldn’t be acting. It’s very important to be real”
- Rehanne Skinner: the importance of establishing ‘vision and values’ with your playing group
- Mark Sampson: “if there was no competition, how would your coaching change?”
- John Allpress: what does it mean to be an ‘elite’ youth coach developer?
Relationships
- Steve Rutter: the importance of explaining ‘why’ when giving instructions to players
- Prof. Chris Cushion: “How can I help you figure out what it is you’re trying to do? And how can I help you move towards doing that better”
- Sally Needham: how Sheffield United are equipping their academy players with greater self-awareness in order to ‘out run, out fight and out play’ opponents
- Alena Moulton: the importance of giving players a voice
- Listening and caring: why an effective ‘partnership’ between coach and learner can help improve performance
Approach
- Steve Rutter: the four competencies all coaches should master
- Professor Chris Cushion and Dr. Ed Cope: how to move football coaching culture towards a more ‘evidence informed’ environment
- Dr. Andy Abraham: why coaches should be ‘prepared to look stupid’ in order to develop their effectiveness
- John Prince: key skills and characteristics academy coaches should demonstrate at interview
- Grant Heywood: why studying teaching can help you become a more effective coach
- Prof. Keith Davids: the coaching principles that apply to all age-groups and levels of the game
- Dr. Matt Pain: how cleverly designed ‘off-pitch’ activities can help predict young players’ future psychological skills
- Dan Micciche: the skills and characteristics of an effective assistant coach
Skill development
- John Allpress: helping our young players become ‘good drivers in heavy traffic’
- Prof. Keith Davids: why coaches shouldn’t teach perfect ‘technical templates’ to young players
- Prof. Keith Davids: the common misunderstanding with the ‘game as the teacher’ approach
- Prof. Keith Davids: why coaches must focus on more than the practice ‘task’
Communication
- “Shut down, slow down, sit down” – how Dick Bate made coaching memorable through language
- Stuart Lancaster: “I feel like I should be on the pitch with the players and emotionally connected to the training session”
- 10 top-tips: how to communicate effectively with young players
Observation
- Dr. Matt Pain: how an observational framework can help identify your players’ psychological skills
- Mike Skubala: how futsal can improve football coaches’ observation and decision-making skills
Planning
- Ryan Maye: how a ‘pocket planner’ can help coaches stay focused on key session objectives
Journey
- Alena Moulton: “I want to give girls the opportunities that I think females deserve”
- Ben Dawson: Why coaches must do the ‘hours and miles’ to learn their craft