Modern Soccer Coach Podcast
Our goal is to bring in-depth content to coaches with a combination of interviews, chats, and personal thoughts on the topics that really matter in the beautiful game and elite-level sport. Enjoy and thanks for listening! - Gary
Episodes
July 17, 2025 • 46 mins
Join MSC Insider Here:
modernsoccercoach.mimentorportal.com/subscriptions
Gary is joined by Ruben Santos to discuss how to align set-piece frameworks and training into the Game Model. Ruben has worked at a number of Portuguese clubs including CD Trofense, FC Porto, and Torreesnse. His presentation for MSC is around "dividing Set-Pieces into Sub-Phases, the aim is not to remove the complexity of Football but to create a Conceptual ...
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Read Slawomir Morawski's Article FREE Below:
https://www.modernsoccercoach.com/post/guest-article-the-art-of-first-touch-collecting-information-in-football
Gary is joined by Analyst at Bolton Wanderers Football Club and coach Slawomir Morawski to discuss the first touch in football. Slawomir argues that first touch is not just a technical action, but instead a cognitive one where decision making dictates so much. He discusses the...
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July 2, 2025 • 58 mins
Check Out Sportslab360 Below:
https://sportslab360.com/
Gary is joined by Professor, Soccermatician and co-founder of Twelve, David Sumpter. He has worked with some of the biggest clubs in the world, including Barcelona and Ajax, and his company Twelve are helping support professional clubs all around the world with data solutions. David's approach is certainly unique. He has studied and researched the behavior of birds and fish ...
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June 30, 2025 • 38 mins
Join MSC Insider For Exclusive Content:
https://modernsoccercoach.mimentorportal.com/subscriptions
Gary takes a trip to Atlanta to watch Lionel Messi live for the first time. He talks to Chicago City FC Academy Director and 1st team head coach, Conor Walsh about the impact of Messi, the tactical work of Luis Enrique and the player profile of Cole Palmer.
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Join MSC Insider Here: https://modernsoccercoach.mimentorportal.com/subscriptions
Gary is joined by Coventry City Head of Recruitment, Dean Austin to discuss the current landscape of player development in England. The rise of the game at the highest level is potentially impacting the youth game and Dean gives his expert opinion why. He also discusses his role as Head of Recruitment at Coventry and talks Deadline Day, role of Data...
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June 18, 2025 • 68 mins
Gary is joined by Andreas Schumacher to talk about his new book, 'Two Versus One' and the complexity of coaching attacking football. Andre has written the book alongside Bernhard Peters and is challenging coaches to get into more detail and context when coaching teams to score goals.
Andreas has a masters degree in Sports Science and has worked at a number of professional clubs including Hamburger SV, VfB Stuttgart, and St. Louis...
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June 13, 2025 • 72 mins
Gary travels to Ipswich Town to speak with assistant coach Lee Grant (since then he's been appointed head coach at Huddersfield Town) to talk about his unique journey in the game, plus his insights to individual development. Lee was a pro goalkeeper at Manchester United and then joined Kieran McKenna's staff as a forwards coach, before recently taking the job at Huddersfield.
Player development is often associated with the youth ...
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June 5, 2025 • 59 mins
Join the MSC Insider for more Exclusive Content:
https://modernsoccercoach.mimentorportal.com/subscriptions
Gary recently travelled over to England to meet Dan Micciche for a coffee and a chat about the progress they have made in the area of player development. In addition to his passion around the game, Dan has worked in some outstanding environment's (England FA, Tottenham, Arsenal and Everton) and shares his views on the follo...
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May 28, 2025 • 65 mins
Gary is joined by Rui Faria this week. Rui had seventeen years working with Jose Mourinho at Porto, Chelsea, Inter Milan, Real Madrid and Manchester United with phenomenal success during this time. He is credited with the tactical methodology that has had a dramatic impact on the world of coaching. Here he discusses:
- What is the REAL starting point for a tactical methodology
- How did Rui and Mourinho create different styles in ...
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May 15, 2025 • 65 mins
Gary is joined by Ashley Gumbrell to discuss ways that coaches can create an optimal environment for young players to love and learn the game. Ashley is a Coach Developer and also a lecturer at St. Mary's University. He also discusses the role of coach education along with his work with Eamon Devlin at Minute9.
The St Mary’s University Performance Football Coaching master’s is a unique opportunity to learn from world renowned aca...
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Check out Jack's Game Changer online course below -
https://thecoachinglab.org/pages/game-changer-2025-online-sports-coaching-course
Gary is joined by Jack Rolfe, founder of The Coaching Lab, to discuss ways that coaches can improve and challenge some traditional behaviors during training session. Jack has worked extensively with coaches around the world to improve training environments and maximize enjoyment levels of the player...
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Gary is joined by Jack Winter, who most recently worked at Stanford University as an assistant coach, to discuss the current landscape of college soccer. In this interview, Jack gives his views on the following:
- Impact on the Portal and NIL in the college game
- How high transfer rates impact team culture
- Why soccer programs should be compensated if players move to advance their careers
- The 'transactional' nature of college ...
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On the recent Modern Soccer Coach Podcast, we spoke to Dr. Konstantin Sonkin about the role of neuro training in the world of elite player development. Dr. Sonkin is a DeepTech entrepreneur with a blend of business acumen and technical expertise in Neuroscience and AI. He is the Co-Founder and CEO of i-BrainTech, a SportsTech company that is leveraging the power of applied science and neuro training to radically enhance cognitive f...
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Coaches: You can read Jake's full article here:
https://theraumdeuter.sport.blog/2024/12/14/boxed-in-how-the-thirds-of-play-impact-creativity-in-football-development/
Gary is joined by former Premier League Academy Coach, Jake Pickles, to discuss and challenge a common approach to possession football: the thirds model. Jake believes that, rather than educating players on the tactical principles of the game, it limits creativity a...
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In this episode we visit ACF Fiorentina in Italy to talk to Mirko Mazzantini (ACF Fiorentina Technical Director U8–U15) who discusses the youth methodology at the club. It's a fascinating insight into structure vs. freedom, development vs. winning, and even how coach compensation is structured within the academy.
The St Mary’s University Performance Football Coaching master’s is a unique opportunity to learn from world renowned ac...
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March 25, 2025 • 72 mins
Gary was recently joined by former Al Ettifaq FC 1st Team Lead Analyst, Raymond Shearwood. Before his role on Steven Gerrard's staff at Al Ettifaq, Raymond spent nine years at Liverpool coaching and working from the starting age groups to the Under 21's. In this interview, Raymond shares unique insights on what made that Liverpool culture so special and how they blended football development with leadership and life skills. Raymond'...
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March 18, 2025 • 51 mins
Coaches: Register for MSC Set-Piece Webinar Below:
https://event.webinarjam.com/register/442/k3g3rbgy
Gary is joined by former Sacramento Republic head coach Mark Biggs. Mark discusses the difference between the idealistic world of coaching and the realistic version. He shares insight around how he used data to drive the player profile at Sacramento, changing the culture, playing a 13 year old in a pro game and the importance of t...
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March 10, 2025 • 52 mins
Coaches: Register for our FREE MSC Set-Piece Webinar with Michele Aragona below:
https://event.webinarjam.com/register/442/k3g3rbgy
This week, Gary is joined by Head of Coaching at Wellington Phoenix, Joshua Neff, to discuss the Director of Coaching role at youth and pro clubs. Joshua shares his experience at the New Zealand club of building out a methodology but also aligning it with a 'coaching culture' that is built around trus...
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March 6, 2025 • 46 mins
Don't miss our 4-2-3-1 Webinar on March 7th. Register Below:
https://www.modernsoccercoach.com/product-page/msc-webinar-coaching-the-4-2-3-1-system-principles
Last week there was a huge announcement in the world of youth soccer with the English FA confirming it as a game format next calendar year. So what does that mean for development? What will the landscape look like moving forward? How are coaches going to prepare for this? Th...
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February 26, 2025 • 60 mins
Gary is joined by Mark Robinson to discuss the world of Elite Player Development and his role at Chelsea and AFC Wimbledon. Breaking into a first team at a Champions League club is no easy feat and Mark provides a unique insight into the weekly process of training and managing world class potential. He also provides ideas in coach development and discusses the innovative processes at AFC Wimbledon, including sending youth players t...
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