"The coach is part of the team and shouldn't just stand quietly passive on the sideline, especially if they sense their team is beginning to flounder. Verbal support is vital here. Applauding good play boosts player confidence if things are getting a bit rocky" John Allpress

"The coach is part of the team and shouldn't just stand quietly passive on the sideline, especially if they sense their team is beginning to flounder. Verbal support is vital here. Applauding good play boosts player confidence if things are getting a bit rocky" John Allpress

“There's nothing quite like drawing things out when you’re planning your session. ‘Thinking in ink’ gives you a clear image of how you want your session to look. And as you do, your mind's eye is running through the session" - Former FA coach education manager, Steve Rutter

"When matches finish emotions can be running high, whether the team has won, drawn or lost. If the coach wants to review the individual and team performance successfully, judging the mood is important. The coach, who knows the players best, should make the call" John Allpress

"The individual learning plan is reviewed every 6 games by the player and the staff and is based on player needs but also on data. It's not just the coach asking ‘have you improved over the last 6 weeks?’. Instead, we ask ‘what is the data telling us'" Southampton's Matt Crocker

"Use the pre-match talk to remind the players that you have their back and if they do make a mistake not to dwell but to try to get back into credit. They should also be told to enjoy the competition and the rivalries of the 1v1 battles as the match unfolds" John Allpress

"When matches finish, emotions can be running high, whether the team has won, drawn or lost. If the coach wants to review the individual and team performance successfully, judging the mood is important. The coach, who knows the players best, should make the call" John Allpress

"When planning, think about factors such as where the ball would come from and at what speed, whether it’s in the air or along the ground and the movement the player may have to make and the execution of the technique" Steve Lilley on improving young players' finishing skills

"The craft of coaching is subtle and multifaceted. It depends on the work being undertaken, the age and ability of the players, the group size and mood, the academy culture, the personality of the coach and, most importantly, the purpose and aims of the syllabus" John Allpress

"A syllabus should have three basic aims all of which are going on simultaneously during the sessions: (1) To help players know and understand things (2) To develop skillful play and connectivity (3) To develop habits and attitudes which help players get better" John Allpress

"To effectively press as a team, players are required to be ‘in sync’ with each other. On many occasions, there is little point in individual players applying pressure if their own teammates are not connected – both in terms of their movements and thought processes"@stevelilley4

"Receiving skills matter because they buy you time, give you space and put you in charge of potentially unpredictable and tricky situations. It is one of the paramount elements of the game and an indispensable part of a player’s armoury." John Allpress

"The coach should encourage young players not to play safe when forward passing, but to take risks and by taking risks find out how good they can be and what they can or cannot achieve" John Allpress on how to develop young players' forward passing skills

“It's important for coach developers to ask themselves: what does a good person who does the job of academy coach look like? From there, you move into how to help someone to get to that point.” Andrew Abraham PhD on coach development and 'starting with the end in mind'

“A simple task constraint is: if you score first-time from a cross that counts as three goals. That's all you need to say. You incentivise a certain behaviour that doesn't rule out other behaviours. You would still get incentives for scoring a long shot” Prof. Keith Davids

Headers from crosses into the penalty area have been one of the most profitable sources of goals in the first week of FIFA World Cup 2022. Seven of the 41 goals scored have resulted from headers inside the box. Penalties are the other major source of goals so far (also 7).

[Open access] “A simple practice does not mean that you're not coaching. It just means that you're redistributing your effort and energy into focusing on the player, what they need and really supporting and helping them" Martin Diggle Liverpool FC head of coach development

[Open access] “Traditionally we think programmes first and individual second. I guess I'm trying to flip that on its head slightly and think individuals first and then programmes second,” England Cricket's Mo Bobat discusses an individualised approach to player development

[Open access] “If somebody scores first-time from a cross that counts as 3 goals. That's all you need to say. So you incentivise a certain behaviour that doesn't rule out other behaviours. In the same practice you would still get incentives for scoring a long shot, for example”

[Open access] “From a playing style perspective, you have trigger words which you use with players. The trigger words build a connection with the players. The terminology allows them to understand concepts very quickly.” Former Arsenal U18 head coach, Dan Micciche