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This is the second instalment of a two part interview with Dan Micciche, covering his early coaching career at Crystal Palace and Tottenham Hotspur through to his position as Assistant Academy Manager at MK Dons, where he coached a young Dele Alli for 5 years. Dave Wright speaks with Dan about his role as England U16 national team’s Head Coach, building challenging learning environments, session/programme design, impact of playing styles and the challenge of nurturing creative footballers. After almost a decade in the academy […]

Dan Micciche has a reputation as an innovator and someone who encourages creativity in player development. Player Development Project, Editor Dave Wright was lucky enough to have 90 minutes with Dan to discuss his own story and pick his brains around session design, creativity, positive learning environments and more. In part one of this two-part feature interview we went on a journey inside the mind of one of The FA’s most talented young coaches. Micciche’s Evolution as a Coach After a number of […]

Dan Senda is an example of someone who has always worked exceptionally hard for everything he has achieved. Desire and determination are traits that you easily identify in the man when you spend time with him. He hasn’t played in a World Cup, and he hasn’t played in the Champions League, but he personifies classic British hard-graft. What Dan Senda has done in his time in football is persist, and with that he’s managed to achieve what few do – sustain a long […]

In this Masterclass Discussion, Dave Wright and Dan Wright sit down for a two hour discussion with world leading Sports Psychologist, Dan Abrahams. Dave and Dan facilitate an in depth conversation with Dan on his experience in sports psychology across different codes.  We examine the four corner model and the value of breaking down psychology into a component, we talk autonomy, challenge the review process, discuss coach communication and much, much more. This is a fascinating conversation from an experienced expert in the world of sports psychology with a huge amount of practical advice for you to apply in your environments. Show Notes 0:00 – 6:47: Introduction, Dan’s background. 7:40 – 9:40: Four Corner model: Dan Wright discusses his understanding Initially and how he feels about it now.  9:40 – 12:00: Four Corner model: Dan Abrahams’ view on the Four Corner model and how he believes this should be challenged. 12:00 – 17:55: Dan Abrahams’ Psych-social model. Very Detailed explanation of this and how it looks. 18:00 – 21:15: Dave and Dan Wright discuss their own views on feelings new coaches have, and their own experiences of when they first coached and what the focus was. 21:15 –  22:00: Understanding young people – Dan Abrahams discusses how coaches do understand the children they coach.  22:00 – 26:00: Discussion around “are we asking the right questions during coaching?” Educate through how players are feeling rather than ‘do instructions’ and also what Dan Abrahams believes coaching is all about. 25:45 – 29:20: What makes a great coaching course? What types of questions should be asked on coaching courses? 30:30 – 33:00: Why are coaches’ emotions raised and styles changed so much during games? 33:40 – 42:47: Dan Abrahams discussing: Controlled style vs autonomy supportive coaches. Different examples of each of these coaching styles. 42:47 – 46:55: Discussion on different social groups growing up and what this looks like in different places. 47:00 – 53:35: Task vs social relationships. Great discussion around differences between them. ‘Coming down to the player’s level’. 54:30 – 1:02:06: Controlled style vs autonomy supportive coaches. Practical examples of these approaches and some pros of each. 1:02:30 – 1:03:45: Experience of player-led tournaments. 1:03:45 – 1:04:25: Player-led 1 on 1 meetings. 1:05:05 – 1:10:50: Self-reflection – examples of different types of reviews, questions to ask and how valuable these can be.  1:11:40 – 1:15:55: Can we self-reflect too much? Finding the right balance of self-reflection. 1:17:30 – 1:23:04: Dangers of comparisons in self-reflections and player reviews. 1:24:30 – 1:34:45: Practical advice around supporting players with emotional control. Talking about players who have a ‘Game Face’ and what this looks like. 1:34:45 – 1:43:40: Deep conversation of different examples of ‘Game Faces’. 1:43:40 – 1:45:45: Link between Psych-social model > ‘Game Face’. 1:46:00 – 1:51:00: Key characteristics of an effective coach. Key Takeaways 7:45 – 12:00: Elastic band vs Four Corner approach. 12:00 – 17:55: ‘Participation, Progression, Performance’ – Psych-social model. 17:25 – 17:55: What coaching is and what coaching isn’t. 22:00 – 26:00: Are we asking the right questions during coaching? Do we educate through giving out ‘do instructions’ or is it based on the feelings of players experiences?  33:40 – 42:47: Controlled style vs autonomy […]

Dan Kemp is an up-and-coming attacking talent currently plying his trade at the highly regarded West Ham Academy under the guidance of Terry Westley and Liam Manning. Starting his journey at the Chelsea Academy as an U9 before moving to East London as a scholar, Kemp, now 18, now represents the West Ham U23s in Premier League 2 and has already trained with the first team. PDP Editor, Dave Wright spoke to Dan about his journey, what kind of coaches he responds to […]

[…] ‘wonderkid’, but few back it up. Renato Sanches’ exciting performances at Euro 16 showed why the biggest clubs in the world were prepared to gamble €63 million on an 18-year-old with just 24 first team appearances to his name. PDP Technical Advisor, Dan Wright reviews Sanches’ tournament and looks ahead to his time in Germany. Born in Lisbon to a father from São Tomé and Príncipe and a mother from Cape Verde, Renato Sanches grew up in the impoverished neighbourhood of Musgueira. Here in one of the most problematic […]

In this Masterclass Webinar Replay, UEFA A licensed coaches Dave Wright and Dan Wright will co-host a discussion which helps coaches support individuals within their team. Dave and Dan will be joined by special guest, Graham Mills, Academy Coach at Southampton FC & Lecturer in Sports Coaching from Solent University. Graham, Dan and Dave have extensive player development experience in the English Academy system while Dan has also coached in Africa and Dave has worked in both Australia and New Zealand. This conversation focusses […]

Regular PDP contributor, Dan Wright gives us an excellent insight into his 3 month journey from the comforts of West London to the challenges of coaching in Africa. In this insightful article, Dan outlines the value of people in any organisation. Driven kids, challenging facilities and some surprising results. This blog examines the Football For Good Academy, Uganda’s only full time football program achieving results against the odds. For the past 3 months I have been coaching in Gulu, Northern Uganda. There have been many new […]

[…] Key Points Progressing Through the Foundation Phase While kids have traditionally been expected to make the step-up to 11v11 games before their teenage years, there’s now increasing recognition of the value of small-sided games. “I remember playing 11-a-side as a ten-year-old,” recalls Dan Wright, Technical Advisor at PDP. “The pitch was far too big, the goals were far too big. But the landscape in the UK has definitely become more age-appropriate for children.” Generally, kids now play 5v5 games between the ages of 7-8, […]

[…] need to give them to help them achieve their goals. “We need to talk about these players loving the game and playing football every single week, but how you divide that up does vary from club to club,” says PDP Technical Advisor Dan Wright. “If you divide everything equally, everyone gets the same experience, but whether that should be true from Under-8s through to Under-18s, and whether that changes in high-performance environments, is something we need to tackle.” There’s no one-size-fits-all approach; as well […]

[…] energy levels, emotional state, ability to take on new information, and even their technical capability, and we must strive to account for them wherever possible. “It goes back to understanding people and all the complexity that humans have,” explains PDP Technical Advisor Dan Wright. “That gives you the platform to understand how much the player can learn, or if they want to learn.” We should also remember that there’s no linear path to development, and always account for where players are in their journey. […]

In this Live Webinar replay, UEFA A licensed coaches Dan Wright and Dave Wright share some of their favourite small sided games for youth football. Dan and Dave present a number of practices, including lead in games, adaptations and reasons behind some of their top small sided games for discussion with coaches in the room. The practices presented are adaptable and the guys share ideas as to how they could be adjusted for various player numbers or ages, as well as tackling questions from […]

[…] these, for me, are crucial things,” explains Wright. “In the UK we do a lot of ball mastery, and then there can be a massive leap into playing in a team and making it resemble the adult game,” adds PDP Technical Advisor Dan Wright. “There’s probably a space in-between where we can work on the ‘run, retain, release’ part of the game.” “We start with mastering the ball, but we probably spend too much time unopposed. I think we could jump to interference, to […]