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🎙️ Episode 121: Coaching Gen Z and Gen Alpha Players – A Focus on Mindset

Episode 121 marks the first episode co-hosted by Scott Mowberry and Ray Power, launching a new collaborative chapter for The Soccer Coaching Podcast.

For this episode, Scott and Ray are joined by Phil Phillipou to explore the challenges and opportunities of coaching Gen Z and Gen Alpha players, with a particular focus on mindset.

As the game continues to evolve, so do the players we coach. This conversation dives into how today’s young players think, learn, communicate, and respond to pressure — and what that means for coaches working in modern football environments.

🧠 Key themes discussed include:

• Understanding the mindset traits of Gen Z and Gen Alpha players
• How social media, culture, and modern life influence young footballers
• Why traditional coaching approaches don’t always land with today’s players
• Creating environments that support confidence, resilience, and self-belief
• Practical strategies coaches can use to connect, challenge, and support players
• The balance between standards, empathy, and accountability

Phil brings a psychology-informed perspective grounded in real-world coaching and athlete development, offering practical insight that coaches can apply immediately — whether they’re working in grassroots football, academies, or performance environments.

📘 About the guest

Phil is the author of Inspiring Young Minds: The Psychology Mastery for Young Footballers, a book designed to help young players develop strong psychological foundations alongside their football ability.

🔗 Book link:
https://www.amazon.com/Inspiring-Young-Minds-Mastery-Footballers/dp/B0FN79FKV9

📲 Connect with Phil:

• Instagram: @mindsightsport
• LinkedIn: Phil Phillipou

Phils Webinar & Discount Code- https://www.tickettailor.com/events/raypowercoacheducation/2029162

The discount is PHIL10

🎧 Coach’s Voice – get involved

As part of this new phase of the podcast, we’re introducing Coach’s Voice episodes — and we want to hear from you.

Coaches are invited to:

• Send in a voice note (up to 2 minutes) sharing a question, idea, experience, or viewpoint
• Be as individual, reflective, or even controversial as you like

Selected submissions will be played on the podcast and used as the starting point for discussion with Scott and Ray.

A couple of simple guidelines:

• Please don’t use player names
• If your topic is controversial, avoid naming clubs
• If you prefer not to record audio, you can email your thoughts instead

📩 Send voice notes or emails to:
[email protected]

This episode was brought to you in association with our friends at Soccer Coach Weekly.

Established since 2006, Soccer Coach Weekly is a leading source of inspiration and advice for all grassroots coaches. Join thousands of youth soccer coaches, just like you, saving time and effort in their goal of having the most effective, enjoyable and successful coaching journey for them and their players. – https://www.soccercoachweekly.net/

Thanks for listening and we hope you enjoyed the episode!

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🎙️ Episode 120: An Exciting Evolution of The Soccer Coaching Podcast

In this short update episode, I share some exciting news about the next evolution of The Soccer Coaching Podcast.

Going forward, I’ll be collaborating with Ray Power to bring even more engaging, thought-provoking, and coach-focused content to the podcast. Together, we’re planning to release one or two episodes per month, alongside the existing format, designed to explore the game from multiple perspectives and spark meaningful discussion.

🔍 What’s coming next?

Our collaborative episodes will include a mix of:

• Guest interviews with coaches and practitioners
• Round-table conversations exploring key themes and ideas
• Coach’s Voice episodes — where you, the coaching community, take centre stage

🎧 Coach’s Voice: we want to hear from you

For our Coach’s Voice episodes, we’re inviting coaches to get involved directly.

You can:

• Record a voice note (up to 2 minutes) sharing a question, idea, experience, or opinion
• Be as unique, reflective, or even controversial as you like

We’ll play selected voice notes on the podcast and use them as a starting point for discussion.

A couple of important guidelines:

• Please don’t use player names
• If your topic is controversial, avoid naming clubs
• If you’d rather not record audio, you can email your thoughts instead

📩 Send voice notes or emails to:
[email protected]

This evolution is all about making the podcast more interactive, more reflective of the coaching community, and a place where real coaching conversations can happen.

Thanks, as always, for listening and Ray and I are really looking forward to sharing what comes next.

This episode was brought to you in association with our friends at Soccer Coach Weekly.

Established since 2006, Soccer Coach Weekly is a leading source of inspiration and advice for all grassroots coaches. Join thousands of youth soccer coaches, just like you, saving time and effort in their goal of having the most effective, enjoyable and successful coaching journey for them and their players. – https://www.soccercoachweekly.net/

Thanks for listening and we hope you enjoyed the episode!

Send us a text

🎙️ Episode 118 — Deep Dive #1: Building Out from the Defensive Third (with Paddy King)

Brought to you in association with our friends at Soccer Coach Weekly (@SoccerCoachWeek)

In the first episode of our brand-new Deep Dive series, we’re joined by Paddy King to explore one of the game’s most important tactical elements — building out from the defensive third.

Paddy breaks down what effective build-out play looks like and shares insight into the key principles behind it — from creating angles and supporting runs to recognising when and how to progress the ball through the thirds.

Using a short clip from a recent Barcelona match, Paddy highlights how top teams manage this phase of play, before explaining how grassroots and academy coaches can translate those same concepts into practical, engaging training sessions.

In this episode:

• How Barcelona’s structure and spacing create options during build-out
• The decision-making process for centre-backs, midfielders, and the goalkeeper
• Coaching cues and constraints-led practices to develop confident build-out play
• Ideas for small-sided games that replicate real match scenarios

📺 Watch this Deep Dive episode on YouTube:
👉 https://www.youtube.com/@thesoccercoachingpodcast9489

💬 Got feedback or a topic you’d like us to explore?
We’d love to hear from you — email us at [email protected]

⚽ Subscribe on your favourite podcast app (and on YouTube) so you never miss a new Deep Dive episode!

This episode was brought to you in association with our friends at Soccer Coach Weekly.

Established since 2006, Soccer Coach Weekly is a leading source of inspiration and advice for all grassroots coaches. Join thousands of youth soccer coaches, just like you, saving time and effort in their goal of having the most effective, enjoyable and successful coaching journey for them and their players. – https://www.soccercoachweekly.net/

Thanks for listening and we hope you enjoyed the episode!

Send us a text

🎙️ Episode 118 — Introducing Our New Deep Dive Series 

In this short promo, we unveil our brand-new Deep Dive series: focused, practical episodes that take one coaching theme at a time and go beneath the surface—ideas you can lift straight onto the training pitch. 

What to expect 

• Clear, actionable takeaways for grassroots to academy coaches
• Real session ideas, common pitfalls, and quick wins
• Short, focused format you can revisit anytime

📺 Also on YouTube: Watch every Deep Dive episode here: https://www.youtube.com/@thesoccercoachingpodcast9489


💬 Questions or topic requests? Email us: [email protected]


👉 Subscribe on your podcast app (and on YouTube) so you don’t miss Episode 1 of the Deep Dive series!
 

This episode was brought to you in association with our friends at Soccer Coach Weekly.

Established since 2006, Soccer Coach Weekly is a leading source of inspiration and advice for all grassroots coaches. Join thousands of youth soccer coaches, just like you, saving time and effort in their goal of having the most effective, enjoyable and successful coaching journey for them and their players. – https://www.soccercoachweekly.net/

Thanks for listening and we hope you enjoyed the episode!

Send us a text

Episode 117, 

Brought to you in association with our friends at Soccer Coach Weekly (@SoccerCoachWeek)

Episode 117 – The Importance of Philosophy and Culture, a conversation with Jason Carney

In this episode we speak again with the superb Jason Carney about the importance of Philosophy and Culture. Jason is the Director of Coaching at FC Portland, and is an A licensed coach and author. Jason talks about his experiences in developing a philosophy and supporting culture, and the benefits he’s experienced when you get these right.

Please do leave a review, like and share the episode!

www - Jason Carney – www.fcportland.org 

X - The Soccer Coaching Podcast - @SoccerCoachCast

The Soccer Coaching Podcast, Email - [email protected]

This episode was brought to you in association with our friends at Soccer Coach Weekly.

Established since 2006, Soccer Coach Weekly is a leading source of inspiration and advice for all grassroots coaches. Join thousands of youth soccer coaches, just like you, saving time and effort in their goal of having the most effective, enjoyable and successful coaching journey for them and their players. – https://www.soccercoachweekly.net/

Thanks for listening and we hope you enjoyed the episode!

This episode was brought to you in association with our friends at Soccer Coach Weekly.

Established since 2006, Soccer Coach Weekly is a leading source of inspiration and advice for all grassroots coaches. Join thousands of youth soccer coaches, just like you, saving time and effort in their goal of having the most effective, enjoyable and successful coaching journey for them and their players. – https://www.soccercoachweekly.net/

Thanks for listening and we hope you enjoyed the episode!

Send us a text

Episode 116, 

Brought to you in association with our friends at Soccer Coach Weekly (@SoccerCoachWeek)

Episode 116 – Positional Play, a conversation with Paddy King

In this episode we speak again with the awesome Paddy King. Paddy has a passion for positional play and in this episodes, we speak about what he’s been up to since we last spoke on episode 39. Paddy tells about his new online coaching course and how it can help all coaches better understand the concepts discussed and support their players.

Please do leave a review, like and share the episode!

X – Paddy King- @KingKnightEd

www – Kingknighteducation.com

X - The Soccer Coaching Podcast - @SoccerCoachCast

The Soccer Coaching Podcast, Email - [email protected]

This episode was brought to you in association with our friends at Soccer Coach Weekly.

Established since 2006, Soccer Coach Weekly is a leading source of inspiration and advice for all grassroots coaches. Join thousands of youth soccer coaches, just like you, saving time and effort in their goal of having the most effective, enjoyable and successful coaching journey for them and their players. – https://www.soccercoachweekly.net/

Thanks for listening and we hope you enjoyed the episode!

This episode was brought to you in association with our friends at Soccer Coach Weekly.

Established since 2006, Soccer Coach Weekly is a leading source of inspiration and advice for all grassroots coaches. Join thousands of youth soccer coaches, just like you, saving time and effort in their goal of having the most effective, enjoyable and successful coaching journey for them and their players. – https://www.soccercoachweekly.net/

Thanks for listening and we hope you enjoyed the episode!

Send us a text

Episode 115, 

Brought to you in association with our friends at Soccer Coach Weekly (@SoccerCoachWeek)

Episode 115 – The Importance of Coaching Principles, a conversation with Osku Partonen 

UEFA Pro Licensed Coach

In this episode we speak again with the awesome Osku Partonen about the importance of coaching principles, why they are important and how to embed them. Osku shares with us his nine key coaching principles that underpin all other aspects of his coaching philosophy and game model. We also discuss how these principles become part of your match day focus.

Please do leave a review, like and share the episode!

X - Osku Partonen - @Coach_Osku

Skool – https://www.skool.com/football-coaching-hub-1926/about?ref=40a60970cda6440b8debed4480880436 

X - The Soccer Coaching Podcast - @SoccerCoachCast

The Soccer Coaching Podcast, Email - [email protected]

This episode was brought to you in association with our friends at Soccer Coach Weekly.

Established since 2006, Soccer Coach Weekly is a leading source of inspiration and advice for all grassroots coaches. Join thousands of youth soccer coaches, just like you, saving time and effort in their goal of having the most effective, enjoyable and successful coaching journey for them and their players. – https://www.soccercoachweekly.net/

Thanks for listening and we hope you enjoyed the episode!

This episode was brought to you in association with our friends at Soccer Coach Weekly.

Established since 2006, Soccer Coach Weekly is a leading source of inspiration and advice for all grassroots coaches. Join thousands of youth soccer coaches, just like you, saving time and effort in their goal of having the most effective, enjoyable and successful coaching journey for them and their players. – https://www.soccercoachweekly.net/

Thanks for listening and we hope you enjoyed the episode!

Send us a text

🎙️ Episode 114 – What Makes Great Coach Development? (with Ray Power)
Brought to you in association with our friends at Soccer Coach Weekly (@SoccerCoachWeek)

What really makes coach development effective?

In this episode, Scott is joined by coach educator, author, and Head of Football at Bangladesh’s National Academy, Ray Power, for a deep dive into the principles that truly help coaches grow.

Forget ticking boxes and CPD hours — this is about developing thinking coaches who can reflect, adapt, and lead.

🧠 Topics include:

• Why context matters more than any single qualification
• The difference between improving sessions vs. improving coaches
• How to create safe environments for experimentation and reflection
• The power of mentorship — and what makes a great mentor
• Ray’s take on coach-led learning and real-world application
• How to filter the noise of webinars, books, AI, and social media
• What Ray would keep, drop, or radically change in coach education

This episode is full of honest insights and practical advice — perfect for coaches at any stage of their journey.

🔗 Connect with Ray Power:
Twitter: @power_ray
Coach Ed webinars & resources: Click here
🎟️ 15% Discount Code: PODCAST

💬 Let us know what you think!
Twitter: @SoccerCoachCast
Email: [email protected]

🙏 Thanks for listening – please follow, rate, and share the episode!

This episode was brought to you in association with our friends at Soccer Coach Weekly.

Established since 2006, Soccer Coach Weekly is a leading source of inspiration and advice for all grassroots coaches. Join thousands of youth soccer coaches, just like you, saving time and effort in their goal of having the most effective, enjoyable and successful coaching journey for them and their players. – https://www.soccercoachweekly.net/

Thanks for listening and we hope you enjoyed the episode!

Send us a text

Episode 113, 

Brought to you in association with our friends at Soccer Coach Weekly (@SoccerCoachWeek)

Episode 113 - Formations and Playing Positions, a conversation with Ray Power

Football formations mystify many coaches – are they essential blueprints or merely starting points for something more fluid? Ray Power, Head of Football at Bangladesh's National Academy (BKSP), masterfully deconstructs this question through the lens of both elite and grassroots football development.

Power introduces the refreshing concept of a "base formation" as simply your team's home – a familiar structure players return to when uncertain, rather than a rigid tactical straightjacket. This perspective immediately transforms how coaches might approach formations with their teams. "Your formation is like home," Power explains. "When you're struggling or not quite sure what to do next, you have home base."

The conversation illuminates crucial distinctions between formations and playing styles, using the example of Mourinho's Chelsea and Guardiola's Barcelona both using 4-3-3 formations but producing dramatically different football. This reveals why cookie-cutter approaches to tactical systems inevitably fall short – each team's unique player attributes create entirely different dynamics within the same numerical structure.

For youth coaches transitioning players to 11-a-side football, Power offers particularly valuable insights. Rather than being wedded to a single formation, he advocates cycling players through multiple tactical approaches throughout their development journey. This builds more versatile footballers with broader tactical understanding – like Michael Carrick who surprisingly admitted never playing center-back despite his physical and technical suitability for the position.

Power's analysis of in-game formation changes reveals the psychological component often overlooked in tactical discussions. When players are comfortable with multiple formations, they adjust more seamlessly during matches without the anxiety that typically accompanies positional shifts. This psychological comfort allows teams to adapt to opposition threats or exploit emerging opportunities with confidence.

Whether you're a grassroots coach seeking to navigate the complexities of formations or an experienced tactician looking for fresh perspectives, Ray's practical wisdom and accessible approach make this episode an essential tactical masterclass. By understanding formations as dynamic frameworks rather than rigid systems, coaches at all levels can develop more adaptable, tactically intelligent players ready for football's ever-evolving demands.

Please do leave a review, like and share the episode!

Ray Power - @power_ray

Formations and Player Positions Webinar -  https://www.tickettailor.com/events/raypowercoacheducation/1480696 

15% Discount = PODCAST

The Soccer Coaching Podcast, Twitter - @SoccerCoachCast

The Soccer Coaching Podcast, Email - [email protected]

This episode was brought to you in association with our

This episode was brought to you in association with our friends at Soccer Coach Weekly.

Established since 2006, Soccer Coach Weekly is a leading source of inspiration and advice for all grassroots coaches. Join thousands of youth soccer coaches, just like you, saving time and effort in their goal of having the most effective, enjoyable and successful coaching journey for them and their players. – https://www.soccercoachweekly.net/

Thanks for listening and we hope you enjoyed the episode!

Send us a text

Episode 112, 

Brought to you in association with our friends at Soccer Coach Weekly (@SoccerCoachWeek)

Episode 112 - A Look At Grassroots Football, with Jason Carney, Director of Coaching at FC Portland and Author

In this episode we speak again with the wonderful Jason Carney, who is the Director of Coaching at FC Portland. We discuss his coaching background and updates since we previously spoke back in 2022. We discuss grassroots football, the obstacles to player development and some of the solutions. We also look at his latest book “US Grassroots Soccer, Great on Paper, S**T on Grass”

Please do leave a review, like and share the episode!

Jason Carney – https://www.fcportland.org/our-staff

US Grassroots Soccer, Great on Paper, S**T on Grass - https://www.amazon.co.uk/US-Grassroots-Soccer-Great-Paper/dp/1966442378 

The Soccer Coaching Podcast, Twitter - @SoccerCoachCast

The Soccer Coaching Podcast, Email - [email protected]

This episode was brought to you in association with our friends at Soccer Coach Weekly.

Established since 2006, Soccer Coach Weekly is a leading source of inspiration and advice for all grassroots coaches. Join thousands of youth soccer coaches, just like you, saving time and effort in their goal of having the most effective, enjoyable and successful coaching journey for them and their players. – https://www.soccercoachweekly.net/

Thanks for listening and we hope you enjoyed the episode!

This episode was brought to you in association with our friends at Soccer Coach Weekly.

Established since 2006, Soccer Coach Weekly is a leading source of inspiration and advice for all grassroots coaches. Join thousands of youth soccer coaches, just like you, saving time and effort in their goal of having the most effective, enjoyable and successful coaching journey for them and their players. – https://www.soccercoachweekly.net/

Thanks for listening and we hope you enjoyed the episode!