Talent Development

The manager, set to depart after this season, transformed the Cherries into a legitimate talent factory and one of the Premier League’s most entertaining sides The walls of the Emirates could hardly contain Andoni Iraola’s beaming grin. As he crossed the touchline last Saturday after Bournemouth’s 2-1 win, his stride wasn’t one of rushing disbelief. He applauded the away support in between tousles of his charges’ heads and slaps on their sweat-soaked backs. The coach knew his side had completely outplayed the league leaders for their third win in four against Arsenal. This wasn’t a Bournemouth upset of old. It was further evidence that these arenas have never been more welcoming to the Cherries – and are the sites that Iraola is ready to call his next home.

Seven members of the Japan squad to face England this week are either past or present Sint-Truiden players

It's our last League of Ireland pod of the year! The time has flown, so join Stephen Doyle, Gareth McGlynn, and Vinny Perth for one final hurrah (...until February) They react to the incredible result for the Irish national team against Hungary over the weekend, and chat about the league's effectiveness in developing talents. Also, we look back to the cup final and look back at the entire season in review. The LOI Pod on Off The Ball with Rockshore 0.0

On the latest episode of Running the Game, Rog sits down with Crystal Palace co-owner and chairman Steve Parish to trace the path from the 2010 rescue to FA Cup winners. Steve explains how an owner creates the conditions for success, why Palace target “rough diamonds”, and how Oliver Glasner’s belief shifted the club’s mentality. He also touches on South London’s talent pipeline and the data-led scouting that identified Jean-Philippe Mateta and Adam Wharton. Parish closes on what success looks like after winning silverware, and his ambitions for the club. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this episode, Don Williams of SRUSA sat down with Matt Anderson and Matt Baehr, who each surveyed nearly 200 college soccer coaches, to uncover what truly shapes college recruiting today. Matt Anderson (Manchester Metropolitan University, UK) His research focused on player identification, qualities coaches value most, and talent development pathways. He shared insights into what separates a recruitable athlete from the rest, emphasizing skill acquisition, psychological factors, and long-term growth. Matt Baehr (Discover College Soccer) His survey explored the recruiting ecosystem—where coaches recruit from, how they allocate budgets, staffing sizes, and trends in scouting. His findings highlight the practical realities of recruiting logistics and the environments where players are most visible to college coaches. Together, the discussion gave families and athletes a 360-degree view of how college coaches evaluate talent and operate within their recruiting frameworks. This episode is a must-listen for anyone navigating the U.S. college soccer pathway—parents, players, and coaches alike—because it combines data-driven insights with on-the-ground realities. 🔗 Connect with the Guests Matt Baehr — Discover College Soccer Website: www.discovercollegesoccer.com X (Twitter): www.x.com/Discover_CS Instagram: www.instagram.com/discover_cs Facebook: Discover College Soccer Matt Anderson — Manchester Metropolitan University X (Twitter): www.x.com/MatthewAndrew23 Email: [email protected] Role: PhD, Senior Lecturer in Sport & Exercise Psychology (focus: skill acquisition, talent ID & development) This episode is brought to you by Sports Recruiting USA (SRUSA), the College Soccer Recruiting Experts. 🌐 Check us out online: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sportsrecruitingusa X (Twitter): https://www.twitter.com/SRUSA_Official Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sportsrecruitingusa Threads: https://www.threads.net/@sportsrecruitingusa TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@collegesoccer LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/sportsrecruitingusa Website: https://www.sportsrecruitingusa.com/

Welcome to Football Architects - a summer series from our friends over at the Athletic FC Tactics podcast, telling the the unsung tales behind modern football success stories. Episode one is focused on Ajax’s rebirth and how the club was rebuilt in the image of legendary figure Johan Cruyff. On this episode, we hear from Ruben Jongkind, former head of talent development at Ajax, and the club’s former head of talent recruitment, Jasper van Leeuwen. Every episode will also have a written piece on the website, which we will link below. https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6445365/2025/07/03/football-architects-rebuilding-ajax-johan-cruyff/ The first three episodes of the five-part series are available to listen to right now, check it out wherever you get your podcasts. Host: Michael Bailey With: Jacob Whitehead and Liam Tharme Producer: Mike Stavrou Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Gary is joined by Lead Academy Scout at Preston North End FC, Darren Rhodes to discuss building an elite level scouting report. Darren is also a current UCFB Student studying Talent Development and talks about: - Where do you start when building a report? - How do you manage subjective and objective information? - How much information is too much? - Where do you start with talent identification at youth level? And much more!! If you would like a copy of Darren's report, please click below: https://www.modernsoccercoach.com/post/building-a-scout-report If you would like to follow up with Gary Curneen about personal consultation, please email him at: [email protected]

Matt Hartman and Marcus Chairez join Belz to talk through the U17s' chances at the upcoming U17 World Cup in Indonesia, what the relative weakness of the 2006 birth year means for the talent pool, and who did themselves favors with their play in the Czech Republic a few weeks ago. (Patron-only edition is 45 minutes longer and includes detailed discussion of 6 specific prospects, and some encouraging news about the 2007 through 2009 birth years.)

A BBC World Service documentary revealing the untold stories behind Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta’s journey to the top. In Barcelona, former Liverpool goalkeeper Pepe Reina relives his time sharing bunk beds with Arteta at the world-famous La Masia academy, declaring that the boy from the Basque country was “born to be a manager”. Presenter John Bennett travels to Arteta’s home town of San Sebastian to meet his childhood coach at a small club, next to a hair salon, that has become an amazing football talent factory. Hear from former teammates at Everton, Arsenal and Rangers, from where Dutch great Ronald de Boer remembers Arteta stepping up aged 21 to score a stoppage-time penalty to snatch the title from Glasgow rivals Celtic: “To take that responsibility, at such a young age, in such an important game and moment of that decisive title race against Celtic was impressive.” And find out why the Welsh city of Newport played such an important part in Arteta’s journey into coaching. Arsenal legend Arsène Wenger and former Man City captain Vincent Kompany also feature in this documentary, which paints a picture of a single-minded, intelligent and meticulous man, schooled in the Barcelona style of play, who is now mixing it with the top managers in the game and has got Arsenal fans dreaming of glory once again.

Rog and Rory on Benfica's rise to become one of global football's greatest producers of talent, and the system that has allowed them to reap the financial benefits of that talent. Plus, Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting's journey from Stoke to Bayern Munich, where he's thriving as one of the Bundesliga's most prolific strikers. This podcast is presented by Paramount+. Sign up now at paramountplus.com/mib. PROMO CODE: ADVANCE. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Enzo Fernandez, Bernardo Silva, Joao Felix, Ruben Dias, the list goes on... Boasting an academy record which is the envy of most clubs in world football, The Athletic's Stuart James was granted special access behind-the-scenes at Benfica's famed academy to find out what makes it so special... Alongside host Mark Chapman and Portuguese football expert Jack Lang, the panel examine Benfica's unique approach to talent ID, academy ethos, managing the expectations of so many aspiring young footballers and the mind-blowing size of their operation in Portugal. You'll also hear from a few of the academy coaches and technical director Pedro Marques on why the likes of Bernardo Silva are equally comfortable playing in attack and defence. Plus, how the fans feel about losing a home-grown superstar to the Premier League every year and how far they can go in this year's Champions League knockout stages. Produced by Adonis Pratsides Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Nathan Murphy was joined by Dr. Laura Finnegan and Mark O'Sullivan for a discussion Dr. Laura Finnegan is a lecturer and researcher at the South East Technological University in Waterford. She earned her PhD in talent development (football). Meanwhile, Mark O'Sullivan is the Head of Football at the Norwegian School of Sport Sciences, where he also lectures on skill acquisition. Mark is also in possession of his UEFA A coaching licence.

Last week I sat down with the Double Pass team of Jared Micklos, Hans Vander Elst, Kevin Nicholson, and Stig Meylemans. Double Pass is a Belgian company that assesses and advises football clubs, (con)federations and leagues around the world, on ways in which they can optimize their talent development. In March 2020, FIFA enlisted them as a partner to roll out a new ‘Talent Development Progamme’. Double Pass make potential improvements visible on our Club & Academy Monitoring Platform (CAMP) using a unique methodology based on their scientific model and proprietary algorithms. Their experienced staff also help to implement tailor-made solutions alongside the clubs and coaches. If you would like to find out more about the Double Pass Master Class, which is designed to help coaches gain insights into the challenges and opportunities of running an elite football academy and optimizing its football technical management, please click below. The course is over 70 hours and includes 5 different chapters, webinars, personal mentoring, E-Modules, group work, and assessments. They currently have a special offer for coaches which ends on February 15th. https://education.doublepass.com/e-masterclass/

Tutul (@tutulismyname) walks us through the mechanics of why it’s difficult for an MLS team to pick up a USL prospect like Jose Gallegos or Jonathan Gomez. He also talked about why FC Dallas has gone from “play your kids” to “play your 32-year-old Liga MX veterans” in the span of 12 months, and how MLS front office desire for parity gets in the way of talent development.