Please Note: The transcript is automatically generated by Supertranslate.beta in case you come across any typos or misquotes during your reading.  
 
 
[Jamie] 
Hello and welcome to Coachcast by England Football Learning, the coaching podcast that brings you insight from people across the game. I'm Jamie and I'm here with Louise and today we're chatting with Abdoullah Kheir an FA coach development officer, to hear about his journey so far and to talk about game styles. Well, Abdoullah, welcome to Coachcast for the first time. How are you? 
 
[Abdoullah] 
Hello. Yeah, very well, thank you. Good day. Yeah, really well, excited to be here. 
 
[Louise] 
Good, we're excited to have you on. Thanks for joining us. We're going to start off by just finding out a little bit about your role. Can you tell us what it is that you do? 

[Abdoullah] 
Yeah, so regional coach developer for the Southwest, so Plenty of driving. We work, my target is working with coaches from underrepresented backgrounds, so predominantly sort of black and Asian coaches. And then we work with the counties to deliver sort of generic CPD work. So that's the role, I guess. Really exciting being in the role for just under two years full time. So great. Enjoy it. Love it. 
 
[Jamie] 
Brilliant. That's what we like to hear. Well, yeah, fantastic, thanks for that. But just before we kind of discover a little bit more about you and your experiences, as this is a coaching podcast, we like to give coaches some good advice at the top of the show, because they might be on the way to training while they're tuning into this. 
 
[Louise] 
Yep, so we call this your arrival activity and we'll use this to warm you up, get you ready for the rest of the show. So what we're going to do is we're going to give you 30 seconds and we're going to ask you for as many top coaching tips as you can in those 30 seconds. 
 
[Abdoullah] 
Let's do it. 
 
[Louise] 
Are you up for this? 
 
[Abdoullah] 
Let's go. 
 
[Louise] 
Okay, once the music starts you can begin. 
 
[Abdoullah] 
Engaging, so make sure your sessions are fun, make sure you plan ahead, plan for A, B and C because you probably will end up with C because lack of numbers or dropouts. Make sure that you are reflective of it as well and understand what you're doing and the purpose behind it. But yeah, probably for me, making sure it's fun, engaging and there's a learning outcome at the end of it as well. 
 
[Jamie] 
Fantastic. Brilliant. Didn't even get to the whistle. 
 
[Louise] 
I know. Jamie loves to use the whistle. 
 
[Jamie] 
I do like, yeah, there's just a button there to press. I like using the whistle. 
 
[Jamie] 
Right, well, we'll get on for the rest of the show now. And the main part of it is we always start this with a guest by asking them what was their first experience of football like? 
 
[Abdoullah] 
It's probably playing on the streets. Like the biggest thing that is ingrained in me is when a car used to go past and you'd be like, car! And you sort of have to then, it's like part in the river, it's like the sea. You sort of go to like in between the cars and let it go by and then you're back playing again and pick up from where you are. So for me, I mean, street football, I guess. And then I guess I come from a big family. I've got five brothers And we've got a park just up the road and I think kind of play with them and all the older kids and all the older like used to just be like, they used to treat you a bit of like the younger one, but as soon as the game got started, it was a different story. They didn't care. They didn't care what age you were, if you've got the ball, they're trying to win it. So yeah, I think those were the two sort of early memories of what I had and I loved it. I loved it. It was completely different experiences and I guess that's what shaped me now. 
 
[Louise] 
And I guess those experiences of kind of, doesn't matter what age you are kind of thing helps to kind of bring you along a little bit as well, I guess, because you've got to deal with those challenges. 
 
[Abdoullah] 
Like I said, I've got five brothers, so resilience at home, perseverance, wellbeing and all of that. It prepared me for playing on those pitches. I used to have, I don't know, it used to be a pitch the length of the park and it would probably be 18, 19 a side and you should just, no bibs, just be like, I think you're on my team, you're asking for the ball, so I'm going to give it to you and hope for the best you're not tricking me. So, and I think that's the beauty of football though, isn't it? Go back to those things and just don't overcomplicate it and play. Enjoy it. 
 
[Louise] 
And if we think about coaching, when did your interest in coaching start and how did you get involved? 
 
[Abdoullah] 
Initially it started when I was still playing. I had a coach who I'm actually really good friends with now and I probably, I won't name him as a mentor because he probably won't like that, but I'll say I've learned a lot from him. So when I was sort of playing, I'd say 15, 16, I think he recognized some leadership in me, I think. I'd like to think of that. And yeah, I think it started from there. He then sort of said, look, I run my own coaching organisation. Do you want to come along? So I said, yeah, I'll give it a go, why not? Stepped into it and I learned this from him. It was sink or swim. He was like, here's your footballs, here's your cones, here's your bibs. Okay, well, what am I doing? I don't know, You're the coach, so you work out yourself. So I think, and I've taken that on board. I think that's, again, that sort of resilience thing and that understanding of, well, you know, it's okay to make mistakes, so just get on with it. And I think that's probably where my love came from was A, knowing that it was almost like the fear of the unknown. But then also just that challenge of trying to engage kids. I said at the top, the top tips of just making sure it's engaging and if they're smiling and it might be through different ways. But yeah, I'd probably say that would be my first experience of it getting into coaching. I was like, am I okay at this? I think I've got one, two, yeah, I've got all the kids. I can do it. I'm all right. 
 
[Jamie] 
So that first session went really well then for you? 
 
[Abdoullah] 
Well, a few years later, I'm still doing it. So something must have been, something must have gone well, But yeah, that would probably be my first experience. And then college, I got my level one, which was the odd level one and just carried on for my coaching journey. 
 
[Jamie] 
What is it that you most enjoy about coaching? 
 
[Abdoullah] 
It's the initial process of just engaging with the kids or whoever you're working with. I work from a range of under nines, under tens, through to recently a senior women's team, and I've been doing women's football for quite a while now. I'm very much heavily on the social side of it, like making sure players are engaging through smiles, having fun, enjoyment. You can do a practice with a senior team that you can do with an under nine's and they still have as much fun and I'm like a big kid in the session as well. So yeah, I just think that it's that element of just seeing that they've got smiles on their faces and they enjoyed the session. A player came up to me once and turned around and said, training's what I look forward to during the week. And I was just like, and that's what you want. 
 
[Louise] 
Really nice feeling to know that you're kind of having an impact on a positive impact on people's days or weeks or... 
 
[Abdoullah] 
That's what I took of it. Yeah. Whether or not she meant that, that's what I took, I'm taking the positives out of it. 
 
[Louise] 
I'm sure she did mean it. You mentioned slightly that you went on to kind of do some of your qualifications and stuff but can you give us a little bit of insight into your journey from when you first started out to where you are now? 
 
[Abdoullah] 
Yeah I think it's every coach or volunteer, that they probably start at grassroots level. I think I was quite fortunate to start that coaching journey in an education setting in a school where you probably had a bit more freedom to what you can do or you've got no pressures. And it's almost like after school care rather than a session. So yeah, started off coaching there, then I joined a local club, Sheen Lions, in sort of Richmond way. And yeah, just soon just sort of said, I really like this, but I want to challenge myself. So I went and did a bit of work with Brentford's Academy before they got rid of the academy and restructured now. And then I worked with Surrey FA on a girls programme and I just got the bug for female football and this was nearly 12 years ago doing futsal. So I continued my journey in the sort of women's game, went to AFC Wimbledon with the girls, I was head of football there and then head coach with the first team and then COVID came around and completely destroyed our season. And then I moved on. So then I got a role at Reading, at the time the RTC. So now, yes, UEFA B coach, trying to get onto the A licence, which is an aspiration of mine. So I'm doing a women's senior team now in tier four, and I sort of a casual contractor coach at Arsenal with the girls there as well. 
 
[Jamie] 
So you have plenty of experience from there. And I suppose taking in everything that you've learned during those experiences, what advice would you give maybe to your younger self to prepare them for the world of coaching for the first time? 
 
[Abdoullah] 
For me is having like a buddy or a mentor, someone that you can sort of bounce ideas off. And I got that sort of, I know I had a coach that I still now speak to, but only recently, maybe the last five, six years, I've really had someone that we can discuss sessions with and coaching is a lonely place sometimes. So you, I think have someone that you can use as a soundboard and you can call and pick up the phone to is really good, is a really good tool. So that would be my advice is just go and observe, go and speak to coaches, but have someone that you can call, pick up the phone to on your way to a session and think. So, you know, in our role as D&I officers and coach developers, we have coach development groups that we support, but we've also got mentors and community champions that can also support that. So, yeah. 
 
[Louise] 
Would you say that that person always has to be someone in football or a coach or could it be? 
 
[Abdoullah] 
Absolutely not. And I think that's probably the good thing that I've got. I've got a mix of that as well. So I've got people involved in football, but just a friend that you can just, it might even just be your partner, like just to rant some ideas about, but to offload it and just get their opinions. And I often look at different sports. Like when I was younger, I played netball, but I love that. And I've got a boccia qualification. I've got a boxing qualification. So different sports and talking to people in different sports, even though it's all the same, like the challenges, you know, the tasks and stuff. So yeah, it doesn't have to be someone in football. It can be someone in a different sport, but anyone else in life. 
 
[Jamie] 
What's maybe the best piece of advice you've ever received, maybe from one of the supporting people around you? 
 
[Abdoullah] 
I think it's going in without having like a pre-judgment or a bias of who you're working with. Just going in with like an open mind. It's all different environments, but I got one recently from one of the players in tier four in the team that I coach. She's a psychologist And I think it was, I'm going to paraphrase this, she's going to destroy me, but I think it was, goal is a dream without actions. And I think, you know, when you're a coach, you want some goals, you want to be inspired, you want to have some inspiration, you want to have some attainable outcomes, but if you don't action them, they're just dreams. They're not, there's no substance to it. So yeah, I'd say that just have some goals, have some aspirations on where you want to go in your journey and use that. 
 
[Louise] 
Yeah, that's a good one. And What piece of advice would you give to help coaches make a positive impact on their players' journey? 
 
[Abdoullah] 
Appreciate your players, have empathy. If you're working with younger age groups, the foundation phase, appreciate how old they are and they are people at the end of the day. You've really got to have empathy with them and understand who they are as people. I think that's really important. People often say, you know, get to know what pets they have and siblings, but I think it goes deeper than that as well. It's just what makes them tick and what gets them engaged is probably a big thing for me. I'm always like, why isn't that person engaging? Why are they disruptive? That probably comes back from me working in schools myself and working with kids that probably don't have that attention span for too long. Why? Why is that? And getting to know those little bits as well is probably how you get to know players as well and people. 
 
[Louise] 
Do you have any tips of how you try and get to know players a bit? 
 
[Abdoullah] 
I think for me I ask questions, I always set things at the start of the season, what motivates you, what do you enjoy and what do you want to get out of the season and you'd be surprised what they want to get out of the season. If they say winning, but what does that mean? So just get to know, sort of, yeah, a bit of goal setting at the start as well, Q&A, and use that and refer back to that across the season. Don't just use it as a one-off. Let them know you appreciate what they've done as well and what they've written down. 
 
[Jamie] 
Brilliant, I like that. Now, Abs, the theme of today is around game styles and hopefully we can dive into a little bit of insight into maybe how you work with Arsenal and your senior team as well. But to start off, what does the term game styles mean and why are they important for coaches to understand? 
 
[Abdoullah] 
I think the term mean... It's a good question I think nowadays as well, especially now you talk about pressing and high pressing, you know, out of possession, in possession, but I think it's an identity and it's a way you approach, not your style across the season, You can probably have some sort of short, medium term and long-term implements in that. But I think it's the style of play, how you play and how you approach games in position, out position into transition as well. And that can look completely different working with the foundation phase, to the talent and senior. I think it's really important to make sure that you adapt your style of play to different formats and ages and stages as well. 
 
[Louise] 
You mentioned that like ages and stages and how to adapt things. What do coaches need to consider when choosing a style of play? 
 
[Abdoullah] 
The ability of your players, the capabilities of your players and what they're capable of doing. And again, that comes back to sort of understanding their needs and their wants. And, you know, you might work with a team that may not necessarily be able to action what you want. So it's finding and adjusting ways to actually suit them as well. At the end of the day, they're the players playing, so you want to try and support them. So it's player capabilities and their sort of game understanding as well. 
 
[Jamie] 
And maybe to paint a bit of a picture for those listening to this, can you maybe give us some insight into maybe some of the different styles of play that people might be able to see at all? 
 
[Abdoullah] 
I'm quite a pragmatic coach, people call me that. I'm safe, I like to sort of be defensive, but I think, you know, you've got, if I'm allowed to sort of refer to coaches, I think the excitement of Jurgen Klopp. And I know there was an interview the other day with Curtis Jones and I don't want to sort of paraphrase him, but I think he said it, under Arnie Slott, it seems a bit more organised. With Klopp it was quite chaotic but in a good way, entertaining way, it was very sort of energetic and you know you now see Pope Guardiola who's changed sort of the face of football with his tic-a-tac-a style and possession based. You know you've got managers like Eddie Howe and the Everton manager, who's Sean Dice, who's very defensive, I'd say, very much, understands his players and his needs and works within those parameters of what he's got. So he knows that he's probably not gonna have the most attacking team. So he has to work on the principles of let's keep clean sheets. So yeah, I guess the styles are very much a high press, energetic team. You might have team that are very compact and want to sort of win the ball in the mid third and then transition really quickly because they've got far sort of speedy players. Dare I say I'm a main United supporter for my sins, blame my sister, but I think Eric Ten Hag did that quite well with the first season and he was certainly there with Marcus Rashford, you know, winning the ball in the mid-block and then transitioning really quickly on the counter 
 
[Jamie] 
Yeah, again, it goes back to the answer that you gave just a little bit back in terms of it's about your player capabilities and just, and just knowing your squad, isn't it? And then providing a style of play that suits. 
 
[Abdoullah] 
Absolutely. And I just think, you know, you're working with, I'm working currently with my ladies team and I think I'm new to it, so I'm pushing them to see what they can achieve, but I've also got to, and I don't necessarily want to push them too hard because I don't want to lose them. So I now know that as a coach, I've got to approach my styles completely, well not completely different, but slightly adjust them. Whereas when I'm working with Arsenal, working with the YDP phase, is that I might allow them to be a bit more expressive and I might allow them to sort of problem solve themselves because they're still developing. Senior level, they're still developing. We work with some 16 to 18 year olds but the dynamics change because it's three points on the table. Whereas you know you're working at the sort of foundation phase and youth development phase. They're still developing as players and understanding themselves and different positions as well. 
 
[Louise] 
I guess you as a coach might have a different preference of like the style of play that you like What style of play do you prefer and why? 
 
[Abdoullah] 
I've always sort of said and I've probably picked this up along the way is if you don't concede you don't lose but You know someone in Tenerife Wembley if it goes into penalties, it's like, okay You got me there, but I love my players Like I've I'm very much as I said player ownership at the younger age group, but at senior level, I like my players to be expressive and very sort of creative. I was a left back myself. So defensively, I'm just like, just please keep clean sheets, please be compact. But yeah, I'd sort of say my style, if anyone came to watch would be, I'm very out of position. I'm very compact and very organised. In possession, I think I set my team up. I'd like to think I set my team up to then win the ball and transition into an attacking team with four or five players out in full force. 
 
[Jamie] 
So when you're working on your style of play, how important is it to understand what the principles of play are in order to to be compact for instance, like in order to to play out the vision that you want the team to adopt. 
 
[Abdoullah] 
Yeah, absolutely. And I think, you know, we, we talk about how that looks like in the three stages of in possession, out of possession in transition. And as I said, I think for me, I'm always got one eye on when we lose the ball, what do we look like in that transition? So I'd like to have players being compact centrally to defend, you know, defend centrally and push the team out wide so we can go and defend in there. So I love my wingers to be very sort of get on the ball and drive forward and penetrate, break lines, how can they be creative? How can they have that sort of creative edge to them in the final third? And in out of possession, you talk about being compact, delaying. And again, I know if I'm working against a team that I've got fast players up front. My first thought is how do we delay their attack? How do we slow them down? Is that being compact and ensuring that we've got the covering balance as well in areas of the pitch? So yeah, really important just to get those principles of play out of in position, being creative, support your teammates and then how do we penetrate and be really clinical in our gameplay. 
 
[Jamie] 
And just thinking in terms of you've got experience working with with younger players as well, we've just said that they're our principles of play but how do we as coaches potentially get that across to maybe the younger age groups in terms of terminology at all? Do you have any top tips? 
 
[Abdoullah] 
Yeah, I think terminology is a massive one. A colleague of mine, Vinnie, talks about when we talk about six capabilities of scanning, he talks about meerkat. And I think, you know, that's a great example of what does a meerkat do? It looks around and I think I said it to some coaches the other day about when we talk about space, what does that look like to a six year old? Because they may look up and look at rockets or the sky because they're learning that at school. So you've got to be really sort of clear and concise with language when it, across the board. For example, if I'm working with a six year old or a seven year old, eight year old, I like to use this sort of, when you tackle, can you tackle to win the ball? So that's got so many layers to it. So I'm now thinking, okay, well the coach wants me to win the ball. What does that look like? Then I'll start to sort of ask questions. So it might be the timing of how you engage with the player. So it might be, yeah, tackle to win the ball or how can you find space for a teammate to lend you the ball, which is a pass. Instead of saying space, you might say, if you think about you've got a bubble around you and you're too close to your teammate, what's gonna happen? It's gonna pop. So all of a sudden now it starts to then, they start thinking, oh my God, I can't get too close to them. I've got to move away. So then all of a sudden the picture started to change and I think it's really important that language and terminology. We did a session with Gary Monk and he spoke about being concise and consistent with your language and that's really important. So yeah, I guess from a sort of foundation phase, language and making sure that they understand what you're talking about is really important. 
 
[Louise] 
And I guess not coming up with too many things that's going to undo, like make it more confusing or... 
 
[Abdoullah] 
Yeah, absolutely. They've just come from school. Yeah, so they're just being told to sit behind a desk. The last thing you want to do is overload them with information, but you know, you're guiding them with three points, maybe three or four points. If you're working in a session is to, you know, creating attack or finishing or scoring, you know, small sided games, lots of 1v1s, 2v2s, and you'll get a lot of those principles out. You probably don't have to coach them as well. Just say, you know, don't let them score. How can you stop them from scoring? Because that's the game. Scoring, stop scoring, and win the ball, and all of those. So keep it simple and let them play. 
 
[Louise] 
Do you have any practice design tips to help our listeners work on some of the principles of play at training? 
 
[Abdoullah] 
Yeah, I guess you can probably get a few of them out with actual your sort of design of a pitch. If you're working with any age group, you can probably set up a pitch that might be quite narrow, but quite long. So you're probably looking at in possession stuff and you're looking at how you support, you create movement and you penetrate. So you've got to be quite creative because you don't have the width necessarily. So you're thinking about going forward and playing forward when you win the ball. Whereas if you've got a sort of slightly wider pitch and then a sort of shorter pitch, then you're probably, you're then working on how do you then, out of possession, it might be how you keep shape and how you're compact and how you may press. So you can almost, if you're working at a sort of slightly senior age group, how your units and your individual players link together. So if it's a wide pitch but quite short, you might be working in the final, like in the mid third, and how you might put on like a low block or a mid press rather than a high press. So it's how you sort of support your teammates, the cover and balance when the ball travels, who goes along with them. So system wise, pitch, how your pitch looks, probably looking at the step printable as well, space and the task according to your players as well. Again, you're probably looking at sort of the practice spectrum in terms of the skill element to it as well. If it's unopposed or overloads, you know, if it's a 4v3 or 5v3, those three are going to have to have some sort of cover and balance and be compact because they've got the disadvantage of having numerical under load or overload how you may see it. So yeah, and then just a bit of realism. So small sided games, and then you're adding sort of slight different constraints. I think that's answered it. Yeah. 
 
[Jamie] 
Do you have any advice to help coaches work on game styles at training and how can that maybe link to matchday? 
 
[Abdoullah] 
Yeah, I think again, it goes back to sort of being consistent, some messages as well. So you try and draw out pictures and get pictures out from your practice design, making sure you don't overload the information. And on the match day, you relate back to what you worked on. So you might turn around and say, well, this is if you're fortunate enough working at senior level, you might get some clippings or like video stuff or some videos. So you're working against a team that's like to play forward quickly. So as a coach, you're gonna support your team to react to that and they might have to then just be compact or drop off a bit more on the trigger point. So, but I think it's definitely important that you relate that back to what you did on a training day. So, because they'll forget naturally as humans we forget things. So if you can sort of reiterate that on training day, but again keep it concise three points You know, we want you to do this in possession out position and in transition So I probably sort of say that you are looking at ensuring that again, you're being consistent with your language, being concise and just repeating that on matchday. 
 
[Louise] 
You know when you were saying about you potentially sometimes trying to figure out what game style your team wants to or works well with, What would you do if you were kind of quite new with the team and you were trying to figure that out? How would you approach that in a training session? 
 
[Abdoullah] 
Again, I probably would say that you are currently now working with a senior team. I'm trying to understand them and see what they react to and what they stretch to so I'd have to sort of find their abilities and their understanding of it and question them with some real sort of like open questions and understanding. 
 
[Louise] 
Would it be that you'd set a task and just see what happens? 
 
[Abdoullah] 
Yes, so the other day I did a sort of like a whole practice and I just went into a game, just observed. I love to observe as one, pick up players' sort of behaviour and reactions to things. So I let them play, I observed them. In the back of my mind I had the pictures I wanted to see and the players I wanted to affect. Obviously I want to affect everyone, but if I'm working on a certain practice and I was just sort of seeing who I need to go and support, who I need to work with. And it's, it might just be, I might pull you out Louise and say, can you do this and do this? I might say, Jamie, when you receive the ball, I want you to play forward, or can you try and play forward? And that's the information. But if I'm working with younger kids, I'm saying, you know, when you receive the ball, can you have an open body position? I would go back to language as well. Like, I just turn around and say, before you receive the ball, can you see both goals? And it's like automatically thinking, well, I can't, so show me a way. So yeah, I'll put on a practice in the hole and then I'll take it back to the park and I will work on some specifics and then go throw them back into the deep end and see if they've picked up on what we've coached. 
 
[Louise] 
That's interesting. 
 
[Jamie] 
Yeah. You've alluded to this a little bit before in a couple of your answers. It's kind of just like how much information the coaches actually need to tell players when working on game styles and presumably that maybe changes depending on the ageing stage of the team? 
 
[Abdoullah] 
Yeah, I think it's really important. I think sort of, again, going back to the development phase, you're sort of trying to build a skilful player and they're developing as a skilful player and the result isn't necessarily the be all, but everyone wants to win. Like how you win is a big thing as well. And I've always sort of said when I'm working with younger players or older players or senior players, if they left me today and went to another club, I'd like to feel I've done enough to sort of equip them with everything. So I like to share information. I'm open. I'm honest. I want them. I want it to be clear So if there's anything that they you know, don't understand I want them to feel safe and comfortable to come back and say to me I won't overload them of information I will give them again clear points three free outcomes and this is what I want to see. So you want players to be expressive, you want them to enjoy it, you want them to... They're playing, we can't see what they're seeing. So I may on the sideline or pull them aside like I said, is I just ask them a question and I see if what they're saying is what I want them to do. And it goes back to a match day as well. I always let my captain talk at the start of the game, vice captain and everyone else. Half time is exactly the same. Because if I went in as a coach and started saying, you're not doing this, you're not doing this. And well, they're like, well, coach, this is not happening on the pitch. So it's for me to get a bit of an understanding of what they're seeing as well on the pitch and I'm reacting off that as well. So even though I've given you loads of information less is more I think when it comes to game styles. They've got to have an understanding and an understanding of how you want them to play but it varies, yeah. 
 
[Jamie] 
That's fascinating insight regarding the team talks realistically like I say they're the ones on the pitch so they need to be able to to carry out the information as coach we've kind of just got to give them the tools to use to solve the game's problems. 
 
[Abdoullah] 
Yeah absolutely and I think like I said you don't want them to be sort of pieces on a board like a chessboard. You don't want to be controlling them. That's easier said than done because you become passionate. You become a coach that wants to try and look like they are managing the team. And I think if you're not seeing what your game style or game approach is, there's probably a reason for it. So you've got to find out the why. And again, for me, it goes back to that purpose and direction, like players need to understand the why and why you're doing stuff and they will come back to you. But going back to your point about the team talk, I think it gives like a safe environment for players to discuss and be open about not understanding things. So again, for you as a coach, that's why you probably do need to share that information with them. So that happens over time. It doesn't happen overnight because I've worked with teams for four or five years and I still get some struggling to talk, but at least I'm giving them a safe environment to do so. 
 
[Louise] 
You mentioned a few things there that made me think about like player ownership basically. How do you go about trying to get players to kind of take ownership and kind of their style of play? Any top tips to kind of help them do that? 
 
[Abdoullah] 
We've got to understand what player ownership is as well. I think sometimes we can, I certainly, when I first started thinking about player ownership is, just giving it to you Louise and that's it? I'm not going to support you but I think it's a collaborative piece as well. I think it's important to work together as I said and I mentioned previously is that you've got to make sure that you are allowing the players to see it through their lens and their game understanding. If you're working with youngsters they might not understand some of the information you're giving them. So, and it goes back again to your practice designs and giving them a bit more of a player led approach or player ownership to say, you know, setting challenges of if you win the ball in this half or in this third, get three points. So you're almost like saying, I want a team that wants to press high, but I'm not going to explicitly say that, but I want to see how creative you can be with that. And if you do it, and it's saying to them, you know, go and enjoy yourself, but understand these are the remits or the parameters of what we're trying to achieve. But with youngsters, as I said, it's development. They're learning and development. They're understanding their body. They're understanding how to control the ball. So sessions I set up, it's like, here we go. I want you to do X, but you tell me what you also want to do and how that looks and Can you give me an example of what you want to do? And then again from the senior team like their input is massive like to have the engagement of players and the belief in the buy-in you got to show that you care about what their opinions are and how They feel so it goes back to understanding sort of fostering the sort of players abilities and capabilities as well I have like a leadership team and I let them decide how they want to shape things because ultimately it's their responsibility and their playing as well. So yeah, I think that's probably where I'd say in terms of top tips is just engaging with the players and having that open conversation and that collaborative piece. 
 
[Jamie] 
How can working on game styles actually help to develop players? 
 
[Abdoullah] 
Yeah, I guess like you can work across different age groups. So for example, I alluded to in terms of winning the ball high you can set different constraints in your practices and again like if you're working with a foundation phase you can rotate players to understand and appreciate different areas of the pitch. I always sort of say I never say to a striker do you want to be a defender but I will put in different constraints because they're starting to learn how to defend. But it might be that you put them on a 2v1 and they're the one, but they've got to defend, they haven't got a choice, but it might just be different practice designs to allow that to happen. So player sort of position rotation is really important to get them to understand different areas of the pitch, different challenges that they may get across. And I actually still do that with my senior team. If I want to play possession based, I'm in a bit of an argument now with one of the coaches about if she a left back or if she a left centre back. I'm saying well we want to keep possession and build from the back. Technically I think she's really good to keep on the ball under pressure so we need to put her in a position where we can afford to have her whilst we're still working on a defensive element and out of possession. In possession, she's great. So let's look at how we can sort of support that as well. So as I said, it's still a bit of a discussion, but hopefully I'll get my way. 
 
[Jamie] 
But then it's a really good insight to be fair, like just in terms of being able to develop individuals further, like in terms of it is a certain way that you play in certain positions, get exposure to certain skills and it's almost like, you know, being able to move players into there to develop those skills a little bit. Obviously appreciate that might be whether they're younger, like when they're not necessarily locked into positions or whatever, but it's quite a nice way to do it. 
 
[Abdoullah] 
Yeah, and I think it's quite refreshing to see now you look across sort of the men and the women's game, like Greenwood for England, she or Rachel Daly plays left back for England, but plays a striker for Aston Villa. I think she was top goal scorer last season from Cremier-Verong. And, you know, Greenwood, again, someone that can play left back, but play left side of the centre-backs, because, again, she's probably really good at building play and keeping possession, and Serena Wigman obviously wants that, but then also understands that she can probably play a crossfield pass in two touches and get Lucy Bruns on the opposite side going forward. So and I think managers have really done that. Like you look at Trent and Kyle Walker and I really like that that's coming through because when we're sort of delivering messages in our CPDs with the counties, we talk about the importance of allowing our players to play different positions because at five years old, you still don't know where you play. You know, I was a striker, I ended up being a left back. So, and that just came through, you know, no one wanted to be a left back, but again, you know, you've got to start to understand different problem solving, decision making in different positions, they're all different. So, and ultimately like on the pitch, you play 1v1. So again, going back to that small sided games and your practice designs will help shape that quite a lot. So yeah, I'm not saying I'm a pep or I'm a Suna Weeman, but I just think it's important that my game style is, I want to keep possession when I've got the ball and I want to penetrate, but play through the thirds and play good football. But I think you need to sort of get a buy-in from your players to get that as well. And I think that probably goes back to the sort of, you know, the engagement and the buy-in from the players as well. And that belief of trying to have that wider picture. I always use the sort of analogy of you've got a picture frame, this is my frame, you as the players, you just make the picture inside, you just draw it, but my frame is my non-negotiables, I want this, this and this, show me how to do it. 
 
[Louise] 
I really like that. Yeah, really good way of thinking about it. So if we were to look back at everything that we've discussed so far, can you summarise the key top tips that you'd like coaches to take away from this episode? 
 
[Abdoullah] 
I think the key top tips are is being consistent and not only when it comes to language but being consistent for you as a coach, have a clear picture of what you want to achieve. Don't overly indulge in, I must do this, I must do this, I must do this. Like stick to one or two or three points across the season or break the season up and just be consistent with that as well and making sure that you're sticking to your principles, but actually get engagement from your players. That's the biggest thing, get engagement from your players and ask them what they want, how we can achieve it together, because it is a we, like, you know, you don't want to sort of, it become just about the coach, it's about the players as well. And whether or not that's from a younger age group, fun engaging sessions all the way across, but ages and stages as well. You won't do a sort of a pressing session with maybe an eight year old and it might look different, a 1v1 or game practices. So yeah, concise, consistent use of language and player engagement as 
 
[Louise] 
well. Really good. What we've been doing is asking our guests to set a challenge to the listeners. So based on game styles today, I guess, or any of the things that we've spoken about, what would you set to them as a challenge to kind of get them on this path of like trying to work in this way? 
 
[Abdoullah] 
I think whether or not you're starting out new or whether you're a seasoned coach, experienced coach, I think it's just continuously set your challenge of why, why you're trying to, you know, if I want this game style, why are you doing it? And is it supporting the players? Is it getting the best out of your players? Not because you've perhaps seen it on TV, but just it's your environment, why are you doing it? So my challenge would be, ask yourself why, making sure you are consistent with it. 
 
[Jamie] 
Brilliant. Well, Abs, we are coming up to the end of the show now. But it does mean it is time for our swift session feature. 
 
[Louise] 
Yep. So to round off the episode, we're going to give you another challenge this time it's 30 seconds to explain to us a session idea are you up for this challenge? 
 
[Abdoullah] 
I want to get the whistle now! So a session? 
 
[Louise] 
Yes. Does 
 
[Abdoullah] 
it have to be a session? I've got an arrival activity. 
 
[Jamie] 
Well that's absolutely fine. We'll take an arrival activity, absolutely. 
 
[Abdoullah] 
I'll try and make sure I can get the picture of it whilst you're listening. 
 
[Louise] 
Okay. Alright, when the music starts you can begin. 
 
[Abdoullah] 
I think this one here works on capabilities, six capabilities. So you've got a square with cones, you've got four players on each of those cones and you've got one in the middle. Players on the outside have to communicate and talk to get across to another cone whilst the other player gets across to the other side with the vacant cone before the player in the middle gets across to that vacant cone. Does that make sense? So, square, four players, player in the middle, if the player in the middle gets to that vacant cone, the player that hasn't got a cone jumps in the middle. And then, to progress it... 
 
[Louise] 
Got the whistle but you're in extra time 
 
[Abdoullah] 
To progress it, you can probably put in a football as well to challenge them as well, but it really works on the six capabilities that we at the FA like to do as they sort of scan interception communication and it's a real good social session. Yeah, that's cool. Or activity. 
 
[Louise] 
And I could really picture it so you did. Yeah, fantastic. Super. 
 
[Jamie] 
Yeah, very much like that idea, so thank you for sharing that. And thank you very much for your time today, we really appreciate you coming on to speak to us, to give us an insight into your journey and share loads of top tips with our listeners today. So hopefully you've enjoyed being with us today. 
 
[Abdoullah] 
I appreciate you having me back. I'm just having me back having me and hopefully I can come back if I'm allowed to. Absolutely. Get those likes in people. 
 
[Jamie] 
Brilliant. Yeah, thank you very much. 
 
[Abdoullah] 
Thank you. 
 
[Jamie] 
Well, that is all we have time for today. But don't forget to check out the description for the transcription of this episode and for all the links to our platforms. There you'll be able to click through to the England football community and this is where you can post your coaching questions for us to discuss on the podcast or just simply to connect with loads of wonderful coaches. 
 
[Louise] 
Yep, we'd love to help you out with your coaching questions so please do check it out. We'll be back soon with another episode of Coachcast so if you haven't already, hit subscribe to make sure you don't miss an episode. From all of us at England Football Learning, thanks for listening.