How to Decode the Game

Why Better Coaching Starts With Better Watching

THREAD 🧵👇 If you're serious about improving as a coach, whether you lead a pro academy, a grassroots club, or a youth team on Saturdays, there's one skill that will quietly level up everything you do:

Learning to see the game more clearly.

FREE COACH DEVELOPMENT

LIVE WEBINAR with Andreas Schumacher

We’re going to break down small sided situations using real match footage from one of my teams, moments where we didn’t get it right.

Like the one below 👇 🧵 Just a final heads up, this Sunday, July 6, I’m running a live webinar with Andreas Schumacher.

Over 200 coaches have already signed up.

We’re going to break down small sided situations using real match footage from my teams, moments where we didn’t get it right.

THIS ONE IDEA CHANGED HOW I SEE 2v2s

Thread on one of the first things I noticed when I was coaching in Spain 🧵🇪🇸👇 When I first started coaching in Spain, one of the things that stood out to me was how often I heard the word “pair.”

Every coach used it. Even with young players.

It didn’t matter what level or what the exercise was, players were always being asked: “Who’s your pair?”

European football taught us to worship space.

Find the deepest man. Break the line. Stretch the field, but maybe that’s not all football is.

Brazilian football is reminding us: football is about us.

Associative football lives 🧵👇 Five passes. Two players. Never more than 7 yards apart.

They beat four Chelsea defenders, without needing space, switches, or stars.
Just rhythm, feel, and trust in the next action.

Flamengo’s third goal is pure street football.
📽️👇

A mini case study on Manchester City.

City beat Wydad Casablanca but the game revealed a deeper pattern.

One that speaks to how they create, where they struggle, and why provoking matters.

🧵Let’s break it down. City isolate wide players but don’t support them.

Savio and Doku were City’s most dangerous players... when they had space and when they dribbled.

Here Savio beats his man and creates the first goal.

Day 4 of the Club World Cup.
Each day, I’m sharing what stood out through the lens of a coach.

Today: Fluminense vs. Borussia Dortmund
A thread on 3-box-3 overloads, wide groupings, individual escape, and possession patience 🧵 Fluminense recover from their high press (very effective)
They connect on the left, recycle to the backline, then re-enter the middle
A midfield run breaks the line, nearly a great chance

This is what their identity looks like: pause, reset, then exploit

Day 3 of the Club World Cup.
Each day, I’m sharing what caught my eye through the lens of a coach.

Today: Boca Juniors vs. Benfica
A thread on chaos, structure, and two styles that crashed hard 🧵 I’ve been so excited for this tournament, not just because it’s global, but because it’s real football.

Not international teams thrown together for 3 weeks.

But clubs with trained habits, layered styles, and identities worth watching.

Day 2 of the Club World Cup.
Each day, I’m sharing what stood out through the lens of a coach watching with intent.

Today: PSG vs. Atlético Madrid
A thread on blindside runs, midfield intelligence, and why Lillo was right 🧵 Kvaratskhelia drops deep on the left and draws the fullback.
Ruiz reads the cue and makes a run from midfield into the gap behind.

This blindside movement comes from shared awareness.
The winger steps out of space. Ruiz steps in.

🔄 Should You Step Back or Step In?

The art of knowing when to guide and when to let the struggle teach.

THREAD 🧵👇 THE GAP I COULDN’T SEE

A few years ago, I made a mistake.

Not the kind that shows up on the scoreboard. The kind that lives in the space between good intentions and unmet readiness.

Disorganize, Don’t Just Attack

How subtle player actions shift the conditions of the game and the football universalities they reveal.

Thread highlighting 3 actions from Pedri and Yamal 🧵 Before you can break down a team, you have to break something deeper: Their organization.

In Barcelona’s semifinal vs. Inter Milan, the most dangerous sequences didn’t come from chaos, they came from control.

Why your players aren’t listening.

Stop repeating yourself.

Here’s how to design sessions that make lessons stick without saying a word.

THREAD 🧵👇 You’ve said it over and over again:
“Scan before you receive.”
“Check your shoulder.”
“Don’t turn into pressure.”

But on match day, they turn blind into a defender. Again.
You remind them. You repeat it. You correct it.

And still… nothing sticks.

🎯 New Training Breakdown: 2v1 & 2v1 Execution Game
🎥 Real session footage + reflective coaching voiceover

THREAD 🧵👇 🎥 Purpose + Game Context

This 2v1 & 2v1 activity is designed to sharpen execution under pressure in tight overload scenarios. The focus? Helping players understand how to:

- Draw defenders deliberately
- Reposition to support intelligently
- Recover quickly after losing the ball

YOU DON’T WANT TO IMPROVE.
You just say you do.

Let’s be honest. Most coaches don’t want to grow.

(THREAD TO WAKE YOU UP) 🧵👇 They want to sound like they’re growing. They want to say the right words. Post the right clip. Name-drop the right coach. They go to a course, grab their diploma, and add it to their LinkedIn like it means something.

Then what? Nothing.

Lately, I’ve been watching back a lot of my own training sessions. Not just for the content—but to study HOW I coach.

And one thing has become clear:

I want to be more specific—and more efficient—with my interventions.

🧵👇 (THREAD) I’ve always leaned toward using cues to guide learning. But now I’m realizing:
That cue can be even more powerful when it’s rooted in a clear perception-action framework.

THE MOST DANGEROUS SPACE

I’ve written about this space on countless occasions but I'll keep banging on like a broken record for the simple reason that it’s the basis of all football strategy.

Let’s dive into why this space is so important and how teams attack it...🧵👇 Because teams heavily defend the space behind their back line, the space in front of the defending back line is the objective for build ups

The catalyst for goal scoring chances is an attacking player in possession facing the defending back line

🎥 from Positional Play Course

How do teams beat high presses? It’s one of the most exciting moments of the game that make or break a team’s performance.

Like walking a tight rope, play it right and you’re on the other side unscathed.

Get it wrong and it’s in the back of your goal…

Let’s break it down👇🧵


As with all football this starts with space.

- Is there space to play in?
- Which space do we want to play in?
- How much space do we need to play effectively in?
- How can we create that space in said place?

These are unconsciously and collectively decided upon during a match.

I am lucky enough to be able to have coached the 9v9 game format for many years now. In that time I have grown to really love this particular stage of football.

Here are FIVE REASONS WHY I LOVE COACHING 9v9 FOOTBALL 🧵👇 THE COMPLEXITY BALANCE.

I love football, you do too. And the reason we love it is because there is so much depth to it.

However, in my opinion, the 9v9 game format has the perfect balance of complexity and simplicity.

There are tactics but not too many. It’s perfect.

Understanding Football Through Systems Thinking: Positional Play Decoded

THREAD TO UNDERSTAND POSITIONAL PLAY BEYOND THE CLICHÉS 🧵👇 Football is full of interactions

Every pass, tackle, and movement impacts the game. It's not just about individual brilliance; it's how players interact within a system

That's where Positional Play comes in

It's not just a tactic; it's a philosophy rooted in Systems Theory

Tiny micro movements is the difference between a top player from the average player

They are done almost imperceptibly, often unconsciously, with ease and speed

Kevin De Bruyne’s goal is a masterclass of what a top player does to around the goal to make facilitate scoring 🧵👇 Nowadays scoring is so difficult with teams defending deep with many players.

Gaining five yards in these situations is vital.

That’s what KDB does.

Look where he starts offering himself as passing option to Doku and where he ends up receiving and ultimately shooting it from.

Guardiola's defensive struggles have taught me something about football that could be applied to all teams.

Discover how Manchester City's recent defensive struggles have exposed a fundamental tactical challenge in modern football.

Let’s dive in 🧵👇 The theme that I want you to keep in mind throughout this entire thread is DEPTH.

Depth: The distance from the top to the bottom of something. We are talking about the depth of a defensive block - from the highest player to the lowest player.

You are doing your players a disservice if you do not let them experience failure and frustration.

In this thread, I'll dive into two real training scenarios from my teams where players got stuck but transformed into smarter, more adaptive players.

[MASSIVE THREAD] 👇 Before we get started, I can't emphasize the importance of training environments to foster development.

I’ll show you how the environment you create facilitates these developmental moments.