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🇪🇸 Thierry Henry just explained why Spanish teams keep dominating: they build TEAMS, not individuals. Henry says Spanish football development focuses on players who understand space, movement, and passing from a young age, rather than chasing the tallest or fastest kids early on. They keep talented players together, training... show more

Mario Nawfal

3,905,852 subscribers

190,947 views • 2 months ago •via X (Twitter)

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18 Comments

Migo2 months ago

Thierry Henry explains Spanish football dominance

Links Corportation 🌎2 months ago

If there is one best team to praise is Spain, the collective intelligence and camaraderie deserve to be rewarded. I am disgusted by Argentina's savotaging and condescending demeanor on the field.

Rooman Hamza2 months ago

Spain youth team are champions at every level both men and women Their women Team is also exceptional

Rational in NoVA 🇺🇸2 months ago

Having been involved with Villarreal’s academy system here in the U.S., I can confirm that this is true. Lots of focus on developing smart players and team players and truly understanding space on the pitch. We saw how this works on Tuesday.

Arjun Kalsy2 months ago

He didn't lie

Elan James2 months ago

Henry makes a good point. Spain's emphasis on teamwork, positioning, and technical ability has been a big part of their success over the years. Football IQ can be just as important as physical talent. ⚽👏

Mr Anonymous2 months ago

Team football keeps winning trophies.

Garfield2 months ago

Where has this gone was it a lie again?

David Baquero2 months ago

However, the passion of Argentines is far greater than their technique.

ELELEGWU UCHECHUKWU2 months ago

That's the first and only way for team success. Individual players and brilliance will only take you a bit far not winning major competitions

Wixelain2 months ago

It’s Fútbol not football ☺️

小智🎒2 months ago

Spain’s commitment to collective intelligence is the blueprint every nation should follow.

boogeyman2 months ago

Spain made Messi. Argentina will win!!

Mr Anonymous2 months ago

Systems outlast superstars.

Don C. Stirling2 months ago

Is he accurate?

LA PUERTA DE OVERTON 🇮🇨2 months ago

🏆

Youdontnnedtoknow2 months ago

But Spain plays like shit the whole tournament, except for 30 minutes vs Saudi Arabia

Gachi2 months ago

💯, football is a team sport. Always is.

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Greg Berge

196,799 views • 2 years ago

Incredible insight from Luis Enrique when asked about Cesc Fabregas and his view that football is moving increasingly mainly towards movement patterns, manipulation of space and coordinated actions, rather than traditional positional play, which he believes is becoming a thing of the past. The modern game is less about where a player is positioned and more about when, why and how they move to an area of the pitch. The best teams are now defined by their ability to recognise the opponent’s structure, identify the spaces that can be attacked and then coordinate the timing of movement to exploit them. It is not movement for the sake of movement. It is movement with purpose, based on recognition, timing and collective understanding. Luis Enrique reinforces a fascinating principle he spoke about last season. The objective of modern football is to become unpredictable for the opponent while remaining completely predictable to your own teammates. That is the real challenge at the highest level. Creating freedom without losing organisation. Producing variation without creating chaos. Giving players the intelligence to adapt their positioning and movement while maintaining a shared understanding of what the team is trying to achieve. The future of elite football may not belong to the teams with the most rigid positional structure, but to the teams who can read the game fastest, manipulate space most intelligently and coordinate movement with the greatest precision.

Incredible insight from Luis Enrique when asked about Cesc Fabregas and his view that football is moving increasingly mainly towards movement patterns, manipulation of space and coordinated actions, rather than traditional positional play, which he believes is becoming a thing of the past. The modern game is less about where a player is positioned and more about when, why and how they move to an area of the pitch. The best teams are now defined by their ability to recognise the opponent’s structure, identify the spaces that can be attacked and then coordinate the timing of movement to exploit them. It is not movement for the sake of movement. It is movement with purpose, based on recognition, timing and collective understanding. Luis Enrique reinforces a fascinating principle he spoke about last season. The objective of modern football is to become unpredictable for the opponent while remaining completely predictable to your own teammates. That is the real challenge at the highest level. Creating freedom without losing organisation. Producing variation without creating chaos. Giving players the intelligence to adapt their positioning and movement while maintaining a shared understanding of what the team is trying to achieve. The future of elite football may not belong to the teams with the most rigid positional structure, but to the teams who can read the game fastest, manipulate space most intelligently and coordinate movement with the greatest precision.

Keepitonthedeck

188,862 views • 20 days ago

Raymond Felton says the San Antonio Spurs are like a high level AAU team: “They got a sh*t load of talent, a bunch of young dudes who try to get it. You know what I’m saying? And they are very good, they are good enough to win. I’m going to give yall example AJ Dybantsa and Tyran Stokes it was like two other dudes on that team. All high level players. Just fu*king great, two number one players in their class. Beating everybody, whooping everybody winning games they having fun, they come in the game with music on the speaker. They feel good. They go play against them Boozer brothers, play like a team, they together. The Knicks play better as a team, I’m not saying San Antonio don’t. It’s just the camaraderie these dudes have went to college together, these dudes are friends.” (Via ToTheBaha)

Raymond Felton says the San Antonio Spurs are like a high level AAU team: “They got a sht load of talent, a bunch of young dudes who try to get it. You know what I’m saying? And they are very good, they are good enough to win. I’m going to give yall example AJ Dybantsa and Tyran Stokes it was like two other dudes on that team. All high level players. Just fuking great, two number one players in their class. Beating everybody, whooping everybody winning games they having fun, they come in the game with music on the speaker. They feel good. They go play against them Boozer brothers, play like a team, they together. The Knicks play better as a team, I’m not saying San Antonio don’t. It’s just the camaraderie these dudes have went to college together, these dudes are friends.” (Via ToTheBaha)

NBA Courtside

86,763 views • 3 months ago

Pay attention to Saudi . They’re hosting the World Cup in 2034 and they have serious plans to do well at that World Cup. First thing for them is to invest in their league. These Saudi players in this Uruguay game, you could see their quality. They’re being coached by elite managers, they play with or against Ronaldo, Benzema, Kante, Mahrez, Mane, etc. these are players that have won everything. Exposure to such training programmes, world class coaches and team mates, facilities, it’s just madness. Most of the players in their squad are from the 4 government-owned teams like Hilal, Nassr, Ahli, some from Al Qadsia too which is also a good side. These top teams are exposed to world class structures (you can’t say same for the others, but that’s why the squad is made up of most players from the top teams). One of their players, Saud, was even bold enough to leave the league and he’s just done amazingly well at RC Lens this season,after he joined on loan from Roma. This is good for them too. Steven Gerrard shared a bit about the Saudi plan on “Stick to Football” recently. He said one of the things they told him was that they wanted to develop their academies especially and they wanted him to be part of it. I’ve attached the video. There’s an u21 league that is serious now in Saudi. You can also go pro at 16 years of age in Saudi now. It was 18 before. The youngsters are also exposed to these facilities which will aid their development, because some of them are expected to make that squad in 2034. Let me end this tweet with the shortfall of this project. Due to the influx of top players, many of these young players are not getting so much playing time, and they need to. They have a decent national team now but most of them won’t be present in 2034 when they host the World Cup at home. You can understand why these top teams don’t give so much youngsters opportunities even in Europe, this is because they’re chasing the league and they have no time for trials with the kids, this has to change. I always support the youth. I think teams are entitled to 8 foreign players, the league organisers should also put something in place to ensure teams play u21 players and the likes. I’m sure they’re thinking of these things and I’m rooting for them to do well. Fingers crossed.

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TobyWrites

346,294 views • 3 months ago

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AYOMIPOSI 👑

38,881 views • 1 month ago

🗣️ Mikel Arteta on if it's important to keep players from the academy: "Certainly. I mean, the players that have been raised in our system and they feel generally that love and that connection with the club, it brings something else. "There is no question about that, and we need to look after them in a really special way because they bring value that is very difficult to find. That's why, when we can, we want to protect those assets as much as possible, develop them and make them extremely important for the club." 🗣️ on sending players on loan to Premier League clubs: "I think those are individual cases. Those players have to be ready as well to compete in the Premier League and to play regularly. "The priority is to expose those players and give them minutes, you better agree that that's going to be the case, and how many clubs, teams, managers in this league can guarantee that that's going to happen to a really young player that probably hasn't had exposure. "If you find it, great, because that's the level that we want them to compete. But sometimes they need a different pathway. The beauty of this is that the pathway can be completely different and the outcome can be the same, and this is the magic of football as well."

🗣️ Mikel Arteta on if it's important to keep players from the academy: "Certainly. I mean, the players that have been raised in our system and they feel generally that love and that connection with the club, it brings something else. "There is no question about that, and we need to look after them in a really special way because they bring value that is very difficult to find. That's why, when we can, we want to protect those assets as much as possible, develop them and make them extremely important for the club." 🗣️ on sending players on loan to Premier League clubs: "I think those are individual cases. Those players have to be ready as well to compete in the Premier League and to play regularly. "The priority is to expose those players and give them minutes, you better agree that that's going to be the case, and how many clubs, teams, managers in this league can guarantee that that's going to happen to a really young player that probably hasn't had exposure. "If you find it, great, because that's the level that we want them to compete. But sometimes they need a different pathway. The beauty of this is that the pathway can be completely different and the outcome can be the same, and this is the magic of football as well."

Connor Humm

23,899 views • 1 month ago

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Paul Pierce says LeBron, Steph, and Kevin Durant can’t win a championship as the number 1 option anymore: “I think at this age he (KD) doesn’t influence winning like he did in OKC or Golden State. He can’t be the best player on your championship team right now. I say that about him, LeBron, and also say that about Curry right now. They can’t be your best players on championship teams at this stage of their career. They need to play with somebody that’s better than them. That’s why the Lakers look better because they have a player that’s better than LeBron” (Via No Fouls Given)

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55,977 views • 6 months ago

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Connor Humm

122,294 views • 1 month ago

But where is the lie? If Asante Kotoko alone or together with Accra Hearts of Oak decide to pull away from Ghana Football is it not the end of Ghana Football? These two teams have over 90% influence and total control over the nation's football fraternity so why should they sit there and be bullied by Mfinkyire mfikyire and afuom football clubs with no National appeal nor interest like Nsoatreman FC and its associated village teams in that enclave, nkwasiasem sei. Just pull out and see if GFA can organize a league without you two. For where you have reached and your historical pedigree, you shouldn't even be entertaining these low-class football teams even in Kumasi and Accra, what do these 3rd class teams bring to the table? Money or what? To the point of killing your supporters and diehard fans. Otumfuo Prempeh II, Otumfuo Opoku Ware II and pioneers of Asante Kotoko should be turning in their graves by now. If Kotoko doesn't pull out from the league, it will over them. Team no atete sɛ kontebe 💔

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66,777 views • 1 year ago

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Johnny St.Pete

705,908 views • 9 months ago

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James Purchin

56,833 views • 1 month ago

U19 Development League The U19 Development League is a new initiative from Kilkenny GAA & it kicks off this Friday night, 22nd March, with teams from Dublin GAA, Official Offaly GAA, Wexford GAA & Kilkenny competing. The concept behind this League is to bridge the gap between inter county U17 & U20 and it’s restricted to players who have not played at U20 championship level. The Kilkenny panel comprises 31 players from 21 clubs, led by Mark Aylward & his team. We wish Mark, his team & the panel the very best in the weeks ahead. Ahead of our first game on Friday night, we caught up with Mark to chat with him about the U19 League. You can hear Mark's full interview with Patrick O'Flynn on the Kilkenny Cats app. Don't miss out on any exclusive content and download the app from the App Store or Google Play. 🐈‍⬛⚫️🟡

U19 Development League The U19 Development League is a new initiative from Kilkenny GAA & it kicks off this Friday night, 22nd March, with teams from Dublin GAA, Official Offaly GAA, Wexford GAA & Kilkenny competing. The concept behind this League is to bridge the gap between inter county U17 & U20 and it’s restricted to players who have not played at U20 championship level. The Kilkenny panel comprises 31 players from 21 clubs, led by Mark Aylward & his team. We wish Mark, his team & the panel the very best in the weeks ahead. Ahead of our first game on Friday night, we caught up with Mark to chat with him about the U19 League. You can hear Mark's full interview with Patrick O'Flynn on the Kilkenny Cats app. Don't miss out on any exclusive content and download the app from the App Store or Google Play. 🐈‍⬛⚫️🟡

Kilkenny GAA

19,041 views • 2 years ago

Airbnb CEO, Brian Chesky, on the most effective way to eliminate meetings: "The reason there's too many meetings in a company isn't because they don't have meeting-no-meeting Wednesdays. It's because they have too many people." He advocates for a small, elite workforce over bloated teams: "We want a small, lean, elite, highly skilled team, not a team of kind of mid-level battalion type people. And the reason why is every person brings a communication tax." He explains how mediocre hiring compounds into dysfunction: "The old saying: A players hire A players. B players hire C players. I would like to amend it: B players hire lots of C players. Because those are the kind of people that like building empires." And those C players can't do the work alone, so they hire more people, who go in different directions, creating even more meetings and admin tax. His solution at Airbnb was radical—eliminate management layers entirely: "I got rid of layers of management. I went back to functional. You can only manage the function if you're an expert. You don't manage people. You manage people through the work." He credits this philosophy to Jony Ive, who believed most design leaders get it backwards. Ive's approach was to focus on the work itself and build a team that designs together. Elite teams don't need elaborate management structures — they need leaders who manage through the work itself.

Airbnb CEO, Brian Chesky, on the most effective way to eliminate meetings: "The reason there's too many meetings in a company isn't because they don't have meeting-no-meeting Wednesdays. It's because they have too many people." He advocates for a small, elite workforce over bloated teams: "We want a small, lean, elite, highly skilled team, not a team of kind of mid-level battalion type people. And the reason why is every person brings a communication tax." He explains how mediocre hiring compounds into dysfunction: "The old saying: A players hire A players. B players hire C players. I would like to amend it: B players hire lots of C players. Because those are the kind of people that like building empires." And those C players can't do the work alone, so they hire more people, who go in different directions, creating even more meetings and admin tax. His solution at Airbnb was radical—eliminate management layers entirely: "I got rid of layers of management. I went back to functional. You can only manage the function if you're an expert. You don't manage people. You manage people through the work." He credits this philosophy to Jony Ive, who believed most design leaders get it backwards. Ive's approach was to focus on the work itself and build a team that designs together. Elite teams don't need elaborate management structures — they need leaders who manage through the work itself.

Big Brain Business

749,782 views • 8 months ago

Max Levchin explains why B-players hire C-players The co-founder of PayPal and Affirm reflects on the famous Steve Jobs insight that A-players hire A-players, and B-players hire C-players: “It’s profoundly true. But there should be an asterisk explaining why this is true. And the reason for this is fear.” A-players love working with other A-players because they know it will make them better. They want other A-players who challenge them and will tell them when their work isn’t good. Most B-players are net positive too, but as Max argues, some are fearful and will say: “If I have too many B-players or A-players around, I will look terrible and it’ll be very obvious that I’m just not that good. So the way to fix this is for me to become a manager and hire a bunch of people who aren’t very good at all so that I’ll look like the tallest mushroom.” Max continues: “That is the real danger of B-players. Having people who are perfectly willing to do good work day-in and day-out is not the worst thing in the world. There’s plenty of things that A-players will turn their nose from because it’s just not that challenging. B-players are very good for that [type of work]. And a lot of B-players will over time grind their way to being A-players, so you’re investing in their future and they know it, and that’s also positive. But B-players who have fear of being found out are the ones you have to watch out for.” Source: Harry Stebbings 20VC Fund (Feb 2025)

Max Levchin explains why B-players hire C-players The co-founder of PayPal and Affirm reflects on the famous Steve Jobs insight that A-players hire A-players, and B-players hire C-players: “It’s profoundly true. But there should be an asterisk explaining why this is true. And the reason for this is fear.” A-players love working with other A-players because they know it will make them better. They want other A-players who challenge them and will tell them when their work isn’t good. Most B-players are net positive too, but as Max argues, some are fearful and will say: “If I have too many B-players or A-players around, I will look terrible and it’ll be very obvious that I’m just not that good. So the way to fix this is for me to become a manager and hire a bunch of people who aren’t very good at all so that I’ll look like the tallest mushroom.” Max continues: “That is the real danger of B-players. Having people who are perfectly willing to do good work day-in and day-out is not the worst thing in the world. There’s plenty of things that A-players will turn their nose from because it’s just not that challenging. B-players are very good for that [type of work]. And a lot of B-players will over time grind their way to being A-players, so you’re investing in their future and they know it, and that’s also positive. But B-players who have fear of being found out are the ones you have to watch out for.” Source: Harry Stebbings 20VC Fund (Feb 2025)

Startup Archive

18,676 views • 2 months ago

Hexagons and Octagons Those who follow football and coaching will be well aware that there are trends that emerge and become the great break through in coaching, only to vanish quite quickly. A few stick around and become a staple. Such as the rondo, or the 4v4+4 Guardiola rondo variation. One that did not stick around in the coaching collective consciousness that possible should have was Thomas Tuchel’s use of hexagonal and octagonal playing areas in training sessions. Tuchel explained that cutting off the corners and angling the pitch forced “sharp diagonal” passes that would help break the press. The positioning of players outside the hexagon/octagon or players close to the edges will be manipulated into an open body shape by the angles of the pitch. Players are impacted by environmental constraints and embodied cognition, where the geography of the playing area influences their actions. This influence spreads to the creation of triangles and diamonds within the playing area due to the “funnel” like nature of the playing area. We can use the cut outside angles by placing bounce or target players on the exterior, influencing the movement and organisation internally. The inside players will not have to move wide as those areas are occupied. The internal players will seek to create passing angles using the positioning of the outside players and their internal team mates. The diamonds and triangles will appear. If we leave the spaces on the outside empty players can move to fill the spaces. These act as free spaces to receive from the goalkeeper or open spaces for attackers to overlap into, encouraging attacking combination play and crosses. A different way of using the space is to remove goals and goalkeepers from the ends and place bounce/target players on the outside. Players now can combine with the outside players, when they do so they are then free to finish into the outside goals. The condition can be extended to combining with the target player in the opposite side of the pitch before scoring, adding an element of switching play. The hexagon and octagon are versatile spaces that help to replicate aspects of the game. By funneling the spaces we impact players body shape, ability to play forward quickly, team shape (or small group shapes), players cutting in, defending centrally, the types of combination used and the angles of line breaking pass (diagonals). The angles are hugely significant for teams that value combinations and possession football, Straight passes and receiving angles are much easier to intercept and carry high risks for being counter attacked. Short diagonals can bypass players and attacking shapes, creating angled connections. If an angles pass is given away there is still a risk of being counter attacked but there is more chance of having players around the ball to regain possession. To counter press. The question that emerges is should we then be using hexagons and octagons more? If they are of greater benefit than squares and rectangles, why use them? Should all pitches, including those of a small sided nature be hexagonal? Can the rondo square be replaced by the rondo octagon?

Hexagons and Octagons Those who follow football and coaching will be well aware that there are trends that emerge and become the great break through in coaching, only to vanish quite quickly. A few stick around and become a staple. Such as the rondo, or the 4v4+4 Guardiola rondo variation. One that did not stick around in the coaching collective consciousness that possible should have was Thomas Tuchel’s use of hexagonal and octagonal playing areas in training sessions. Tuchel explained that cutting off the corners and angling the pitch forced “sharp diagonal” passes that would help break the press. The positioning of players outside the hexagon/octagon or players close to the edges will be manipulated into an open body shape by the angles of the pitch. Players are impacted by environmental constraints and embodied cognition, where the geography of the playing area influences their actions. This influence spreads to the creation of triangles and diamonds within the playing area due to the “funnel” like nature of the playing area. We can use the cut outside angles by placing bounce or target players on the exterior, influencing the movement and organisation internally. The inside players will not have to move wide as those areas are occupied. The internal players will seek to create passing angles using the positioning of the outside players and their internal team mates. The diamonds and triangles will appear. If we leave the spaces on the outside empty players can move to fill the spaces. These act as free spaces to receive from the goalkeeper or open spaces for attackers to overlap into, encouraging attacking combination play and crosses. A different way of using the space is to remove goals and goalkeepers from the ends and place bounce/target players on the outside. Players now can combine with the outside players, when they do so they are then free to finish into the outside goals. The condition can be extended to combining with the target player in the opposite side of the pitch before scoring, adding an element of switching play. The hexagon and octagon are versatile spaces that help to replicate aspects of the game. By funneling the spaces we impact players body shape, ability to play forward quickly, team shape (or small group shapes), players cutting in, defending centrally, the types of combination used and the angles of line breaking pass (diagonals). The angles are hugely significant for teams that value combinations and possession football, Straight passes and receiving angles are much easier to intercept and carry high risks for being counter attacked. Short diagonals can bypass players and attacking shapes, creating angled connections. If an angles pass is given away there is still a risk of being counter attacked but there is more chance of having players around the ball to regain possession. To counter press. The question that emerges is should we then be using hexagons and octagons more? If they are of greater benefit than squares and rectangles, why use them? Should all pitches, including those of a small sided nature be hexagonal? Can the rondo square be replaced by the rondo octagon?

TheBeardedCoach

13,461 views • 7 months ago

This World Cup has shown how Argentinian players are just built different, and it was interesting because, in the press conferences, both managers addressed this. First, Tuchel talks about the Argentinian value of the ball and how they protect the ball at all costs, how they manage those small spaces, and how they learn this from a young age. He references culture, and this is exactly it. A child playing in a certain environment leads to that. Not every Argentinian child is on the national team, but it raises the ceiling. It creates a certain type of style and a certain type of player. Then Scaloni also references his culture. He sees them play without fear of losing. It comes from playing in an environment where you are constantly faced with the potential of losing and being able to play with that pressure, right? They don’t fight against it. They play with it. They use it. And I think this is where youth football coaches should really take note. This does not mean we should copy and paste Argentinian culture into every training environment, because culture cannot just be copied. But the values within that culture can be inculcated in every training environment. The value of the ball. The courage to receive it in small spaces. The ability to protect it under pressure. The confidence to keep playing after a mistake. The willingness to play with the possibility of losing rather than constantly trying to avoid it. Those values can become part of the environment we create every day. They can be present in the games we design, in what we praise, in what we allow players to struggle with, and in how we respond when they lose the ball. If every mistake leads to the coach stopping the session, giving the answer, or taking the pressure away, then players never learn to play with that pressure. They learn to wait for the coach. It was cool to see how two managers, at such a big stage, reference culture and the environments that kids play in when they’re young. Because the players we see on the biggest stage were not only created by tactics or coaching information. They were created by environments that taught them what to value, how to relate to the ball, and how to play when there was something to lose.

This World Cup has shown how Argentinian players are just built different, and it was interesting because, in the press conferences, both managers addressed this. First, Tuchel talks about the Argentinian value of the ball and how they protect the ball at all costs, how they manage those small spaces, and how they learn this from a young age. He references culture, and this is exactly it. A child playing in a certain environment leads to that. Not every Argentinian child is on the national team, but it raises the ceiling. It creates a certain type of style and a certain type of player. Then Scaloni also references his culture. He sees them play without fear of losing. It comes from playing in an environment where you are constantly faced with the potential of losing and being able to play with that pressure, right? They don’t fight against it. They play with it. They use it. And I think this is where youth football coaches should really take note. This does not mean we should copy and paste Argentinian culture into every training environment, because culture cannot just be copied. But the values within that culture can be inculcated in every training environment. The value of the ball. The courage to receive it in small spaces. The ability to protect it under pressure. The confidence to keep playing after a mistake. The willingness to play with the possibility of losing rather than constantly trying to avoid it. Those values can become part of the environment we create every day. They can be present in the games we design, in what we praise, in what we allow players to struggle with, and in how we respond when they lose the ball. If every mistake leads to the coach stopping the session, giving the answer, or taking the pressure away, then players never learn to play with that pressure. They learn to wait for the coach. It was cool to see how two managers, at such a big stage, reference culture and the environments that kids play in when they’re young. Because the players we see on the biggest stage were not only created by tactics or coaching information. They were created by environments that taught them what to value, how to relate to the ball, and how to play when there was something to lose.

David Garcia

170,444 views • 2 months ago