SAUL ISAKSSON-HURST

MyPersonalFootballCoach.com was born out of my desire to work with more players all over the world. I've been fortunate enough to have had a lot of success in developing and supporting players 1on1 into Academy football, signing for Arsenal, Chelsea, Aston Villa, Tottenham Hotspur and Norwich. Players have also gone on to represent their country and play in the Premier League.

I was always restricted by time and location. I wanted to create something that players could access any where in the world, a way of empowering them and giving them the opportunity to find out what it takes and how to develop into a Pro player.

It’s been a whirlwind couple of years, to start the site was a bit of a brain dump, just 100s of techniques and practices, since then we have evolved in to a clear technical course, including 30 20 minute technical sessions proven to improve a soccer players game. It’s really concise and easy to follow for players of all ages and abilities.

We’ve had great feedback also, with users in over 20 countries. Also Wolverhampton Wanderers a Category 1 Premier League Academy now use it for their 8-12s program and we are currently in talks with other Premier League Clubs and pro clubs from continental Europe.

What’s great about MPFC (My Personal Football Coach.com) is that it supports players of all abilities, from beginners to pro players, it makes me immensely proud!

I’m fortunate to have worked in Premier League Academy Football for over 10 years now at Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur. This has allowed me to watch and work with some oft he best players and young players in the world on a regular basis. My inspiration comes from watching these guys in training and games, seeing how the move with the ball and effect the game and trying to reproduce these outcomes in my sessions.

Ive tried to stay true to the original principles of MPFC, making all session accessible to everyone anywhere, as long as you have a ball and maybe a wall or friend. You can set the sessions up anytime anywhere!

1 on 1 coaching is of benefit to all players, whether beginners or Elite players. My particular specialism is elite and aspiring elite players. If you want to be a top player it’s impossible without isolated technical practice. You look at any sport in the world and the top performers are doing isolated practice. The key is making that practice firstly challenging and then making it functional.

MyPersonalFootballCoach.com teaches you the fundamental techniques needed to be a Pro player but also gives you functional 'game like' practices to master them. These functional practices are microcosmic examples of game situations and help you develop technique in preparation for game time.

All the skill & technical training must be done with a a view of contextualizing that in a game situation for a player. Teach them a skill but most importantly teach them how and where to use it in a game.

The key for me is technical development and desire! I keep emphasizing to players the importance to be able to play off both feet, it's a simple idea that is possible for every player but just takes a lot of hard work. Also to be technically excellent in all areas, can you be the most technical player in your team? Lastly desire, I work with many players who want to make it into Pro clubs, and the majority of the time it comes down to this……how much do you want it? It's a tough game to get into and you have to want it more than the next player. If you’re not doing some sort of technical practice everyday you have no chance.

Coaches just have to get out there and do it; get as much experience as possible and see as many experienced good practitioners as possible. I’ve always had a real natural passion for the game, when I began coaching I made a decision to become a student of the game. I did a lot of reading from leaders in the field, books and DVDs on formations and training systems and most importantly watching and learning from top class coaches. Experience is the key as you can put all these things into practice and develop your own methodology.

That’s a difficult question to answer. If I’m honest I still think there’s too much emphasis on physicality when academies are recruiting. I think that’s slowly changing. Most quality academies will focus on technique in the early ages, although what this looks like can wildly vary from one club to the next. Club A may focus on Ball Mastery and 1V1 and club B may focus on passing and receiving. It often depends on the philosophy of the academy. I think players need a more rounded technical education will all factors. MPFC has users from many Academies in England, as they often don’t get that important ball mastery and 1v1 work. This lack of quality individual technical coaching is a big issue in England particularly.

The Premier League new EPPP categorization has made big improvements in the general organization and quality control of Academy football. The interesting thing that most people won’t realize is the stark contrast between academies in terms of philosophies and what approach to football education the players will receive. This differs wildly from one club to the other. You could argue to bringing together of footballing philosophies, the only issue with this is that there are so many different opinions in football with so many successful academies operating in different ways.