This week, Ben and Mike return with a thought-provoking episode featuring Saul Isaksson-Hurst, also known as My Personal Football Coach. Saul is an elite coach who works with top talents like Noni Madueke and has experience at Chelsea and Tottenham academies.

In this episode, he shares his insights on potential changes the FA may introduce to youth football formats. Saul believes that smaller formats will help prioritise skill development in younger players.

He explains how smaller-sided games can lead to 60% more scoring opportunities and 25% more 1v1 situations, how to teach tactical principles like balance and rotation without losing the kids' interest and why scaling back the "helicopter coaching" approach might be the key to success.

If you're looking to develop better players while still securing wins—or simply want to avoid becoming the coach featured on YouTube for all the wrong reasons—this episode is packed with valuable advice you won't want to miss.

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In this episode of It’s Only Kids Football, Ben and Mike are joined by goalscoring legend Adam Le Fondre to tackle one of the hardest skills to teach young players: movement off the ball.

Packed with practical insights and digestible tips, Adam shares his secrets on how to create space, lose your defender and rack up goals like a seasoned striker. Perfect for football parents, coaches and anyone who’s ever shouted “Move!” at a kid standing still on the pitch.

Adam also takes them on a journey through his grassroots beginnings, rise to stardom and advice for aspiring strikers. He dives into everything from how to instil dedication in young players to the impact of supportive (and tough-love) parents like his own dad, whose high standards fuelled his career.

The former Reading striker also shares vivid memories of his childhood matches and the friendships and life lessons learned along the way.

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Three losses, five wins, five losses. On this week’s It’s Only Kids Football, Ben and Mike struggle to cope with the team’s erratic form. As die-hard Gooners, their Spurs-like inconsistency cuts even deeper.

Ben works to help Alfie battle through a crisis of confidence that turns bedtime into a tearful therapy session. Meanwhile, Mike realises he needs to coach Raph on the nuances of effort—sometimes it’s more effective to work smart, not just hard.

The management duo discuss potential formations to shore up their leaky defence, fears of losing their best players, the challenge of motivating the boys to run harder and the endless debate over shouting versus silence.

Holding it all together with little more than duct tape and denial, the lads wonder: will 2025 finally bring better results or are they doomed to remain the Grassroots Tottenham?

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Email: itsonlykidsfootballpodcast@gmail.com

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