Friday Football Podcast Round-up Aug 26-Sept 1

Every Friday I will be recaping 4-5 shows in the wide world of football podcasts so that you can find some gems to listen to. Explore new topics and learn more about the game you already love. I don't intend to critique the show or the hosts of the show. Instead, I want to give you an array of samples, like a man holding 4 trays at a mall food court. Sample and see what you want to invest your precious time in.

Please note: I will not be including shows that focus on game results but instead on shows >50% on non-game result based discussion. This is because, as it is a round-up most people don't want to listen to people talk about game result based discussion 6+ days after the said games.

These Football Times-

The Lob: The Methods and Secrets of Tom Byer

Summary:

• Byers reveals why he moved to Japan

• How different cultures affect youth development throughout the world specifically Brazil, Italy and Germany.

• Talks about how one experiment with his toddler helped him have a profound thought about player development.

• Analyzes Japanese football culture using his 6-year-old son as an example and compares it with China and the USA.

• He then goes deep on what even top coaches don’t understand about development.

Interesting Moments:

Byers says it all started because he convinced Nestle to do a national tour that ended up lasting 10 years. He talks about how thinking outside the box to influence culture is necessary saying that he showed this was possible by having a kids show on TV that shows football technical coaching everyday in Japan 7 days a week, 365 days a year. He talks about the baby leagues in Uruguay which are leagues for players under 5. 38.5% of players quit football by the end of 7

Best Quotes:

“The culture here in Japan is very conducive to technical players because they practice a ridiculous amount of time... So they’re producing players here not so much because the coaching is so good but because they practice so much more.”-Byers

“Skill was, and never will be the result of coaching. It’s a love affair between a child and ball.” -Roy Keane

“Culture develops the talent, the academies and teams train the talent.” -Byers

You’ll like this episode if you….love all things Asia, care about East vs West youth development, are interested in where culture intersects with football, and have interested in early (<6) football development.

Coffee & Football-

Arno Trabesinger, Managing Director of the Americas, FC Barcelona

Summary:

• Arno contrasts the fan experience in the US vs in Barcelona and Europe.

• Barca’s strategy for brand development and why they have an office in the US.

• His favorite resources for self development.

• Opens up about growing up in a small town in Austria and the special reason family means everything to him.

• Reveals how he got started in the sports marketing field.

• How companies approach clubs for sponsorships including how he approached Barcelona and then Real Madrid while working for Bwin

• Breaks down the complicated governing structure of Barcelona

Interesting Moments:

In 205, the Club President made a strategic plan, which he details. Barca need to be the most “loved and cherished and global sports club in the world” by 2021. He retells the emotional story of losing his father. He describes the time he demanded an interview with the CEO before his first job.

Best Quotes:

“I’m enjoying what I’m doing and more than lucky that my dream came true in this club” –Arno

“We [Barcelona] have to earn every Euro that we want to invest in the team…The other clubs [ones owned by wealthy owners] which have it easier if their financial is a little bit different and makes us special.”

You’ll like this episode if you….enjoy football business, sports branding, Barcelona, club governance

Listen here

Just Kickin It Pod-

Tony Strudwick, Head of Performance at Manchester United

Summary:

• Strudwick discusses whether youth players should specialize in football at a young age.

• He notes that athletes are reaching peak performance thresholds and discusses where he sees football in 5-10 years including the role of virtual reality (VR).

• They examine athlete burnout, both psychological and physiological and where emerging technologies fit in performance.

• Strudwick explains why a one-size fit all approach is outdated.

Interesting Moments:

Strudwick says Manchester United has brought in specialists from wide array of sports to learn from them including parkour. He is currently doing an MBA in management at Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU) to develop his leadership abilities.

Best Quotes:

“High performance is about squeezing the toothpaste of the tube.”-Nick Faro, Man U psychologist

“My philosophy is I can pull them out of a game environment and get an overload and I still like that, whether it’s the dinosaur in me, I still like to see our guys run and develop their work capacity.”- Strudwick

You’ll like this episode if you….are interested in performance, technology in football, the future of football and how to build a team’s culture.

The Football Question-

Which 6 players have scored the most goals as a substitute in the Premier League?

Summary:

• They debate whether players should be able to celebrate with fans.

• They talk about if the three teams that lost all their games is a trend.

• They see which teams have the loudest fans in the league.

• They examine, is it better to be more successful in Europe or the Premier League.

• Who are the best super-sub goal scorers in Premier league history.

Interesting Moments:

Chelsea’s decibel level in their title winning campaign was 160 decibels, the same as a rock launch. Qualifying for the Champions League quarterfinals is the equivalent prize money as finishing 5th in the Premier League

Best Quotes:

“You definitely see that every team besides Leicester and Manchester United in the Champions League across recent seasons did better when they weren’t playing in Europe that week.”

You’ll like this episode if you….like to laugh to random statistics.

Listen here

The Football Autobiography Show-

Cyrille Regis: Britain's First Black Icon 40 Years On

Summary:

• why his name actually isn't Cyrille

• the kind of racism he endured in the 70's and 80's and how he handled it and what he feels the current state of racism is in football

• the death of his best friend Laurie Cunningham and how it changed his life

• the difficulties of being a born-again Christian in football and traveling to China in the late 70s.

Interesting Moments:

He discusses living a year in a convent and then how he almost became an electrician. Tells the story of going to China in 1978 when no other English team had ever traveled there.

Best quotes:

“I mean calling you nigger, throwing bananas. I had a bullet in the post in 1980-81. All these 10,000 opposition fans calling you nigger and you black so and so, look into your eyes with that venom and anger. And it made you angry. But we chose to internalize the anger and use it as motivation.”- Regis

"But when Laurie died two years later, it was like whoa, my best friend had died. There were so many questions now in my heart. One of the biggest thing was Laurie’s life was parallel to mine: wealth, money, adulation, houses, cars. But when Laurie died he left everything behind. It hit me like a sledgehammer."

- Regis

You'd like this episode if... you have two ears and a heart, are a West Brom fan, are interested in racism in football.