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The American College of Sports Medicine updated its resistance training guidelines after 17 years, based on 137 systematic reviews:
- Heavier weights (≥80% of 1RM) favored strength gains
- Higher volume (≥10 sets per muscle group per week) favored muscle growth
- Moderate loads (30–70% of 1RM), lifted with a fast concentric phase, favored power
- Training to failure wasn’t consistently better
- Machines and free weights both worked
- Complex periodization and advanced set techniques didn’t consistently improve results
Full video breakdown: youtu.be/Tu8AyNNlhCQ
PMID: 41843416
CoachingFootball retweeted
CHELSEA - TOTTENHAM
Chelsea built in a 4-2-4. Tottenham employed a high, man-to-man press, incorporating a lateral rotation on the right flank.
Chelsea utilized long balls directed toward Rogers.
In attack, Chelsea adopted a 2-2-6 structure, with full-backs and wingers in different vertical lines, while Caicedo and Henderson operated deeper to orchestrate the progression of play. Tottenham’s mid and low block functioned as a zonal 4-4-2.
Tottenham built in a 4-2-3-1 formation. Chelsea attempted a high, man-to-man press, at least, that was the intended approach. Because Lacroix was unable to consistently step up to press Maddison, Tottenham created a 3v2 numerical superiority in midfield; they frequently found Mateus unmarked and used this advantage to dominate the match.
Tottenham attacked in a 2-3-5 structure, featuring rotations within the wide triangles.
Chelsea’s mid and low block was a zonal 4-4-2.
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Maddison's movement was a real problem for Chelsea's man-oriented press.
With Chelsea marking Spurs' double pivot tightly, Maddison repeatedly dropped deep alongside them to offer another route through the press.
Lacroix followed him, but never got close enough to apply pressure. His higher positioning also forced Neto to start deeper, leaving Robertson free out wide. Robertson could then find Maddison inside, with Lacroix still trying to close him down.
Maddison recognised these situations really well and used his movement to manipulate Lacroix. But Lacroix has to do better here. Either step up aggressively and stay tight, or just let him go. Being caught halfway between the two is the worst option.
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Tottenham's high press has been improving since the 3-2 defeat against Aston Villa.
The 2-0 victory against Chelsea was their best performance off the ball this season.
Analysis of Spurs' pressing scheme vs Chelsea.
🔗 nytimes.com/athletic/7720518…
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Chelsea vs Tottenham - Finding the spare man
Mentioned in both my Everton review and Tottenham preview videos about this - Chelsea’s OOP approach this season has been leaving the opposition pivot as the “spare” man, often giving the opposition a +1 in the build up
Against worse teams, good distances and work ethic can hide this spare player, with those teams opting not to risk central progression in order to find the spare man in the “soft spot” of the press - however, as expected, De Zerbi’s Tottenham are the exact sort of team to persist on find that soft spot and using it to hurt us
Utilising bounce passes to access Fernandes behind Palmer & Rogers + Maddison continuously dropping from high to low to test whether a Chelsea CB would follow him tightly - Spurs often had a 3v2 in the midfield which caused Chelsea their biggest problems
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Once Spurs gained control of the ball, after the build-up phase, it was an example of the "De Zerbi-ball". It was a beautiful sequence of play, if you notice the fine details in this move.
Spurs have grown slowly into the season as it was a big change with the appointment of De Zerbi.
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Chelsea had a clear plan to disrupt Spurs' build-up, even with the latter deploying a double pivot to create additional passing options in the first phase. We saw Spurs struggle to properly build-up play owing to the same.
The approach revolved around aggressive man-oriented marking in midfield, denying Spurs' double pivot the space and time to receive, turn and progress possession.
Meanwhile, Palmer and Rogers positioned themselves to press either the goalkeeper or the centre-backs, depending on where the ball travelled, restricting Spurs' ability to circulate possession comfortably across their back line.
The objective was simple: deny central progression and force Spurs to play long (or wide).
Once Spurs were forced into direct deliveries, Chelsea could engage Marmoush and the wide players in aerial or physical duels, with supporting midfielders positioned to contest the second balls and initiate attacking transitions.
Marmoush is more effective attacking space through explosive runs than operating as a traditional target man, receiving under physical pressure and securing long deliveries with his back to goal.
Consequently, Spurs struggled to establish controlled possession beyond Chelsea's initial pressing line in the first-half.
CoachingFootball retweeted
Chelsea's collective intention during possession phases to 'retain' over 'risk' has been relatively better. The decision-making isn't as good as it was a few weeks ago against Bournemouth, but better compared to the Spurs game. That said, the individual technical details have not been good enough. A lot of carelessly misplaced passes or loose balls which have then led to turnovers. Anyway, Chelsea earn that penalty because they retained the ball and tried to create tensions against Liverpool's low block.
Thought to publish a fairly short write-up on Chelsea's performance problems against Spurs on Saturday. In the article, I analyse the three primary shortcomings that Alonso showed from a decision-making perspective, which I think will be key learning points for the manager and also for the players. Link to the piece attached below.
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In the article that I published yesterday, one of the issues that I outlined with Alonso's off-ball set up was regarding how it wasn't optimised to defend passively. The clip below illustrates how Spurs could thereby utilise the midfield overload, which Chelsea did not effectively deal with throughout the match, to create chances. I explore this topic and more in the piece. The link is attached below.
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New build-up solutions demand new pressing ideas. New pressing ideas demand new build-up solutions.
The never-ending tactical battle.
In the last couple of seasons, there has been a tendency in deep build-up to spread the centre-backs wide and push the fullbacks higher.
This is what I call "Isolating the deep build-up".
With more teams pressing man-to-man, the intention behind positioning the centre-backs so wide was to increase the distance for the “double-role presser”: the player responsible for pressing one of the centre-backs and the goalkeeper.
Once the double-role presser stepped to press the goalkeeper, many teams would use the third-man concept to find the free centre-back. The goalkeeper would play into a midfielder, who would then play a bounce pass to the centre-back, now free to receive. By pushing the fullbacks higher, teams created space for the centre-backs to receive unopposed. And because of the centre-backs being wide to increase the distance, the centre-forward would often arrive too late to apply pressure back.
However, during last season and this one, more teams have started to respond differently. Instead of pressing the goalkeeper horizontally, they step forward frontally, often with a midfielder jumping out to press the goalkeeper while using his cover shadow to block access to his direct opponent.
The quality with which some teams now execute what I call the "Vertical Third Man" is incredible. It allows them to bypass the first line of pressure and find the free player inside. Arsenal did it against Bayern Munich, but if there is one team that has mastered this concept, it is Como under Cesc Fàbregas.
Not many teams have mastered this level of execution yet, unlike the “Horizontal Third Man”, which has been refined over the years to the point that almost any team in elite football can execute it comfortably.
From a pressing perspective, stepping forward frontally to press the goalkeeper can be an effective approach. Bayern Munich with Kompany were among the teams using this solution last season, while Roberto De Zerbi has also applied it with Olympique de Marseille and Tottenham Hotspur, particularly against teams that want to "isolate the build-up."
At first glance, pressing the goalkeeper frontally might seem riskier than pressing horizontally. The main trade-off is that a midfielder has to step out of his position, leaving one fewer player inside. This can create a temporary numerical disadvantage in midfield, which can be more dangerous than leaving the centre-back free.
However, the advantage is that the opposition often struggles to build up short. By applying direct pressure to the goalkeeper, the pressing team reduces his time to find a solution and forces him to play towards one side or go long. Unless the opposition can execute the “Vertical Third Man” concept mentioned earlier, which only a few teams currently master, frontal pressing tends to be an effective way to prevent opponents from progressing comfortably through the first phase of build-up.
If you want to keep controlling games and progressing through build-up, you need to keep developing new solutions. Opponents are increasingly willing to take more risks in their pressing structures to prevent you from controlling games with the ball.
CoachingFootball retweeted
🔥Roberto De Zerbi’s Tottenham Hotspur Tactical Analysis 26-27
■Why De Zerbi's build up tactics don't work properly and how to make them work?
- The development of the solution
- Positional principles & Wide combinations
- Man-oriented high pressing
footballbunsekicom.com/team-…
CoachingFootball retweeted
FREE Coaching Session: Transition Combinations
Ever watched your team win the ball back, only to give it straight back to the opposition five seconds later?
This session, shared by Yilmaz Sahin, looks at what players do when possession changes and how quickly they can recognise an opportunity to counter-attack.
The session covers:
➜ Keeping possession under pressure
➜ Recognising opportunities to counter-attack
➜ Moving forward quickly after winning the ball
➜ Creating numerical advantages, progressing from 3v2 to 5v3
You can download this session, along with many others shared by coaches, completely FREE from our growing session library.
thesportingresource.co.uk/gu…
Have you got a session you'd like to share? If you've used it and think another coach could benefit, we'd love to include it.
Comment below if you'd like to contribute.
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Tottenham boss Roberto de Zerbi, speaking to Sky Sports: "It was a big moment for the fans, the club and the players also. They deserved this win, they prepared very well. We are improving a lot, we are improving in the mentality, in the group and the relationships with the players and then we are improving on the pitch.
"Against Aston Villa, Everton for 30 minutes we were playing very well. Maybe no goals, no finishing good enough to score and maybe in the first bad moment we changed mentality. Now it is a complete team. The players are playing better, we improved in the style.
"When we stay for dinner and stay together in the dressing room I see a different group, a different relationship and different atmosphere among the players.
"The character was today great but we have many, many new players. The players who stayed here last season, two or three seasons ago, they suffered the last results, two times 17th position, we are working to change the last part of the history of the club. We are lucky because we have many great people in the dressing room, many great players. I think if we work hard we can do something important.
"I have to believe for sure in this group. I never lost the confidence in my players. The week in Marbella, to speak better face to face, to open ourselves and remove the mask it is important. It is important for the spirit, the belief. The atmosphere inside the dressing room is maybe more important than the tactics."
CoachingFootball retweeted
Mateus Fernandes and Sandro Tonali today.
FINALLY playing in suitable roles, and you can see how special they are, both individually and as a duo.
Fernandes ran the game whilst facing the play with his passing (instead of being cramped away in tight spaces as the #10). Also monstrous defensively.
Tonali similar - covered the most ground.
Maddison was also top until he went off. He constantly overloaded Chelsea in midfield as Lacroix was reluctant to follow him.
It was a man-to-man vs man-to-man game so it ultimately came down to technical security + winning duels. More so on the players than the coaches considering the unique nature of the game. Similar to PSG vs Bayern in the Champions League style-wise, but obviously with a lot less quality.
Ultimately, Spurs’ individuals delivered and Chelsea’s didn’t.
Wouldn’t look too much into the game-model of either Xabi Alonso or Roberto De Zerbi off the back of this game. It more so reveals the level of these players relative to one another, and you can see that Spurs have lots of top players.
Chelsea missed Enzo Fernandez massively today. Henderson a top professional but not up to par. Acheampong also struggled. Only made 5 passes. In man-to-man games it’s all about the individuals but Chelsea’s didn’t deliver (whether that be because they’re not good enough or because they simply underperformed on the day).
CoachingFootball retweeted
Liked this solution from Spurs against Chelsea’s man-marking of their pivot:
•GK as +1, wide CBs & deep FBs stretching the block & increasing pressing distances.
•Maddison drops to overload, forcing the CB to jump and creating a 2v2 with Robertson.
CoachingFootball retweeted
Spurs won at Chelsea.
Now comes the big question: how far up the table can they climb? 👀
Tottenham have the easiest run of fixtures in the Premier League over their next five games, according to Opta Power Ratings.
Can De Zerbi's side make it count?
CoachingFootball retweeted
Spurs are creating issues centrally in settled possession phases, which I mentioned was a missed opportunity for the opponents when we played Everton and especially Bournemouth. Spurs are generating 3v2 overloads with Fernandes, Tonali, and Maddison dropping below. With neither Palmer nor Rogers picking up Fernandes, Spurs can produce a free man between the lines. Sometimes Neto is getting dragged inside, which opens space out wide for the full-back and winger to create a 2v1 against Acheampong. If Chelsea's front line does not support the midfield, this performance problem will continue. Or else, Alonso needs to trigger a man-man press.
Well, we've partly got the answer for what the 4-4-2 system does from an engagement level perspective. Although it gives good pressing distances, it doesn't mean that Chelsea will actually want to use them by actively defending. In the first half, Chelsea have been defending passively in the 4-4-2 rather than proactively stepping out, similar to the Bournemouth game. In my opinion, this is fine as long as we still actively press Everton in certain moments. Doesn't have to be all the time. Let's see if Chelsea do this more in the second half. I'd expect us to do so as long as we're not winning.
CoachingFootball retweeted
You have put out your cones, organised your players and are explaining the activity using your tactics board.
Suddenly, one of the children interrupts:
⤷ “Are we having a game?”
If you have coached children, you have probably heard this a few times!
It is a good reminder of what many young players look forward to when they come to football.
They simply want to:
- Get on the ball.
- Score goals.
- Play against their friends and have fun.
Although explaining activities, practising skills and adding challenges all have a place, we can sometimes get so caught up in our explanations that the children spend longer listening than actually playing.
There is plenty of learning that can take place through playing football, making decisions, trying things and even getting them wrong.
→ Perhaps we should sometimes ask ourselves how much time our players are spending listening compared with actually playing.
Coaches, how often do you hear “Are we having a game?” and how do you respond?
CoachingFootball retweeted
子どもの筋トレで身長が伸びなくなる？
小学生や中学生がダンベルを使っていると、「まだ早い」「成長軟骨を傷めて身長が伸びなくなるのでは？」と心配されることがあります。
では、成長期の筋力トレーニングは本当に避けるべきなのでしょうか？
結論から言うと、適切に設計・監督された筋力トレーニングが、身長の伸びを妨げるという科学的根拠は確認されていません。
ただし、だからといって、どんな負荷でも安全という意味ではありません。
🔬 研究でわかっていること
① 成長軟骨と身長への影響
米国小児科学会（AAP）の臨床報告（2020年、2024年再確認）では、適切なプログラムは身長の伸び（linear growth）や成長軟骨（physis）に明らかな悪影響を及ぼさないと述べられています。
一方、フォームが不適切なトレーニングや無理な負荷によるケガの可能性はゼロではありません。
成長期には、骨端部・腱付着部の傷害にも注意が必要です。
「筋トレそのものが危険」なのではなく、「何を、どの程度、誰の監督下で行うか」が重要です。
② 子どもでも筋力・運動能力は改善する
Lesinski et al. (2020) は14件のメタ解析をまとめたアンブレラレビューを実施しました。
筋力には中〜大程度の改善が認められ、パワー、短距離走、方向転換、投動作などにも改善が報告されています。
ただし、各メタ解析の方法論的な質やエビデンスの確実性には限界があり、すべての競技能力が同程度に向上するわけではありません。
③ 思春期前の子どもにも効果がある
Sánchez Pastor et al. (2023) のシステマティックレビューは、思春期前の子ども604名を含む22の研究を検討しました。
結果、筋力、跳躍、短距離走などの改善が報告されました。
ここでの対象は男児473名に対して女児131名であり、特に女児への一般化には慎重さが必要です。
④ 筋力の向上は神経系だけの変化？
成長前の筋力向上は、運動単位の動員や協調性などの神経筋的適応による部分が大きいと考えられてきました。
一方、Komm et al. (2026) は23の研究・1,443名を対象に、筋力トレーニングによる筋量の増加も報告しています。
非運動対照群との比較で平均効果量は d = 0.22（95% CI 0.06–0.37）でした。
思春期前にも筋肥大は起こり得ますが、成熟度や比較対象によって結果が異なり、研究間のばらつきにも注意が必要です。
🏋️ 臨床・指導への応用
単に年齢だけで筋トレの可否を判断するのではなく、以下を確認します。
・基本的な動作を理解し、指示に従えるか
・スクワット、ヒンジ、ランジ、押す・引く動作を適切に行えるか
・現在の運動経験、成熟度、競技の練習量はどうか
・適切に監督できる人と環境があるか
・痛み、疲労、回復状況に問題はないか
最初から重いバーベルを扱う必要はありません。
自重、軽い外部負荷、チューブなどで基本動作を学び、技術と耐性に応じて徐々に負荷を増やす方法が考えられます。
成長期の局所的な骨・関節の痛みが続く場合は、単に「筋肉痛」と判断せず評価が必要です。
💡 TAKE-HOME MESSAGE
成長期だから筋トレを一律に禁止する、という考え方は現在のエビデンスと一致しません。
重要なのは、年齢だけでなく、動作能力・成熟度・負荷・監督体制を考慮すること。
目指すのは重い重量を持ち上げること自体ではなく、安全に動き、長くスポーツを楽しめる身体的な土台を育てることだと思います。
💬 子どもの筋トレを開始する際、皆さんは年齢以外にどのような点を重視していますか？
