Top 10 stories of 2022
Written by Training Ground Guru — December 28, 2022
HERE are our top 10 best-read articles of 2022.
Thanks for following us this year and Happy Christmas/ New Year. Look forward to seeing you in 2023!
These are the five key trends in coaching and management that we've witnessed during the 5+ years of TGG, spanning hundreds of articles, dozens of podcasts and numerous events and webinars. This piece was first presented to the latest cohort of FA Pro Licence graduates in June.
Dominic Jordan (pictured) was appointed as Manchester United's first Director of Data Science last year. As TGG revealed in November, he has set about creating a department that can be 'dominant' in English football.
In March, the German Football Federation (DFB) announced a revolution in the way the country's U11s would play and be coached (more of that later). The main protagonist for change was Matthias Lochmann (pictured). He came to the UK to speak about his work at TGG's Youth Development Conference in September and also contributed to this article, which makes our top 10.
Pre-Academy (below U9s) is a controversial topic in English football, with fears about child welfare and early professionalisation. In June, we revealed that the Premier League was launching pre-Academy regulations for the first time. These aim to “clearly distinguish” the youngest ages from the official Academy system.
Jose Mourinho's long-time assistant Rui Faria has hardly ever given an interview, so we were very excited when he agreed to be our guest on the TGG Podcast in October. The Portuguese coach gave many fascinating insights - including this one, which is an explanation of why he scrapped GPS at Manchester United in 2016.
This year the Academy audit company PGAAC got tough, demoting three clubs from Category One to Two and putting another two on probation. Previously, no club had been forcibly demoted. One of those who dropped down were Burnley, as we revealed in this article in June.
The big football tournament of the year was, of course, the Qatar World Cup. Once again, Gareth Southgate's England were one of the best-prepared sides. This piece, about their 'team behind the team', explained why and was our fourth best-read story of 2022.
Since being introduced in 2016/17, TGG's Academy Productivity Rankings have been one of the most popular features on the website. This year was no different, with the Rankings coming in the top three of the best-read articles of 2022. Chelsea, led by Neil Bath (pictured) came out on top for the first time.
There have been persistent (and unfounded) rumours about 22 members of Liverpool's first-team squad being treated for asthma. The original 'source' was a 2020 article without any named sources. TGG decided to get some evidence-based analysis of the rumours from the country’s leading expert on asthma in elite athletes, Professor John Dickinson. This myth-busting article was our second-most popular of 2022.
So here it is (drum roll)... our most popular article of 2022! It was published in March and revealed the new regulations that were launched to transform football for U11s in Germany. The emphasis was on fun and DFB Vice President Ronny Zimmermann said: “We need to think like children, not like adults. Only children who develop fun and joy in the game will stay in football.”
