In this bonus episode, England men’s U21 head coach Lee Carsley shares the mindset, behaviours and decisions behind his coaching approach and back-to-back U21 European successes.
Lee led the Young Lions to European Championship titles in 2023 and 2025, and, here, he reflects on his journey into coaching and the key lessons that have shaped his approach.
The conversation goes beyond tactics, offering insight into how Lee builds relationships with players, creates environments where individuals can thrive and manages the pressure of tournaments for coaches and players.
Whether you’re coaching at grassroots or higher, there’s plenty to take away from Lee’s experience.
In this episode, we cover:
- Lee’s journey into coaching
- Lee’s advice for new coaches starting out
- key learnings from winning two European titles
- what to say to players before a tournament
- designing realistic, game-relevant practices
- managing tournaments successfully
- Lee’s coaching behaviours
- helping players enjoy tournaments while staying competitive
- and more…
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Do you have any coaching questions you’d like answers to? Or perhaps you’re facing a coaching challenge that you’d like help with? Simply head over to our England Football Community forum (https://community.thefa.com/coaching/f/youth-club-football-forum) and post them there. Or leave them in the comments below. We can then put them to our guests in future episodes to get their advice!
Already listened to this episode or the previous seasons of Coachcast? We’d love to hear from you! Pass on your feedback by contacting us via Coachcast@thefa.com.
LEARN MORE
England Football Learning - https://learn.englandfootball.com/
England Football Community - https://community.thefa.com/
England Football Learning on YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCisPO86aEIhWRTnTS1vrSVw
England Football Learning X/Twitter - https://twitter.com/EnglandLearning
Email - Coachcast@thefa.com
LISTEN
Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/4sA9fHoldaH1x5Wn3vdmsB
Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/coachcast/id159180480
YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@EnglandFootballLearning
Editing and show notes by Claricast.(https://www.clarioncast.com/)
