John Allpress - Decision making is hardest to master

As a semi-professional player, John Allpress says he wasn’t very good because, rather than having a "footballer’s mentality", he has a "game-based mentality".

It was this mentality that led to him becoming a physical education teacher - initially shocked that people were "paying him money to play games" - before coaching at top-level English academies, such as Ipswich Town and Tottenham Hotspur, and two spells with the Football Association.

During his second stint at the FA, John’s focus was on developing an understanding of how children learn, in order to better coach education and, ultimately, the player’s experience.

Here, John shares with us his insights into how kids learn, and explains why leadership is far more important for coaches to possess than tactical or technical knowledge…