Coaching writer · Cardiff
A former youth-team coach from Cardiff with a UEFA B licence, Callum spent eight years running sessions before he started writing about them.
Those years on wet Tuesday nights shaped the writing. Callum is less interested in what a system is called than in whether a group of thirteen-year-olds can carry it out after a long day at school. If an idea cannot be coached, it tends to get left out.
For Pressing Matters, Callum writes about pressing systems, build-up play and coaching drills. Every session plan is one Callum has run in person, with notes on where it went wrong as well as where it worked.
A press only works when everyone goes at once. These are the cues that tell a team when to jump, and how the first presser, second presser and cover should move.
By Callum Rees 9 min read
Why so many teams now play short from the goalkeeper, the shapes they use to do it, and how to tell when a long ball is the smarter choice against a high press.
By Callum Rees 8 min read
A complete 75-minute session for grassroots coaches that uses rondos to teach young players how to press together, and how to keep the ball when they are pressed.
By Callum Rees 8 min read