I started following football late in life, I am Argentinean and as you might have guessed after seeing the aftermath from the last World Cup; our national identity is strongly attached to football. Yet during my youth my relationship with football was lukewarm at best. All of this changed as I became friend to a professional football player and was immersed in the world of football. From not having much of a clue about what I was watching, I started following a team week in and week out with inside information privy to very few.
Watching the game from the stands, visiting the players’ lounge, corporate club gatherings, dressing room and the most important thing of all: discussing the match with the main actors, completely changed the way I watched football. I understood things I would have never imagined or thought I could have access to, and to sum up, it opened up a totally different way to see football. I realized that those 90 minutes with 11 vs. 11 had more to it than what I had imagined up until then. Even now, after 20 years of being an assiduous football fan, I know I’m missing a great deal of things when I watch a game.
When I listen to the fans and then I listen to the pundits, players, owners and managers; there is one thing in common, when they talk about football they seem to be speaking of a different thing. There are discrepancies all around. It is obvious that players, coaches, owners and pros, in general, see (and know) different things than us fans and despite all the glamour and power these may have, fans also hold a knowledge of the game that sometimes feels detached from that held by the pros.
Football was about community, style of play, class and a way of feeling the sport that created a clear identity, and I believe, to a certain extent, this is still the case, but I would also argue society (and football with it) have evolved and fans have been left behind. Their importance residing only in their wallet, worsening this detachment between the fans, the clubs, the and the players.
As a response, this podcast-series aims to shorten the distance between the fans and the managers, owners, football directors, the press and the players by talking about football. There is no better way to learn than to share stories, hence the idea to call this podcast-series an Academy. An academy to learn and to bridge that gap, for them to share their knowledge and the reasons behind their decisions, in the same way that I learned when I had the luck to see the world of football from inside.
The podcasts series does not seek controversy, the first podcast series with Gus Poyet is a compilation of five conversations we had between Steven Brown, Gus Poyet and myself Mariano Gutierrez in 2022, where Gus generously accepted to talk to us about what it means to be a manager, and how he sees football.
I started following football late in life, I am Argentinean and as you might have guessed after seeing the aftermath from the last World Cup; our national identity is strongly attached to football. Yet during my youth my relationship with football was lukewarm at best. All of this changed as I became friend to a professional football player and was immersed in the world of football. From not having much of a clue about what I was watching, I started following a team week in and week out with inside information privy to very few.
Watching the game from the stands, visiting the players’ lounge, corporate club gatherings, dressing room and the most important thing of all: discussing the match with the main actors, completely changed the way I watched football. I understood things I would have never imagined or thought I could have access to, and to sum up, it opened up a totally different way to see football. I realized that those 90 minutes with 11 vs. 11 had more to it than what I had imagined up until then. Even now, after 20 years of being an assiduous football fan, I know I’m missing a great deal of things when I watch a game.
When I listen to the fans and then I listen to the pundits, players, owners and managers; there is one thing in common, when they talk about football they seem to be speaking of a different thing. There are discrepancies all around. It is obvious that players, coaches, owners and pros, in general, see (and know) different things than us fans and despite all the glamour and power these may have, fans also hold a knowledge of the game that sometimes feels detached from that held by the pros.
Football was about community, style of play, class and a way of feeling the sport that created a clear identity, and I believe, to a certain extent, this is still the case, but I would also argue society (and football with it) have evolved and fans have been left behind. Their importance residing only in their wallet, worsening this detachment between the fans, the clubs, the and the players.
As a response, this podcast-series aims to shorten the distance between the fans and the managers, owners, football directors, the press and the players by talking about football. There is no better way to learn than to share stories, hence the idea to call this podcast-series an Academy. An academy to learn and to bridge that gap, for them to share their knowledge and the reasons behind their decisions, in the same way that I learned when I had the luck to see the world of football from inside.
The podcasts series does not seek controversy, the first podcast series with Gus Poyet is a compilation of five conversations we had between Steven Brown, Gus Poyet and myself Mariano Gutierrez in 2022, where Gus generously accepted to talk to us about what it means to be a manager, and how he sees football.
This is no regular academy; it is more a place where all parties engage in dialogue about football, to know more about football, to enjoy football
We talk about the whys, the what and the how’s with fans and professionals who, above anything else, want to dig deep into football knowledge, express their views and understand, in football, as in life, things happens for a reason…
In our first season, we talk with a manager, Gus Poyet to explore the ins and outs of being a football manager, what’s important, what they see and how this affects the teams.
This is no regular academy; it is more a place where all parties engage in dialogue about football, to know more about football, to enjoy football
We talk about the whys, the what and the how’s with fans and professionals who, above anything else, want to dig deep into football knowledge, express their views and understand, in football, as in life, things happens for a reason…
In our first season, we talk with a manager, Gus Poyet to explore the ins and outs of being a football manager, what’s important, what they see and how this affects the teams.
By talking about different aspects of the game, our objective as fans is to understand the role of a manager in depth.
By knowing and talking about managers’ role, our understanding of the decisions they make help us to understand and appreciate what might be happening with our team.
By talking about different aspects of the game, our objective as fans is to understand the role of a manager in depth.
By knowing and talking about managers’ role, our understanding of the decisions they make help us to understand and appreciate what might be happening with our team.
