Andy Maciel Working with Cupello

Andy Maciel - Founder/ Director and Head Coach at Go4Goal 

Following an extensive education with English FA from great educators like the late Dick Bate, Ted Dale and Ben Bartlett, my zest for learning and my passion for possession/position football led me to Catalunya, Spain.

I am fortunate to have known and been mentored by Albert Capellas (FCB) for nearly a decade now, this mentorship and friendship together with the education, years of experience in UK and Spain, has seen me grow as a coach and has given me fabulous football references, which allow me to develop my teams and individuals within them, to a high level as well as increasing the successful confirmation of potential, this was and remains my main driver as a football coach.

My company Go4Goal partners Albert in the UK and uses his Cruyff Football methodology>Possession Football (PF) as its main coaching tool where Possession > Position > Pressing are the main three pillars.

My evolution as a coach and person is further enhanced by my on-going education via Raymond Verheijen and his Football Coaches Evolution (FCE); Raymond’s courses and on-going teaching are par excellence. This education doesn’t teach you to coach, it just raises your bar and makes you a better person and coach through critical thinking, logical reasoning, reflection and evaluation.

My knowledge base came through the English FA where I qualified to UEFA B level and sat various other courses e.g. Youth Award modules 1, 2 and 3, specialist development of Defenders, Midfielders and Forwards. I embraced and am strong advocate of Futsal, both as a game and an excellent developer of the young footballer; my respective squads have won numerous UK national championships. I learned the game from top coaches such as Marcos Sorato (3 x World Cup winner with Brazil).

My early visits to Catalunya soon resulted in my qualification in 'smartfootball' with the Catalan Football Federation and a partnership with the largest football centre in Spain (Futbol Salou), this partnership grows stronger year by year and has resulted in junior players we took there for a football experience, now playing for La Liga clubs.

I now dovetail the methodology and mentorship of Albert Capellas with the teaching and mentorship of Raymond Verheijen as the base of mine and my coaching teams’ delivery. FCE gives us our Universal Football Language and Universal Football Reference, PF gives us our philosophy, ethos and playing style; our passion, enthusiasm, integrity as a team and individually, then powers our delivery.

To provide our teams/players with the expertise they need to maximise their potential we also collaborate with experts in other areas such as nutrition, S&C and brain state (mental fitness), who also speak football language; thus giving a holistic approach to player development.

I very much look forward to this collaboration with Cupello and hope I can help fellow coaches to develop, evolve and most importantly be better equipped to help their players enjoy their game and fulfil their potential.