Getting better isn’t an accident. These are the specific things in his game — the gaps we’re closing and the new aspects being built in — with what we’re doing about each. In plain terms, and updated as each one moves.
The parts of his game we're actively working on — spotted, drilled, and starting to show in games. Worked across the academies below.
In tight moments he shapes back onto his stronger foot. Defenders who’ve watched him learn to show him the weaker side.
Weak-foot passing and finishing every session, wall work, small games with a two-touch rule. The aim is no side he has to hide.
He over-passes. He’ll hand a team-mate the goal that was his for the taking — generous, but sometimes the wrong call.
Learning the moment to be selfish: when he’s the best chance, he takes it. Finishing reps, and a coach’s word in his ear.
In the Sporthood U-11 setup he’s younger and smaller, and stronger boys muscle him off the ball before he can play.
Quicker release, receiving on the half-turn, using his body and the angles — and a patient strength base underneath it all.
A new role, not a weakness. At Sporthood the coach is building a deeper game into him — dropping him into midfield to run the tempo, not just finish from the final third.
Scanning before the ball arrives, receiving side-on, and picking the pass that moves the whole team. Learning to set the tempo from deep — game control, not just goals.
He gravitates to the ball. When the team builds he drops in to get on it — which empties the space in behind and can crowd a team-mate. And when he stays high, he doesn’t always find the pocket between the lines where he’s most dangerous.
Reading the two jobs, and which the moment needs — drop in to link, or hold the line and threaten in behind. Where to stand when the full-back has it versus the centre-back; finding the pocket between the lines; timing the run so he’s arriving, not waiting. ‘Hold your zone’ in small games first, then freedom once he reads it.
Under pressure from bigger, quicker boys his first touch can drop into his feet or come square, facing his own goal — which lets the press win it or forces him backwards. Receiving on the half-turn, ready to play forward, is still inconsistent, especially on his weaker side.
Scan before the ball arrives; open the body to receive on the half-turn; first touch across into space, not into the feet; both feet, so either side is a first-touch option. Rondos and receiving drills with a defender on his back, and a ‘first touch must go forward or across’ rule.
Now that he’s dangerous, defenders foul, pull and shadow him — two and three at a time. It’s started to get under his skin.
Channel it, don’t carry it. Talk to the referee, not the player; and use the markers — when two follow him, a team-mate is free.
Younger and lighter than the boys he plays against, especially a year up. The frame is still catching up to the football.
Mobility, core, sleep and food — let the body develop on its own clock. Not gym bulk; the strength comes on top of the timing.
The defensive side, built from scratch. As a forward, blocking the shot and defending from the front wasn’t really in his game — from September 2025 Vicky FA set out to build it in.
Body shape to block, when to step and when to hold, and pressing to force the mistake. A forward who defends is worth two players.
For a stretch the goals went quiet in the biggest games. Across the Coco Cup and Vicky DPDL knockouts — four semis and finals — he didn’t score. Not for playing badly: those were some of his best football. But the big moments need goals to win them.
Not a drill, and not a flaw to fix — a shift to keep an eye on. Lately it has turned: at PSL, five in the semi and two in the final (won on penalties); the Independence Day Cup final brought four. The question now is whether the pattern holds.