Why Technical Development Still Matters | Tony Colbert

Tony Colbert spent 20 years working alongside Arsène Wenger at Arsenal and is now a freelance consultant (FIFA Technical Expert), helping develop players and coaches around the world. In this conversation, Tony shares his philosophy with Gary on technical development and explains why he believes modern coaching can sometimes neglect the technical foundations players need to perform at the highest level. We discuss purposeful repetition, two-footedness, scanning, first touch, playing forward, technical activation and why the opening 10–15 minutes of training can become a powerful development opportunity. Tony also takes Curneen inside the Arsenal training environment under Wenger, explaining how speed, movement, technical quality and creativity were developed every day, and why those habits helped produce some of the most fluid attacking football of that era. A fascinating conversation for coaches working at every level who want to think more deeply about how we develop technique within the modern game.