Former Liverpool academy coach Tim Lees is looking to provide a new way for aspiring players and coaches to sharpen their skills.
The 38-year-old has coached alongside the likes of Reds assistant manager Pep Lijnders, Blackpool manager Neil Critchley and former Rangers and Sunderland boss Michael Beale. Meanwhile, Lees has rubbed shoulders with the likes of David Beckham and worked under Roberto Martinez at Wigan Athletic.
Lees, now apart of David McNabb’s backroom staff, has tasted FA Vase success and promotion with Warrington Rylands – with the current ambition of helping Bury FC rise through the football pyramid.
The Billinge-born coach was a central midfielder during his playing days and enjoyed stints with Bolton Wanderers and Everton before moving to London, where he earned a Sports Psychology degree. It was only until he realised that he couldn’t advance higher in his playing career that he opted to move into the dugout.
With experience of coaching at the likes of Watford, during a time when the Hornets became the first school-based academy, and the Latics, Lees is looking to offer a completely new way of indulging in training sessions but not just for coaches but for players, young and semi-professional.
After working hard, sending tireless emails during the early stages of his coaching career to no avail, Lees is under no illusions over the difficulties for coaches, managers and players in the modern game. And he is looking to give something back – doing so with his YouTube channel ‘Training Specific’.
He told Off The Park: “I get five to 10 emails a week from coaches around the world, all with the same question, so I thought all the questions I get asked to combine them, put it into a series and put some positive content out that people can learn something from.
“I wanted to combine what I do in a daytime, what my strengths are and put it with my coaching side. I try and present it in a modern and engaging, if you hit people with stats it can get boring, if it’s just coaching, people might not be into it so I’m trying to put together all elements to make it modern and visual.
“I wanted to do it in a different way. The beginning of the videos cater to under-eights and under-nines but the progression within it also caters for the elite, that’s the most difficult part, trying to get it for everyone and cover everything.
He added: “I found it really hard to get into the game, if you haven’t played pro or got 300 league appearances on your name, it’s had to get into full-time football so when I got 10 years at Wigan and Watford, I promised that I’d help people coming to watch sessions. I think when you’ve done the time I’ve done coaching, you need to give a bit back.”
Lees is a highly-regarded coach around football and is enjoying the journey in non-league. Despite only being 38, he has a wealth of experience from working with David Beckham and Pepsi as a technical coach to helping instil Roberto Martinez’s philosophy at the Latics then joining Liverpool academy alongside Lijnders, Beale and Critchley under Brendan Rodgers before moving to St Louis SC as the academy director.
He continued: “I got so lucky that I sent my CV to all these clubs and this guy (Nick Cox) said: ‘Come in, we’ll take a risk on you.’
“I wasn’t a very good coach – I didn’t have experience at all. I was coaching lads who went on to play a higher level and I learned so much as a coach. I then went to Wigan under Roberto Martinez, that was where I learned the most.
“He’s the best I’ve ever worked with. He was the biggest coaching influence, he had a big influence on the academy, his big thing was dominating the ball, controlling games but he wanted very specific things in the academy like creating players who can receive and play one-v-one.
“His big thing was: ‘I want players to come out of this academy that can play in any team’ because they’ve developed the ability to play one-v-one everywhere. When I first went in, I was collective and team-based and he put an individual side – which I hadn’t worked with before.”
Check out Training Specific on YouTube for drills and tutorials for coaches and players of all ability.
[Featured Image: Bury Football Club Media]
