Speed in soccer isn't an isolated straight-forward skill. It's part of the puzzle in conjunction with everything else: deceleration, change of direction, and working together with the rest of development from strength training to soccer itself.
We sat down with Sam Wilson, Lead Physical Performance Coach at Arsenal FC, and Anders Braastad, physiotherapist at Bodø/Glimt, to talk through how they execute this at an elite level on a daily basis.
What Actually Matters Most
Neither coach went straight to "top speed" when asked to rank the most important training quality. Anders started with explosiveness, change of direction, and especially deceleration.
But Sam zoomed out further: "Ultimately what we're trying to achieve as performance or medical practitioners is at the intersection of three things. We want our players to be available, ready, and be able to perform repeatedly."
In a season that can push 65 to 75 games for international players, we need to understand that context. Speed work still matters and is part of the plan, but it has to fit alongside availability and recovery.
Training Schedule vs Playing Schedule
The weekend-midweek-weekend game cycle doesn't leave much room for a clean train-recover-adapt routine.
Anders walked through how Bodø/Glimt handles this: shortening the distance of sprints, using load and resistance to slow athletes down, and limit total volume. Because "it's not a question if they can do it, it's more about the volume they do it."
And Sam shared a similar pattern at Arsenal, even with some first-team players actually choosing to do accelerations on a Match Day -1. This is often implemented with a wave-loading scheme, working up then down in load, get some potentiation at the end.
Buy-In From Individualization and the Equipment
Both coaches kept coming back to the same point: players notice when the work is bespoke to them. Whether it's the exercises, the loading, or even which metric the coaches give as feedback.
Whether it's learning their favorite drill and competing to improve every week, or building confidence in return-to-play, Anders said it's valuable because "they don't have to wait for tomorrow for the report, they get it straight away."
Sam framed it as a trust function. When players see the work is individualized and how it instantly makes an impact, the rest of the program lands better.
The Tech Doesn't Replace Coaching
When asked whether the equipment has made his life easier, the answer was no but also yes. In the session itself, yes because changing load becomes tapping the screen and rotating players between reps is faster. But the data creates more conversations: why are the quickest athletes on the pitch sometimes the slowest in the gym or why are today's numbers lower than yesterday?
As Sam said, "I don't see it as replacing coaching, I see this as a tool that helps reinforce good coaching." Because objectivity creates a shared baseline, all staff members and athletes know what's happens.
Then a coach's time and effort isn't spent on figuring out what happened, but can be focusing on determining what to do now.
Conclusion
Although no specific training protocols were discussed, the theme was a way of thinking about how speed fits into everything else. Working around the game schedule, modifying training session variables, individualizing loading and feedback, as well as having the tech be just as useful to the coaching process as the training itself.
Because when the questions become what does this athlete need, when can I deliver it, and how will it interact with the rest of their week, combined with the tools to make that happen, coaches can build both better relationships and results
If you missed Part 1 of the roundtable, that's linked here. (Link to Part 1)
Published: June 1, 2026