by Mantas Aliukonis
When Andrius Kaulinis scored twice against FK Žalgiris in his first A Lyga match with Riteriai after working with Miguel Carretero Osuna, the moment carried weight beyond the scoreline. It was a very public signal of a process that had largely unfolded out of sight. “He wanted to have an important role in A Lyga,” Carretero says. “After working together, in his first match he scored two amazing goals against the best Lithuanian club.” For Carretero, a UEFA Pro Licence holder with more than 11 years’ experience and a Master’s degree in football coaching and team management, such moments are deliberate outcomes, not coincidences or luck of the draw. “Behind all these achievements, there is a work that few people see,” he says. “Nothing comes easy. There is a previous plan to get these targets, a previous work very carefully designed.”
That logic has defined his growing influence in Lithuanian football. Over recent seasons he has worked with established internationals such as Henrique Devens, Nauris Petkevičius, Daniel Romanovskij, Arvydas Novikovas, Andrius Kaulinis, Vilius Piliukaitis; emerging male players such as Dariuš Stankevičius, Nojus Petkus, Denis Ževžikovas, Justas Žukovskis; senior women footballers including Lolyta Žižytė, Alex Madden, Laura Kubiliūtė, and Augustė Andrijevskytė, and young women’s national players such as Justina Blaževičiūtė, Aivė Andriuškevičiūtė and Aistė Šveckutė. “When I start to work with a football player, I study all his or her aspects,” Carretero explains, “not only as a player, also as a person.”
His connection to Lithuania did not begin through football. While living in England, Carretero met his wife, who is from Alytus. “That’s when my connection with Lithuania started,” he says. “Before I met her I knew very few about Lithuania, only when the national team of Spain were playing Lithuania.” For years, Lithuania was a place for family visits and holidays while his coaching work remained in Spain.
The shift from personal connection to professional engagement came three years ago, prompted by a conversation with Henrique Devens while the Brazilian striker was playing in his home country. “He told me he would like to work together if he comes back one day to play in Lithuania,” Carretero recalls. “About three months later he texted me saying that he signed with FK TransINVEST”
The objective was narrowly defined and openly stated. “The target was clear: he wanted to score more goals.” Devens shared videos of their training sessions, drawing attention to the work. “He is a very charismatic guy and very well known between the football players in Lithuania,” Carretero notes. The season that followed was decisive: promotion to A Lyga, victory in the LFF Cup, three MVP of the Month awards, MVP of the LFF Cup, and top scorer in the country. “That season he started to score goals like a machine,” Carretero says.
The visibility of that success reshaped Carretero’s position within Lithuanian football. “After that, many players in Lithuania started to ask me about working together,” he explains. One was Nauris Petkevičius, who had been moved to a striker role at FK Sūduva. “The target was to score goals in A Lyga so he can come back to play for the Lithuania national team,” Carretero says. “We got that target together again.”
These individual cases form the empirical base of MC7 Football Training, the framework Carretero created to organise his work. Its foundation is comparative and cultural as much as technical. “When I started to work with players in Lithuania, the first thing I noticed is the off-season break in winter time,” he says. “In my opinion, it is too long.” In Spain, he explains, players disconnect briefly before returning to preparation. “They take just one week to disconnect. After the second week of off-season they are back to work preparing the next season. I think it’s a matter of mindset.”
That mindset, in Carretero’s view, extends beyond scheduling. “In Lithuania I see many football players that take their careers like any other job,” he says. “Going to train with the team, and job done.” For him, professionalism is continuous. “You have to be a football player 24 hours. And do your individual work.” The rationale is cumulative: “If you improve individually, your team will improve also as a group. And if every team improves their level, the level of the football in the country grows up too.”
Carretero frames this as a systemic process rather than a personal philosophy. “When the national team achieves something, more money comes to its federation,” he explains. “So that money can be invested in football. It’s a growing cycle, but it needs to get started from the roots.” He acknowledges Lithuania’s sporting landscape – “football is not the main sport in Lithuania” – but rejects it as determinative. “In Spain basketball is not the main sport, but still Spain has a good basketball league and a very competitive national team. As said previously, it’s all about mindset.”
He believes that shift is already visible, particularly in the youth national teams. “I notice a good change in the younger national teams, U21 and U17,” Carretero says. “Especially in the U17, where I think can come a very nice positive change.” He points to players with Lithuanian roots who grew up in countries such as England, Spain and Germany. “These players learn from the football system in the countries they grow up,” he says. “When they get together in the national team you can see all this positive impact.” He recalls the U17s defeating England as an emblematic moment. “I think it’s very positive for Lithuanian football to be open to these kids,” he adds, citing Morocco as a model of a national team strengthened by diaspora development.
At the operational level, Carretero’s work is deliberately exhaustive. “What you do off the pitch is reflecting later on the pitch,” he says.
Each player is assessed across technical, physical and tactical dimensions, but also through habits, routines and team roles. “I study his or her strong points, the points to improve, but also what habits they have in their normal life,” he explains. “We work the technical, physical and tactical aspects, but also specially the confidence and the mental side, which I consider the most important part.”
Training structure reflects match demands. “My training sessions normally are 90 minutes,” Carretero says. “For me, a training session should be more intense than a 90-minute match.” The objective is to be prepared. “If you usually work with me during 90 minutes, when you play a full match of 90 minutes you are ready for all, and you can end the match in a good shape mentally and physically.”
MC7 Football Training formalises this approach through strength, movement and skill integration. Objective testing, data-driven analysis, video breakdowns and individualised on-pitch and gym sessions are built around position, schedule and performance goals. “Every session, drill, and assessment is designed to transfer directly to the game,” Carretero says.
The ambition remains explicit. “When I created MC7 Football Training my target was – and still is – to revolutionise the way footballers train to boost their performance on the pitch,” he says. “My mission is to help every player unlock their full physical and technical potential and perform with confidence when it matters most.”
Carretero does not dismiss team coaching, but he is clear about where his focus lies. “Of course I like coaching,” he says. “But I enjoy more individual performance development.” He pauses before adding: “If I start writing about my team coaching side, you will have content to write another full article”.
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