{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,7]],"date-time":"2026-09-07T11:12:56Z","timestamp":1788779576280,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":29,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"9","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,7]],"date-time":"2026-09-07T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1788739200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"West University of Timi\u0219oara"},{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/0583a0t97","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Behav. Sci.","Behavioral Sciences"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Coaching leadership is experienced through both subjective perceptions and observable actions, but these sources do not represent equivalent constructs. This descriptive multi-case study examined coach\u2013athlete perceptual alignment and match-observed behaviors in four elite youth soccer coach\u2013team cases. Four male youth soccer coaches and 64 male athletes (14\u201318 years) from a single Romanian elite soccer academy participated in the study. Athletes completed the Multidimensional Scale of Leadership in Sport (MSLS) before and after an official match; each coach completed one post-match self-rating referring to that match. Each coach was compared only with his corresponding team\u2019s post-match mean. Dimension-specific discrepancy scores and a mean absolute discrepancy (MAD) index were calculated. Pre\u2013post comparisons used Wilcoxon signed-rank tests with Holm correction. One match per coach was coded descriptively using the Coach Analysis and Intervention System (CAIS). The MAD index was lowest for the U17 case (1.93) and highest for the U18 case (4.35). After Holm correction, post-match scores were lower for Inspiration, Individualization, and Support. Instruction was highly rated in the MSLS and was the most frequent CAIS category in all four matches (25.2\u201341.6%), representing a parallel descriptive pattern rather than formal agreement. The findings are specific to four coach\u2013team cases and provide complementary, preliminary perspectives on perceived and match-observed leadership. The single-match, single-observer design and absence of observational reliability assessment preclude characterization of habitual coaching behavior.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/bs16091586","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,7]],"date-time":"2026-09-07T10:30:46Z","timestamp":1788777046000},"page":"1586","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Coach\u2013Athlete Perceptual Alignment in Youth Soccer: A Descriptive Multi-Case Study of Leadership Perceptions and Match-Observed Behaviors"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"16","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0008-4444-4494","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ionut-Alexandru","family":"Buda","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Physical Education and Sport, West University of Timisoara, Vasile Parvan Boulevard, No. 4, 300223 Timisoara, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"},{"role":"conceptualization","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"methodology","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"investigation","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"data-curation","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"writing-original-draft","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"writing-review-editing","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"project-administration","vocabulary":"credit"}]},{"given":"Alexandra Mihaela","family":"St\u0103nil\u0103","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Physical Education and Sport, West University of Timisoara, Vasile Parvan Boulevard, No. 4, 300223 Timisoara, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"},{"role":"validation","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"investigation","vocabulary":"credit"}]},{"given":"Silvia","family":"Popescu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Physical Education and Sport, West University of Timisoara, Vasile Parvan Boulevard, No. 4, 300223 Timisoara, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"},{"role":"validation","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"investigation","vocabulary":"credit"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8031-7176","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ralph-Alexandru","family":"Erdelyi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Electronics, Telecommunications and Information Technologies, Polytechnic University of Timisoara, 1 Mihai Viteazu Ave., 300222 Timisoara, 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