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Decentric
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A coach's word at the right time
DateMarch 8, 2013 (0)
Ange Postecoglou
Coaching is not an occupation for people who need constant reassurance and universal approval.
Your ability to handle scrutiny and inevitable criticism will often decide how successful your tenure will be. You can try to ignore it, but to do this would require enormous discipline and the ability to suppress any natural inquisitive instincts you may have on how the world measures you. Every coach will deal with it in their own way, but the issue needs to be dealt with even if the decision is to ignore it.
My own way of dealing with criticism, particularly from the media, has been shaped by two unique experiences that were both enlightening and educational.
It's fair to say that, when I first started coaching, my view was slightly different. In my first three years, I enjoyed great success and it was easy to be seduced by the praise and encouragement that came my way. Of course, if you stay in coaching long enough, you will eventually see the other side of the coin. And, so it happened with me at the end of my time as national youth team coach, when the praise was replaced by strong criticism.
If you listen to the praise, you can't ignore the criticism and, while I didn't like or appreciate it at the time, I now realise that it was my own actions that allowed both to affect me rather than the words said or written.
My enlightening experience came when I worked in Greece for a year. Observing the media at work there and the way they equally worshipped or vilified coaches, sometimes within the same week, made me appreciate that in Australia we enjoy a far more lenient environment. Of course, it was not easy to adjust to and for a while I made the mistake of not accepting I was in a different culture.
The city I was in had four daily papers, three local TV stations and three local radio stations, and they all reported daily on the team I was in charge of. Everything was reported on, from how we trained to who trained well, what drills we were doing and with which players and even to the point where it was reported where I had dinner the night before. I realised that privacy and team confidentiality were no longer possible and the best I could hope for were that the stories were at least fact - but even that was by no means certain.
If I applied local standards to that reporting, then I would be suing for defamation and privacy invasion every day, not to mention the psychological damage it would have done to my state of mind. Instead I dealt with it like the locals did and came to appreciate that most of it was born from passion rather than vindictiveness and ultimately the general public were still able to form their opinion on the work I was doing based on the team's performance rather than on how it was reported. In a nutshell, I became less precious.
My educational experience was when I came back to Australia and was lucky enough to be offered a job at Fox Sports. I realised that working in the media had its own responsibilities and pressures and that an opinion was the one essential that you were required to offer every time you spoke.
That was difficult for me as I like to have all the information before forming an opinion. But the reality is that you are always working on assumptions and, because sitting on the fence is not an option, you can sometimes be wrong in your summation. That was difficult to deal with as you know that people will be affected by something you may have got wrong. It is why, now that I am on the other side of the fence, I am not as offended if someone wrongly criticises me or my club.
All this has made me realise that in a public occupation, some form of perspective is a strong asset. Both criticism and praise can distract you from the job at hand, so neither should be drivers of your destiny. That is easier said than done because of the effect it can have on your loved ones and your environment. But as a coach and leader, the alternative would ensure a roller-coaster existence driven by external forces. In a week where the great Sir Alex Ferguson has faced criticism, there is a realisation that as coach you should wear such scrutiny as a badge of honour as it signifies you are at least engaged in the battle.
Thought I'd add this. There are a now a number of coaches on here who either work in football in a paid capacity, or, aspire to have a paid job in football.
Edited by Decentric: 8/3/2013 01:13:36 PM
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Decentric
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Arthur wrote:[
Putting these articles into an Australian context it appears to me that the day Postecoglou took charge at Brisbane Roar is the day that Australia was finally made aware of the new tactical changes from Europe put into effect at a domestic level. Now with Arnold, Van Egmond, Popovic and now Edwards at Perth I think Postecoglou's seachange is becomming a Tsunami at the top tier.
The crucial part of these changes will now be how long it takes for the grass roots to take on board these new technical and tactical realities.
In Victoria at Premier League and below we are still playing a second ball game. The Womens game hasn't evolved from the Graham Taylor school of football at the State level, while the elite junior level is predominatly a second ball game reliant on athletic ability and the overall junior football is a disgrace in football playing terms.
Already the V League coaches are generally changing their training to incorporate a much more technical approach in this state. The training players did reflected much more isolated fitness training. This meant players had much more ability to win the ball back than maintain it in possession. One of my fellow C Licence participants has already overhauled his club, one of the biggest in the state. There are a lot of changes to the program, with much higher technical content. Early last year it looked like the unmitigated rubbish too prevalent elsewhere on the training track. The next step is to implement the structural changes where a lot of Game Training should be related to positional play advocated by the KNVB. You also saw it in France, Arthur. In an Australiocentric context, good football is now also being equated to winning football. Last year Perth and Phoenix were still able to beat most teams playing direct football. The fact they have slipped down the ladder, and, their coaches have been sacked, is a victory for technical football in Australia. Alistair Edwards has already had a positive influence on Glory. Edited by Decentric: 5/3/2013 11:25:24 AM
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Arthur
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Quote:
20 CHANGES IN FOOTBALL FROM 1998-2013
48% more successful passes than there were in 2002
80% of passes in the English Premier League (EPL) are either first touch or second
78% of passes in the EPL are played less than 25 yards
42% of goals scored from Zone 14 region by top 4 sides (2009)
Zone 14 - an attempt at goal ever20 CHANGES IN FOOTBALL FROM 1998-2013
48% more successful passes than there were in 2002
80% of passes in the English Premier League (EPL) are either first touch or second
78% of passes in the EPL are played less than 25 yards
42% of goals scored from Zone 14 region by top 4 sides (2009)
Zone 14 - an attempt at goal every four possessions in Z14.
Average of 30 possessions in Z14 per team per game.
A goal occurred in every 31 possessions in Z14.
20% more passing and receiving situations since 2002.
1000 passes per game now - teams now attempting to retain possession for longer.
More passes from central defenders.
More goals scored from prolonged passing sequences. 42% of goals (1999-2009) that came from free play were from 5 or more passes.
73% chance of winning should you score first.
68 minutes of actual playing time (compared to 55 minutes at the end of the 1990s).
200% increase in the number of sprints. Now 30-40 sprints per game.
Increased distance ran in every position (1998-2008) - 7 metres per second ran. It is predicted by many that by 2025, we could see a further 15-20% increase in distance run.
Average number of high intensity activities has doubled (1998-2008).
Less space and time in opponents half.
Loss of midfield architects.
Less man marking (zonal marking).
More patience in winning the ball back as teams prefer to drop back into their defensive block (and as a result we see more counter attacks).
Changing role of wingers (more wrong footed - tactical reasons).
More reliance on a screening midfielder (anchor man).
Goalkeepers now play with their feet 7x more than their hands.
I had to look up what Zone 14 is, I found these details which should assist us not up with the jargon, an excellent blog by the way.  Quote:http://footballspeak.com/post/2012/05/08/Zone-14.aspxThe increased use of notational ('performance' or 'statistical') analysis in football has become an accepted part of the game well below the elite level. Whilst almost all pro clubs will have analysts as part of the staff not only their first team squads but academy and centre of excellence sides as well, it is now also taking root in the lower leagues. Hand notation in-event or video recordings are becoming more and more prevalent at the grassroots level. Those familiar with prozone will undoubtedly understand the benefits this analysis can bring, those that have not had experienced it are missing out. This article set out just one of the key results of notational analysis from the many years of research. Zone 14 is one of 18 zones on the pitch which are calculated by dividing the field into a six-by-three grid and Zone 14 is the “golden square” on a football pitch in which most teams can score most goals from if they are aware and can access its potential. Notational analysis has been ever-growing in the elite game and prozone has become a must have for almost all the elite clubs. Through trend analysis Sports scientists have identified an area which reaps most benefits. The key area, named Zone 14 by researchers at Liverpool John Moores University, lies not in the goal area or even the second six yard box or primary target area (P.T.A) as it used to be known. The penalty area doesn’t even figure but the area just outside it. The zone is effective only when exploited quickly when the point or direction of attack is changed with a short pass or dribble. The optimum time of attack should last no more than 8 seconds. If the attack lingers or fails to unbalance defenders through changing the direction of attack, the threat of Zone 14 is usually neutralised. Professor Tom Reilly, who developed the theory 2000, said creative midfielders were best-suited to “cause havoc” in Zone 14. He said: “Some coaches are already aware of this zone, which they call The Hole, but our research has brought forward the understanding of how it works”. “Effective use of Zone 14 will sometimes end in a goal but often in a set piece. In a way that doesn’t matter as the majority of goals come from set pieces anyway.” Professor Reilly, who works at JMU’s Research Institute for Sports and Exercise Sciences, said strikers who can unbalance defenders through quick movement may also benefit from working in Zone 14 however most won't as strikers are usually in front of Zone 14, in the penalty area. Effective use of Zone 14 must be combined with positive, forward passing and tight possession from the back of the field. Teams that sit deep and relay on slow, short possession play are unlikely to benefit as they are more likely to be operating a holding operation with forwards staying back to defend. Whilst this tactic will be more successful at nullifying the opposition’s effectiveness in Zone 14 it also decreases their own likelihood of benefiting from attacking the Zone 14. Putting these articles into an Australian context it appears to me that the day Postecoglou took charge at Brisbane Roar is the day that Australia was finally made aware of the new tactical changes from Europe put into effect at a domestic level. Now with Arnold, Van Egmond, Popovic and now Edwards at Perth I think Postecoglou's seachange is becomming a Tsunami at the top tier. The crucial part of these changes will now be how long it takes for the grass roots to take on board these new technical and tactical realities. In Victoria at Premier League and below we are still playing a second ball game. The Womens game hasn't evolved from the Graham Taylor school of football at the State level, while the elite junior level is predominatly a second ball game reliant on athletic ability and the overall junior football is a disgrace in football playing terms. Quote:78% of passes in the EPL are played less than 25 yards What a huge change for the English game and a significant change from the predominatley long ball game.
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Decentric
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Arthur wrote:Quote:20 Changes In Football Since World Cup '98 http://www.bettingexpert.com/blog/20-changes-in-footballMar 4th, 2013 - Posted by Jed_Davies in Football Football coach who writes on tactical theory and philosophy for a number of sites and publications including LiverpoolFC.com and JedDavies.com. How has football changed since France won the 1998 World Cup? Or since Manchester United completed the Treble in 1999? Today on the blog Jed Davies shares his insight into how modern tactical football has developed and where it's heading. “In ten years the game will have moved on. It will be played at a higher pace with more ingenious tactics” - Petr Cech (2007) Has football really changed since Zidane overturned Ronaldo’s Brazil in 1998? Is the game really that different since Sheringham and Solskjaer left Bayern Munich to collect the runners up medal in 1999? It seems just yesterday we witnessed such landmark events in recent football history. Most will argue that football has changed since you were born and it’ll continue to change in your lifetime. By change, I refer to more than adjustments made in the laws of the game, I refer to the very nature of the game itself: the way it is played, both by individuals and teams (in a tactical sense). The changes that occur do so for a number of different reasons and this article does not attempt to offer an explanation as to why (which would be a rather complex article in its own right), but instead this article explores how the changes have had an impact on football tactics and the profile of players that the English Premier League demands today. All figures below are of those provided by the FA* and professional football analysts such as Raymond Verheijen. 20 CHANGES IN FOOTBALL FROM 1998-2013 48% more successful passes than there were in 2002 80% of passes in the English Premier League (EPL) are either first touch or second 78% of passes in the EPL are played less than 25 yards 42% of goals scored from Zone 14 region by top 4 sides (2009) Zone 14 - an attempt at goal every four possessions in Z14. Average of 30 possessions in Z14 per team per game. A goal occurred in every 31 possessions in Z14. 20% more passing and receiving situations since 2002. 1000 passes per game now - teams now attempting to retain possession for longer. More passes from central defenders. More goals scored from prolonged passing sequences. 42% of goals (1999-2009) that came from free play were from 5 or more passes. 73% chance of winning should you score first. 68 minutes of actual playing time (compared to 55 minutes at the end of the 1990s). 200% increase in the number of sprints. Now 30-40 sprints per game. Increased distance ran in every position (1998-2008) - 7 metres per second ran. It is predicted by many that by 2025, we could see a further 15-20% increase in distance run. Average number of high intensity activities has doubled (1998-2008). Less space and time in opponents half. Loss of midfield architects. Less man marking (zonal marking). More patience in winning the ball back as teams prefer to drop back into their defensive block (and as a result we see more counter attacks). Changing role of wingers (more wrong footed - tactical reasons). More reliance on a screening midfielder (anchor man). Goalkeepers now play with their feet 7x more than their hands. It is important to note that many of these changes are not exclusive to the English Premier League alone and a number of tactical solutions offered today in the Premier League are as a direct result of foreign influence. These changes can be summarised into: More short passing (mixed tempos and complex). Reliance on a well organised defensive block. Reliance on ‘team play’. The rising importance of formation and positional balance (tactics). More running. More intensity. More centralised play as a means of scoring or assisting goals (the increase of wrong-footed wingers reflects this). From these twenty changes (or shifts) we can draw a number of conclusions about the impact that they have had on present day football tactics. Teams in the English Premier League often play through clear and identifiable philosophies, but even Stoke and West Ham find symmetry in the way they play with Swansea, Arsenal and Liverpool. In both extremes (and everything in between), possession begins from the back and the tempo of possession as play is progressed further forward increases. The tempo increase is often accompanied by an increase in the use of one-touch or two-touch passing and as a result the technical demands have increased universally. More evident today than ten or twenty years ago however, is the increased use of the well organised defensive block, a well disciplined structured formation when out of possession - something that Arrigo Sacchi was famed for in the mainstream of the late 1980s and early 1990s. We can agree that there are similarities in the ways teams defend and attack in the Premier League and throughout other elite leagues in Europe, but the the universal analysis (the 20 changes) does not unify the playing style differentiation between the twenty clubs that compete in the English Premier League year in, year out. The English Premier League: Tactical Diversity Like no other, the English Premier League has grown into the most tactically diverse league; a league where the full spectrum of philosophies and playing styles match wits and bring about the unpredictability of results. While football will continue to evolve world-wide, the English Premier League has developed a sense of individuality from team to team; a real sense of philosophical belief specific to each club. That is to say that a spectator with no knowledge of the Premier League and the teams in it, could identify each team just from a description of each teams playing style, regardless of player profiles. West Ham (under Allardyce)* are distinguishable from Southampton (under Pochettino)* without question, and Liverpool (under Rodgers) have not directly implemented the exact system Rodgers employed at Swansea previously. Therefore, the strong and clear philosophies are both manager based and club specific. Rodgers kept no secret in his aim to bring about a Liverpool specific adaption of his approach when appointed as Liverpool manager in 2012, a journey that has since resulted in much experimentation. A philosophy in football refers to more than just formation, but to the attitude towards possession, defensive patience and that of the transitions (the 5-10 seconds immediately after winning or losing the ball). While the media focus in the last five years has shifted from placing a high value of importance on a positional system (formation) to being centred around the effectiveness of pressing or that of possession and the build up attitudes (counter-attack/slow build up). Football philosophies are built on the grounds of many tactical components - positional systems, attitudes to crossing, width of play, speed of the build-up, the use of a target-man or play-maker, the depth of the line of defence, attitude towards set-pieces, the length and direction of optimal passing, the diversity in transitional instructions. From the general statistical analysis we can see a set of universal trends arising, but for the Premier League the future lies in strengthening each and every team’s playing profile. The future Premier League will further the comparison between football philosophies and cultures, because after all the Premier League is the result of world football and this is the single greatest benefit of the globalisation and foreign influence on the league. If we look at the Premier League right now, we find Southampton (Pochettino), Liverpool (Rodgers), Tottenham Hotspur (AVB), Swansea (Laudrup) and Wigan (Martinez) along with a number of others all seemingly representing a similar school of football - that influenced by Cruyff, the great Hungarian side of the 1950s and La Maquina (River Plate) of the same era (or even Scotland, if you trace possession football back to it’s original roots*) - many of these managers have worked under or with a number of footballing ‘professors’ (Mourinho, Cruyff etc). However, even between Liverpool and Swansea there are considerable differences (not just in player profiles) but in the overall belief and approach to attacking (width and build-up approach) - notably Swansea are more counter-attacking and play with less width. On the other hand, Stoke (Pullis), Newcastle - who have played the most long balls this season so far (Pardew) and West Ham (Allardyce) in particular represent a school of football influenced by Charles Reep and English football, a philosophy where direct football, or “effective football”, provides the sound basis to tactical foundations. And once again, nobody is about to claim that any of the three sides play with an identical brand of football. The Tactical Future Of The Premier League This article suggests that as the English Premier League has evolved, the scenario where a team’s playing style is built around player profiles has diminished, the playing style is now founded on each club’s belief in how football should be played (and their choice of manager as a result). The future of the Premier League is perhaps heading towards more diversity, but more than ever before, youth players and first team players are signed on the basis of the player fitting with the clubs philosophy and team-approach. Michu was a fine example of just this: a player who was always blessed with a world-class sense of arrival in the box. But Michu (as an attacking midfielder) was snubbed from nearly half the visiting scouts from the Premier League as they saw a player who would only benefit from playing in a ‘possession’ team that rely less on pace and the ability to dribble at speed. In many ways, Swansea was the perfect team for Michu and as it turns out, he’s not too bad as a centre forward and is now one of the most sought after players in the league. For decades the emphasis was on physical attributes (speed, power and strength) and this is often the most noticeable difference between the Premier League and other leagues (as noted by many players), but with the trends showing that teams now require technically proficient players there has been a clear shift in the basic requirements. Where the Premier League is yet to excel (or is at the beginnings of) is the understanding that a tactically astute player may triumph the psychically superior. This point has been outlined by Raymond Verheijen* often over the years; in a one hundred metre race, we concentrate our efforts on improving the physical aspects to gain milliseconds (where each and every one makes the difference). We should not however, view football through the the same lenses. Football, unlike the one hundred metre race, does not restrict us to the same start points and this concept leads Verheijen to ask: why look to improve in milliseconds when we can find the optimum start position and win by metres. Verheijen argues that English football has been slow to turn it’s focus towards tactical training and it’s difficult to argue with him, his influence at each club he has worked with has seen the benefits of such thinking. The shift that is therefore present in the Premier League is that from a reliance on physicality to tactical brilliance. Before us at this moment in time, we are witnessing one of the great transitions in football history and one that has often gone on unnoticed to many. With the near-certain future return of Jose Mourinho to the league, I can only see the value placed on strong unique football philosophies increasing. Concluding Thoughts So let us return to the original question in this article. Has football really changed over the last decade? Has it really changed that much since France won the World Cup or since Man Utd won the treble? It appears that the injection of millions of pounds in the Premier League has brought with it diversity and an influx of development and despite the negativity towards ‘modern football’ (a game influenced more and more by money) there have been real football-specific changes. While Manchester United and Manchester City seem to be running away with the league titles in recent years, the fight for fourth place has intensified year on year. The demands on a newly promoted team now ask if you can bring something new to the league, a new brand of football - Blackpool came close, but since then Norwich, Swansea, Southampton, West Brom and West Ham have found their place amongst the stanzas of the Premier League. QPR on the other hand represent one of the most confused clubs the Premier League has seen for quite some time - proof that money does not translate to a solid football philosophy on the pitch. Football has changed, the Premier League has changed and while the Champions League may suggest that La Liga or the Bundesliga can rival the Premier League for the hypothetical title of ‘The World’s Best League’, no other league can boast such a diverse, complete and unpredictable set of clubs. There are no ‘easy games’ in the Premier League and we should expect the gap between 7th and relegation to decrease with each year. Unfortunately it does appear almost certain that the top six teams in the Premier League are going to be difficult to close in on (financial power), but with the shift towards ‘team football’ (and tactical importance) and less being based on individual player ability, anything is possible. “As long as humanity exists, something new will come along - otherwise football dies” - Arrigo Sacchi References *FA Presentation by Kevin Green: UEFA A Licence coach (April 2013), FA Qualified Tutor, Youth Award Module 3 and employee of the FA (2009) *EPLindex - West Ham scouting report- by football scout Martin Lewis (2013) *EPLindex - Southampton and Pochettino - by @chalkontheboots (2013) *Inverting the Pyramid by Jonathan Wilson (2009) *Conditioning For Soccer by Raymond Verheijen (1998) Very interesting to see the empirically verifiable changes in football in the EPL over that time span. I cannot corroborate it, but when Fox shows completed pass stats for A League players on TV, they seem to be accruing much higher numbers of passes than they used to. I'm sure the number of physical contests is diminishing in the A League too. There are surely less second balls and high balls to compete for. The ball is in the transitions less and in BP and BPO more in the HAL. Edited by Decentric: 5/3/2013 12:10:41 AM
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Decentric
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possessionfootball wrote:KNVB Youth 5 years ago in Canberra. It was a 7 day Residential course not with examination just a certification course, good preparation for Advanced B and Advanced A.
It was a very enjoyable course, 4 days on 4v4 training for Youth and 3 days on 7v7 training for Youth. No drills, only things that could be called football. Possession Football is very knowledgeable. Thankfully, he was often in the group I was in. He carried me, at the time completely out of my depth for the first 5 days, through the KNVB course. #-o Welcome to the forum mate.:) Edited by Decentric: 5/3/2013 12:04:39 AM
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Arthur
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Quote:20 Changes In Football Since World Cup '98 http://www.bettingexpert.com/blog/20-changes-in-footballMar 4th, 2013 - Posted by Jed_Davies in Football Football coach who writes on tactical theory and philosophy for a number of sites and publications including LiverpoolFC.com and JedDavies.com. How has football changed since France won the 1998 World Cup? Or since Manchester United completed the Treble in 1999? Today on the blog Jed Davies shares his insight into how modern tactical football has developed and where it's heading. “In ten years the game will have moved on. It will be played at a higher pace with more ingenious tactics” - Petr Cech (2007) Has football really changed since Zidane overturned Ronaldo’s Brazil in 1998? Is the game really that different since Sheringham and Solskjaer left Bayern Munich to collect the runners up medal in 1999? It seems just yesterday we witnessed such landmark events in recent football history. Most will argue that football has changed since you were born and it’ll continue to change in your lifetime. By change, I refer to more than adjustments made in the laws of the game, I refer to the very nature of the game itself: the way it is played, both by individuals and teams (in a tactical sense). The changes that occur do so for a number of different reasons and this article does not attempt to offer an explanation as to why (which would be a rather complex article in its own right), but instead this article explores how the changes have had an impact on football tactics and the profile of players that the English Premier League demands today. All figures below are of those provided by the FA* and professional football analysts such as Raymond Verheijen. 20 CHANGES IN FOOTBALL FROM 1998-2013 48% more successful passes than there were in 2002 80% of passes in the English Premier League (EPL) are either first touch or second 78% of passes in the EPL are played less than 25 yards 42% of goals scored from Zone 14 region by top 4 sides (2009) Zone 14 - an attempt at goal every four possessions in Z14. Average of 30 possessions in Z14 per team per game. A goal occurred in every 31 possessions in Z14. 20% more passing and receiving situations since 2002. 1000 passes per game now - teams now attempting to retain possession for longer. More passes from central defenders. More goals scored from prolonged passing sequences. 42% of goals (1999-2009) that came from free play were from 5 or more passes. 73% chance of winning should you score first. 68 minutes of actual playing time (compared to 55 minutes at the end of the 1990s). 200% increase in the number of sprints. Now 30-40 sprints per game. Increased distance ran in every position (1998-2008) - 7 metres per second ran. It is predicted by many that by 2025, we could see a further 15-20% increase in distance run. Average number of high intensity activities has doubled (1998-2008). Less space and time in opponents half. Loss of midfield architects. Less man marking (zonal marking). More patience in winning the ball back as teams prefer to drop back into their defensive block (and as a result we see more counter attacks). Changing role of wingers (more wrong footed - tactical reasons). More reliance on a screening midfielder (anchor man). Goalkeepers now play with their feet 7x more than their hands. It is important to note that many of these changes are not exclusive to the English Premier League alone and a number of tactical solutions offered today in the Premier League are as a direct result of foreign influence. These changes can be summarised into: More short passing (mixed tempos and complex). Reliance on a well organised defensive block. Reliance on ‘team play’. The rising importance of formation and positional balance (tactics). More running. More intensity. More centralised play as a means of scoring or assisting goals (the increase of wrong-footed wingers reflects this). From these twenty changes (or shifts) we can draw a number of conclusions about the impact that they have had on present day football tactics. Teams in the English Premier League often play through clear and identifiable philosophies, but even Stoke and West Ham find symmetry in the way they play with Swansea, Arsenal and Liverpool. In both extremes (and everything in between), possession begins from the back and the tempo of possession as play is progressed further forward increases. The tempo increase is often accompanied by an increase in the use of one-touch or two-touch passing and as a result the technical demands have increased universally. More evident today than ten or twenty years ago however, is the increased use of the well organised defensive block, a well disciplined structured formation when out of possession - something that Arrigo Sacchi was famed for in the mainstream of the late 1980s and early 1990s. We can agree that there are similarities in the ways teams defend and attack in the Premier League and throughout other elite leagues in Europe, but the the universal analysis (the 20 changes) does not unify the playing style differentiation between the twenty clubs that compete in the English Premier League year in, year out. The English Premier League: Tactical Diversity Like no other, the English Premier League has grown into the most tactically diverse league; a league where the full spectrum of philosophies and playing styles match wits and bring about the unpredictability of results. While football will continue to evolve world-wide, the English Premier League has developed a sense of individuality from team to team; a real sense of philosophical belief specific to each club. That is to say that a spectator with no knowledge of the Premier League and the teams in it, could identify each team just from a description of each teams playing style, regardless of player profiles. West Ham (under Allardyce)* are distinguishable from Southampton (under Pochettino)* without question, and Liverpool (under Rodgers) have not directly implemented the exact system Rodgers employed at Swansea previously. Therefore, the strong and clear philosophies are both manager based and club specific. Rodgers kept no secret in his aim to bring about a Liverpool specific adaption of his approach when appointed as Liverpool manager in 2012, a journey that has since resulted in much experimentation. A philosophy in football refers to more than just formation, but to the attitude towards possession, defensive patience and that of the transitions (the 5-10 seconds immediately after winning or losing the ball). While the media focus in the last five years has shifted from placing a high value of importance on a positional system (formation) to being centred around the effectiveness of pressing or that of possession and the build up attitudes (counter-attack/slow build up). Football philosophies are built on the grounds of many tactical components - positional systems, attitudes to crossing, width of play, speed of the build-up, the use of a target-man or play-maker, the depth of the line of defence, attitude towards set-pieces, the length and direction of optimal passing, the diversity in transitional instructions. From the general statistical analysis we can see a set of universal trends arising, but for the Premier League the future lies in strengthening each and every team’s playing profile. The future Premier League will further the comparison between football philosophies and cultures, because after all the Premier League is the result of world football and this is the single greatest benefit of the globalisation and foreign influence on the league. If we look at the Premier League right now, we find Southampton (Pochettino), Liverpool (Rodgers), Tottenham Hotspur (AVB), Swansea (Laudrup) and Wigan (Martinez) along with a number of others all seemingly representing a similar school of football - that influenced by Cruyff, the great Hungarian side of the 1950s and La Maquina (River Plate) of the same era (or even Scotland, if you trace possession football back to it’s original roots*) - many of these managers have worked under or with a number of footballing ‘professors’ (Mourinho, Cruyff etc). However, even between Liverpool and Swansea there are considerable differences (not just in player profiles) but in the overall belief and approach to attacking (width and build-up approach) - notably Swansea are more counter-attacking and play with less width. On the other hand, Stoke (Pullis), Newcastle - who have played the most long balls this season so far (Pardew) and West Ham (Allardyce) in particular represent a school of football influenced by Charles Reep and English football, a philosophy where direct football, or “effective football”, provides the sound basis to tactical foundations. And once again, nobody is about to claim that any of the three sides play with an identical brand of football. The Tactical Future Of The Premier League This article suggests that as the English Premier League has evolved, the scenario where a team’s playing style is built around player profiles has diminished, the playing style is now founded on each club’s belief in how football should be played (and their choice of manager as a result). The future of the Premier League is perhaps heading towards more diversity, but more than ever before, youth players and first team players are signed on the basis of the player fitting with the clubs philosophy and team-approach. Michu was a fine example of just this: a player who was always blessed with a world-class sense of arrival in the box. But Michu (as an attacking midfielder) was snubbed from nearly half the visiting scouts from the Premier League as they saw a player who would only benefit from playing in a ‘possession’ team that rely less on pace and the ability to dribble at speed. In many ways, Swansea was the perfect team for Michu and as it turns out, he’s not too bad as a centre forward and is now one of the most sought after players in the league. For decades the emphasis was on physical attributes (speed, power and strength) and this is often the most noticeable difference between the Premier League and other leagues (as noted by many players), but with the trends showing that teams now require technically proficient players there has been a clear shift in the basic requirements. Where the Premier League is yet to excel (or is at the beginnings of) is the understanding that a tactically astute player may triumph the psychically superior. This point has been outlined by Raymond Verheijen* often over the years; in a one hundred metre race, we concentrate our efforts on improving the physical aspects to gain milliseconds (where each and every one makes the difference). We should not however, view football through the the same lenses. Football, unlike the one hundred metre race, does not restrict us to the same start points and this concept leads Verheijen to ask: why look to improve in milliseconds when we can find the optimum start position and win by metres. Verheijen argues that English football has been slow to turn it’s focus towards tactical training and it’s difficult to argue with him, his influence at each club he has worked with has seen the benefits of such thinking. The shift that is therefore present in the Premier League is that from a reliance on physicality to tactical brilliance. Before us at this moment in time, we are witnessing one of the great transitions in football history and one that has often gone on unnoticed to many. With the near-certain future return of Jose Mourinho to the league, I can only see the value placed on strong unique football philosophies increasing. Concluding Thoughts So let us return to the original question in this article. Has football really changed over the last decade? Has it really changed that much since France won the World Cup or since Man Utd won the treble? It appears that the injection of millions of pounds in the Premier League has brought with it diversity and an influx of development and despite the negativity towards ‘modern football’ (a game influenced more and more by money) there have been real football-specific changes. While Manchester United and Manchester City seem to be running away with the league titles in recent years, the fight for fourth place has intensified year on year. The demands on a newly promoted team now ask if you can bring something new to the league, a new brand of football - Blackpool came close, but since then Norwich, Swansea, Southampton, West Brom and West Ham have found their place amongst the stanzas of the Premier League. QPR on the other hand represent one of the most confused clubs the Premier League has seen for quite some time - proof that money does not translate to a solid football philosophy on the pitch. Football has changed, the Premier League has changed and while the Champions League may suggest that La Liga or the Bundesliga can rival the Premier League for the hypothetical title of ‘The World’s Best League’, no other league can boast such a diverse, complete and unpredictable set of clubs. There are no ‘easy games’ in the Premier League and we should expect the gap between 7th and relegation to decrease with each year. Unfortunately it does appear almost certain that the top six teams in the Premier League are going to be difficult to close in on (financial power), but with the shift towards ‘team football’ (and tactical importance) and less being based on individual player ability, anything is possible. “As long as humanity exists, something new will come along - otherwise football dies” - Arrigo Sacchi References *FA Presentation by Kevin Green: UEFA A Licence coach (April 2013), FA Qualified Tutor, Youth Award Module 3 and employee of the FA (2009) *EPLindex - West Ham scouting report- by football scout Martin Lewis (2013) *EPLindex - Southampton and Pochettino - by @chalkontheboots (2013) *Inverting the Pyramid by Jonathan Wilson (2009) *Conditioning For Soccer by Raymond Verheijen (1998)
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Decentric
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possessionfootball wrote:KNVB Youth 5 years ago in Canberra. It was a 7 day Residential course not with examination just a certification course, good preparation for Advanced B and Advanced A.
It was a very enjoyable course, 4 days on 4v4 training for Youth and 3 days on 7v7 training for Youth. No drills, only things that could be called football. Were you with the first intake of A League coaches, Corica, Veart, Tobin, Muscat, and the NTC coaches, or, with the second intake? If you were in the second KNVB group, we must know each other. I've had a lot of trouble getting some FFA staff coaches to recognise the value of the content of the KNVB course, until recently. I've used a FFA staff coach from another state, in particular, who is a FFA staff coach, and was one of our course participants for advice.
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possessionfootball
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KNVB Youth 5 years ago in Canberra. It was a 7 day Residential course not with examination just a certification course, good preparation for Advanced B and Advanced A.
It was a very enjoyable course, 4 days on 4v4 training for Youth and 3 days on 7v7 training for Youth. No drills, only things that could be called football.
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Decentric
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possessionfootball wrote:Guys
Possession football is my site, if you want anything specific let me know.
I have been through and passed, KNVB Youth, Italian Youth, FFA B, FFA A.
Possession football From a process of elimination, you must have done the KNVB Youth overseas. Your CV doesn't appear to fit one of the intakes in Australia. Welcome to the forum.:)
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neverwozza
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Great, thanks mate.
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possessionfootball
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Guys
Possession football is my site, if you want anything specific let me know.
I have been through and passed, KNVB Youth, Italian Youth, FFA B, FFA A.
Possession football
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neverwozza
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Great site Brew. My eldest is trying to learn 9,7 & 11 in a 4-3-3 system and is struggling with his positioning a little bit. There are some excellent vids there that will help him a great deal.
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Arthur
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Arthur
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Nice one Brew and welcome to the performance section.
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Brew
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Decentric
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Pistola wrote:The sad truth is our coaches are not of high quality. The coach education is improving.
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Decentric
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Pistola
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The sad truth is our coaches are not of high quality.
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Arthur
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Nice and interesting article Dirk. The concept of training in smaller spaces is something I saw Rijkard do last year at training for the Saudi National Team. He had the keepers set up in a safe zone in the semi circle at the edge of the boxes. with 9v9 in the middle very tight game play. Micchie caught my attention and I found this; Quote:http://www.soccercoachinginternational.com/pdf/Dan%20Micciche-MK%20Dons.pdfPhilosophy A transparent and shared philosophy is essential for any successful youth development programme and at MK Dons, Mike Dove (Academy Manager), myself and the coaching staff, share a common aim - To produce players for the first team, if not at MK Dons, then at other clubs. We look ‘Holistically’ at Youth development and need players to be resilient, resourceful and reflective individuals who are willing and able to take control of their development rather than rely on others. Consequently, we run a coaching programme that reflects these aims. Also, we try to follow the changing ‘trends’ in the game. We ‘evolve’ as the game itself ‘evolves’. 2009 football is characterised by Shorter, quicker Passing, Fast and clever Combinations and Counter Attacking - these are ‘core’ to our practice Edited by Arthur: 6/2/2013 10:10:40 PMEdited by Arthur: 6/2/2013 10:11:13 PM
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dirk vanadidas
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very good article on mk dons academy http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2274115/Martin-Samuel-Why-Milton-Keynes-Dons-methods-make-play-like-Brazil.html#axzz2JqRkZlS6 Small is beautiful at Milton Keynes... and it could make us play like BrazilBy Martin Samuel PUBLISHED: 00:01 GMT, 6 February 2013 | UPDATED: 08:12 GMT, 6 February 2013 Comments (12) Share ..Considering that England play Brazil at Wembley tonight, it is fair to assume that this time tomorrow we may be crying. Why can’t we pass it like them? Why can’t we keep it like them? Why isn’t our game beautiful? It is a familiar wail. Boo-hoo-hoo, we want to be like you-hoo-hoo. ‘Better to light a candle than curse the darkness,’ said Peter Benenson, the founder of Amnesty International, except English football doesn’t think that way. ‘Stupid darkness,’ we mumble as more pedestrian thinking sends us down the latest blind alley. There are men with candles out there, but we never seem to listen to them. Dan Micciche is the head of coaching at Milton Keynes Dons academy. It is not a job that allows a man to make headlines, but that doesn’t mean he has nothing to offer. Space, the final frontier: MK Dons (in white) play an experimental match against Forest School When Connor Furlong was called up to Scotland’s Under 15 squad last month, he became the eighth product of the MK Dons youth system to receive international recognition in the last two years. Dele Alli is the sole member of England’s Under 17 squad who is not on the books at a Premier League or Championship club. Giorgio Rasulo scored the only goal of the game as England’s Under 16 team defeated Scotland in the 2012 Victory Shield. Seyi Ojo went to Liverpool at 14 for a reported £1.5million. They must be doing something right. What they are doing, it seems, is evolving ideas. Micciche experiments with pitch sizes, with team numbers. Not in any conventional way. Small areas, small teams, is the modern concept, and that alone is progress. The days of a 10-year-old standing forlornly in the same size goal as Petr Cech, barely able to clear his penalty area with a goal-kick in ankle-deep mud, are thankfully over. Contrasting styles: Brazil (above) and England (below) prepare for Wednesday night's friendly The Football Association has, at last, addressed the in-built flaws in youth football and we should feel the benefits over the next 10 years. The popular wisdom favours small-sided games in tight spaces. The logic is irrefutable. Players get more touches, more shots, more runs and more scoring opportunities playing four versus four than 11 versus 11. Their ball skills are improved by technical five-a-sides, rather than a war of attrition on a man’s size pitch that promotes only the most athletically dominant. What Micciche is attempting is stage two. In the dome at Woughton Park worlds collide. Micciche has his Under 16 MK Dons team playing 11-a-side, but on a reduced pitch 60 yards long by 40 wide. He has cones on the touchline marking two invisible offside lines to compress play into the middle third. There is no time, there is no space. To survive in this game, you really have to be able to play. Coaching guru: Micciche's ideas have seen MK Dons' academy flourish An MK Dons kid is trapped on the near touchline, ball at his feet, two lads bearing down on him. He gets out of it with a lovely reverse pass. ‘You see, that, to me, is a goal,’ Micciche says. ‘At this age, you can swing your boot and the ball goes in, and everyone says “well done”. But it’s not necessarily progress, there’s no development. To see him do that, inside, I feel like we’ve scored, because he wouldn’t have tried it six months ago.’ Micciche, as his name suggests, grew up watching Serie A football on a giant satellite dish at home. Roberto Baggio was his man. He is not as steeped in the blood and thunder of English football as his contemporaries. It is no surprise, either, that he started at Crystal Palace where John Cartwright was academy manager. Cartwright, now retired, has been advocating variations of games played in tight spaces for a long time. From Palace, Micciche moved to Tottenham Hotspur working with Chris Ramsey before arriving at Milton Keynes under director of youth Mike Dove, who gave him a blank canvas. .There are five pitches of varying sizes at Woughton Park and academy players of all ages get to use every one. Team numbers vary, too. Each player gets a turn training and playing with boys between one and three years older, and all have a homework file with a list of improvements. The most radical thoughts, however, involve space. ‘A lot of coaches don’t like limiting the space,’ admits Micciche. ‘They think it looks messy. Sometimes it does because we’re asking a lot technically. You might not always get quality, but when you do it is the highest quality. ‘And when they go out onto a full-size pitch again, it feels as if they have got all the time in the world.’ We watched a game together. Milton Keynes Dons versus Forest School. Pitch dimensions of 60 x 40 yards, two quarters nine-a-side, two quarters 11-a-side to feel the difference. Players who looked competent when the team numbers were reduced were suddenly tested as room on the pitch shrank. There was a surprising impact physically. ‘It speeds the game up, but players then need to hold off defenders because they haven’t the space to simply outrun them,’ Micciche explains. ‘Also, in order to work through a compact space, they will need to move their feet and body quickly. ‘The intensity is great so they need to react and think faster. It becomes exhausting, but it makes them clever at finding space.’ A shot rattles against a crossbar. ‘The game has shifted,’ Micciche continues. ‘Nobody gets the ball in splendid isolation any more. It’s like rush hour in midfield, you might get 20 players in 40 yards of space, and the defenders are as fast and athletic as the forwards. ‘We need to recreate what these players are going to face in the future.’ The last time Brazil visited England, in 2007, the performance of Kaka in the heart of the play stood out. No matter how many opponents surrounded him, he demanded the ball and his team-mates were happy to provide it. He always found a pass. Spain and Barcelona have that same quality. Star man: Kaka was outstanding for Brazil at Wembley in 2007 ‘We fail under pressure,’ Micciche adds. ‘That is a fundamental problem in English football. Once the game becomes tight, our approach lets us down.’ The first time Micciche tried out his theories, the opponents were a big Championship club. ‘It was an Under 12 game, a friendly, and I brought the dimensions of the pitch in, used smaller goals,’ he recalls. ‘We were 4-1 down at half-time and a couple of our kids were in tears. ‘I said that this type of football was going to ask different questions of them, that they had to think about how they would answer those questions. ‘We turned it around, and won in the second half. The next day they put in a complaint about us.’ Perhaps that is why as well as the standard league fixtures — MK Dons win some and lose some, like all academy teams — Micciche is happy to accept fixtures from stronger clubs, strong schools or even good men’s amateur teams. Quick thinking: Micciche advocates playing on pitches of different sizes to help youngsters develop ‘It is important to play in as many types of football as possible, with and against players of different strengths and abilities,’ he says. ‘You need to challenge them all the time. Sometimes we won’t have as many players on the field as the opposition, or I’ll take my Under 16s to play a proper men’s team. People say, “you can’t do that” but they learn from it.’ It is possible that, after tonight, it will again be said that English footballers are inferior. That the technique of the Brazilians is a class away. There will be analysis and much you will have heard before. Too many foreign players in the Premier League, an absence of passion for international football. We could tuck it away in a file marked: The Usual. So explain this. Increasingly, there are foreign coaches who have passed through the English game, like Gus Poyet at Brighton and Hove Albion or Roberto Martinez at Wigan Athletic. Pointing the way: Roberto Martinez has brought fluid, passing football to Swansea and Wigan And their teams play. Martinez is the father of modern Swansea City, Poyet has taken Brighton to the brink of the Championship play-off places. Neither developed teams in the lower leagues that were stuffed full of foreign imports. They took local players and improved them technically. Martinez signed Ashley Williams from Stockport County. Will Buckley, one of Brighton’s leading lights, came from Rochdale via Watford. Martinez and Poyet encouraged bog standard Football League players to play a high quality game. So why can’t this be done in international football, with players of twice the ability? No doubt we’ll be asking those questions later. Although if we did it earlier, the answers might be easier to find. Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2274115/Martin-Samuel-Why-Milton-Keynes-Dons-methods-make-play-like-Brazil.html#ixzz2K6xSve3C Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook Edited by dirkvanadidas: 6/2/2013 09:57:58 PM
Europe is funding the war not Chelsea football club
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Arthur
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http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2012/05/02/a-liberal-decalogue-bertrand-russell/A Liberal Decalogue: Bertrand Russell’s 10 Commandments of Teaching by Maria Popova “Do not fear to be eccentric in opinion, for every opinion now accepted was once eccentric.” British philosopher, mathematician, historian, and social critic Bertrand Russell endures as one of the most intellectually diverse and influential thinkers in modern history, his philosophy of religion in particular having shaped the work of such modern atheism champions as Christopher Hitchens, Daniel Dennett, and Richard Dawkins. From the third volume of The Autobiography of Bertrand Russell: 1944-1969 comes this remarkable micro-manifesto, entitled A Liberal Decalogue — a vision for responsibilities of a teacher, in which Russell touches on a number of recurring themes from pickings past — the purpose of education, the value of uncertainty, the importance of critical thinking, the gift of intelligent criticism, and more. It originally appeared in the December 16, 1951, issue of The New York Times Magazine, at the end of the article “The best answer to fanaticism: Liberalism.” Perhaps the essence of the Liberal outlook could be summed up in a new decalogue, not intended to replace the old one but only to supplement it. The Ten Commandments that, as a teacher, I should wish to promulgate, might be set forth as follows: 1.Do not feel absolutely certain of anything. 2.Do not think it worth while to proceed by concealing evidence, for the evidence is sure to come to light. 3.Never try to discourage thinking for you are sure to succeed. 4.When you meet with opposition, even if it should be from your husband or your children, endeavor to overcome it by argument and not by authority, for a victory dependent upon authority is unreal and illusory. 5.Have no respect for the authority of others, for there are always contrary authorities to be found. 6.Do not use power to suppress opinions you think pernicious, for if you do the opinions will suppress you. 7.Do not fear to be eccentric in opinion, for every opinion now accepted was once eccentric. 8.Find more pleasure in intelligent dissent than in passive agreement, for, if you value intelligence as you should, the former implies a deeper agreement than the latter. 9.Be scrupulously truthful, even if the truth is inconvenient, for it is more inconvenient when you try to conceal it. 10.Do not feel envious of the happiness of those who live in a fool’s paradise, for only a fool will think that it is happiness.
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Arthur
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http://www.totalbarca.com/2013/youth/how-to-know-if-a-youth-player-will-go-all-the-way/How to know if a youth player will go all the way? Posted at: 16:00 on Friday, February 1, 2013 Category: Opinion Pieces, Youth Written by: Alexandra I’ve been following youth football at Barça for a while now. And there have been many talents produced, many “safe” stars for the future. However, most of those “safe” future stars, those everyone thought would make it, didn’t. In other words, they didn’t live up to their potential. Instead, a few of those no one really paid much attention to, did make it. But how can we really know that a youth player will make it? That he will go all the way to the first team or even become one of the best if not the best in the world one day? This task might prove impossible. Because the ball is round and everything can happen in football, and everything can happen in life. Even the most talented lad can drop his focus for one reason or another or get injured or take the wrong decision at the wrong time. We simply cannot predict who will make it big. But what we can know is who has the biggest potential to make it. And I can tell you what I’ve learnt since I started to follow the youth set-up at Barça: the one with the biggest potential to make it, is not necessarily the one with the biggest talent. But the one with talent along with strong mentality, the one who can tackle the obstacles, can learn from his mistakes, and go through hard moments will come out on top. I can honestly say I believed Bojan would make it and become a top scorer. I was sure Gai Assuilin would get to the first team. And a few years ago, I thought that Gerard Deulofeu would come to be our main man, but I’m not too sure anymore. Because I’ve learned a lesson. Bojan is a great example. He was the boy who was asked by his coach to not cross the half-line because he didn’t want to upset the opponents by having Bojan scoring tons of goals on them. For five year olds, the game of football should be fun. But not crossing the half-line wouldn’t stop five year old Bojan from scoring goals. He was the kid who arrived at Barça as a 9-year old, who during his seven years in the youth teams of the club became the best scorer in the history of La Masia by scoring 3,5 goals per game (for seven years). He was the boy who scored over 200 goals during a single season. Bojan Krkic was the goalscoring king. He could enter a game his team was losing to score what was needed for them to win in the last minutes. He also became the youngest goalscorer ever for FC Barcelona’s first team and he ended his first season at Camp Nou with 10 goals, taking over the record from Real Madrid’s Raúl to the best debut season in La Liga for a youngster. But what Bojan had missed while growing up, was that he had never had any problems, any obstacles. He was the guy who always succeeded. So when the regular forwards at Barça recovered their form and returned from their injures, young Bojan was left on the bench. As he got less time on the pitch, his self-confidence would hit rock bottom. For the first time, he had no clue how to get it back up again, because he had never been in this position before. It didn’t matter how many goals he scored before or how great his goalscoring talent was, because his mind stopped him from performing. Bojan didn’t succeed at Barça because he had succeeded all his life. He couldn’t handle the hardship of being on the bench and fighting for a starting berth, he wasn’t mentally ready. Another example is Gai Assulin. Gai was the star of the 1991 generation at Barça, one of the best generations in the club’s history. He was touted as the new Messi. Or at least, that’s what people were saying about him. In the 2007-08 season, Gai, while still at Cadet level, would get his debut with Barça B under Guardiola (one who believed a lot in the Israeli boy). During the same season, he was given his first team debut for the Israeli national team, at just 16 years of age, becoming the youngest ever to do so. Everyone was so impressed, it was hard not to think that he was one for the future. But to focus on football would get harder and harder for Gai. There was a war in his home country and he was concerned about the safety of his family. As he turned 18, the war would create more problems for the young boy as he was obligated to join the Israeli army. Traveling home to work a way around his two years of mandatory military service, Gai missed the start of the 2008-09 preseason with Barça B. That would come to have a serious impact on his career, as bad preparation for the season later saw him get badly injured, and he was forced to miss nearly the entire season. After the injury, Gai wasn’t the same football player, he struggled to get back into form and his development seemed to have stalled. In 2010, his contract expired and the boy who was said to be the new Messi was released from the club. The first time I watched Gerard Deulofeu work his magic was when he was 14-years old. He had already been dubbed the new Ronaldinho and some of the major English clubs had been in contact with Barça for his services. Since then, I’ve watched him on and off and I have told people that this kid is special, that he will make it. But I have come to realize that it’s not that obvious anymore. He is still a fantastic player and I still say he has boundless talent. But can he handle set- backs? So far, the Deulofeu show hasn’t stopped. Fans are talking about him, not only as a future first team player but as a future Ballon d’Or winner. He, himself, seems to believe them. Gerard has got the talent, he even exudes it. But at the tender age of 18 years, he is just not there yet. Even if the press, fans and Gerard himself sometimes seem to forget that. The other day, at the Mini Clàsico, everyone was talking about Gerard, he was being put under pressure. Pressure he had never really been under before. And unsurprisingly, he played one of his worst games of the season, as he looked like he forgot his teammates were playing by his side. Sure, the Madrid players were on him from the start, but he showed he isn’t ready to handle that type of pressure just yet. I won’t say Gerard won’t make it, but what I will say, is that it will not be down to his talent (that he has) but down to his mentality whether he makes it or not. Will he be able to tackle set-backs or will they do to him what they did to other promising players before him? While I’ve been more or less screaming at people to stop hyping Deulofeu so much, I’ve myself been praising Martin Montoya relentlessly. I believe he should have started instead of Dani Alvés in several games. The reason for that, is that I think Montoya is ready. We all know he has the talent, but he has shown he has the mentality as well. Now it’s time to feed him to the sharks, because he’s shown that he will be able to beat the sharks. Martin Montoya has never been hyped like any of the players I already named. He is a player who went through tough times, both on and off the field. The hardest one was when he lost his mother a couple of years ago, but Martín bounced back to make his first team debut. In his second first team game, the first at Camp Nou, he suffered a serious injury after only a few seconds, and missed the remainder of the season. Montoya came back, was one of the most vital players as Spain won the U21 Euro and was named to the Spanish national team, all this while still a Barça B player. Martin Montoya has shown many times that he knows how to handle set-backs, that they make him stronger. Mentally, he is more ready than anyone and we have all seen what he’s capable of on the pitch. Other players who I think have the right mentality are Cristian Tello and Isaac Cuenca. Both players started out at Barça at an early stage, but both also left Barça at one point: Tello because he wasn’t good enough and Cuenca because he missed home. Both players also worked their way back to Barça. It is not an easy thing to return to La Masia after having had to leave once. Tello had worked himself up in the Espanyol shirt where he was offered a first team contract but he turned it down as Barça B was asking for his return. He chose the bench of Barça B instead of the Espanyol first team. There, he worked himself up to get playing time, caught the attention of Guardiola and suddenly Tello was scoring goals for Barça’s first team. Hard work paid off. Tello later showed his mental strength once again, when Guardiola started the youngster against Madrid. Tello didn’t play badly, but he hit a terrible miss and Barça ended up losing. Media and fans blamed the loss on Tello or rather on the decision of starting him in a game of this magnitude. Many a youngsters’ self-confidence would have hit bottom after that, but Tello’s didn’t. He kept on working hard and scoring when given the chance. Regarding Cuenca, he was sent out on loan at Sabadell. However, he didn’t give up, he had an incredible season at Sabadell and came back to the club with a bang, earning himself a promotion to the first team. Tello and Cuenca might not make it all the way, but they have the mentality to do so. All that’s left for them to do now is show they have the talent as well. Two other players worth mentioning are Busquets and Pedro. Two of today’s first team’s most vital players. They didn’t have an easy ride either: Busquets failed to impress Barça as a kid and it wasn’t until his late teens that he was able to enroll in the club, while Pedro was asked to look for another club before Guardiola jumped in to save his skin. They were never the youth players fans and media talked about. But they were two boys who knew the worst parts of football. Pep saw their talent early and almost overnight, he took Busi and Pedrito from being unknown fourth division players, to World Cup winners and household names. What I try to do when I want to know if a player can make it or not, is to look at the player’s history, what obstacles did he face, how did he handle them. I’m not saying a player that always succeeded will not be able to handle set-backs, I’m just saying we don’t know how he will handle them. With a player that has overcome them before, we know how he will react to the obstacles coming his way. There is never a safe answer to what player will make it and who will not. But what I’ve learned and what I would like to convey to you, is that it takes more than raw ability and talent for a player to make it. Also, to over-hype a player who’s not ready yet can result in a great talent getting lost. Mistakes are important, obstacles and set-backs are what can make a good player become a great one. Read more: http://www.totalbarca.com/2013/youth/how-to-know-if-a-youth-player-will-go-all-the-way/#ixzz2Jvlcym7t
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Arthur
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Quote:http://english.gazzetta.it/Football/24-01-2013/youth-systems-italy-last-europe-liga-kings-of-home-grown-talent-913972575349.shtmlYouth systems: Italy last in Europe
La Liga kings of "home grown" talentMilano, 24 January 2013 On average, Serie A clubs only have 7.8% of their players come through the ranks of their youth system. In Spain, the average is 25.9%, France and England follow, ahead of Germany. The majority of players brought in from outside are forwards and central defenders It’s the `14th minute of the Levante-Barcelona game at the Ciutat de Valencia stadium, on November 25, 2012: Daniel Alves isn’t fit enough to continue, so he asks to be substituted. His place is taken by Martin Montoya. An insignificant statistic, just one of many lost in yet another win for the Blaugrana...? Yes, well... perhaps not. As, that day, for the 1st time in their history, Barça started a match with 11 players all of whom had come through their successful youth academy: Valdes; Montoya, Piqué, Puyol, Jordi Alba; Xavi, Busquets, Iniesta; Pedro, Messi, Fabregas. The final score: 'La Masia' (the name of the Barça training facilities and youth academy, although we really do mean Barça...) beat Levante 4-0. The magical ‘quarry’ where the Catalan side ‘dig up’ their stars of the future is an exception to the rule, as, not even in Spain, a country now considered the breeding ground for exceptional football stars, does any other club have so much success in building a side of future champions with players that have come through their ranks: and La Liga is the league in Europe where more home grown talent gets a stab at 1st team football than in any other country. “Home grown players” account for 25.9% of all players in Spain – essentially, more than a quarter of the squad has cost nothing on the transfer market. Now that we know who tops the league for home grown talent in Europe, let’s look to see who is propping up the table: no need to look too far away from home as... it’s Italy - with a miserly 7.8% of players coming through the ranks. It really makes us want to say something like “let’s focus on youth systems so that we can come out of the current crisis...”. METHOD — We simply have to look at the reason why more closely: the people who compile these statistics are the Swiss "CIES Football Observatory", who look at the 31 major domestic leagues in UEFA across Europe. And what these statistics reveal to us is that, outside Italy, a player who “comes through the ranks” at a club is considered “important” and he’s nurtured from a young age, through all the various levels of the club, until, finally, making an appearance with the “big boys” in the 1st team. In other words, Xavi at Barça can be compared to Macheda at Manchester Utd, Marchisio at Juve and Alaba at Bayern Munich. It’s the reason why the Premier League is still high in this list, as academy systems in England account for 17.5% of the players who run out for their clubs: when looking at the “top” leagues in Europe, rather than the smaller leagues, the Premier League is 3rd in the statistics, behind la Liga and Ligue 1 in France (21.1%) and, surprisingly, ahead of the German Bundesliga (14.7%). ON THE LOOK-OUT FOR GOAL SCORERS — Italian and English clubs are the clubs who also buy in the most players from outside their borders: over 50% of 1st team players in Serie A and the Premier League have come through the ranks ‘abroad’ (the average in Europe is 36.1%). And it’s also interesting to note just which type of player clubs bring in: they are keener to bring goalkeepers through their ranks (25.9%) compared to full backs (22.5%), attacking midfield players (22.2%) than defensive midfield players (21.6%) but they bring through fewer central defenders (18.8%) and forwards (17.4%). UNFAVOURABLE REGULATIONS — But why is it that in Italy - where, according to those in the know, football clubs can overcome the “current crisis" in the game by focussing on their youth system - football clubs appear to lag so far behind their European cousins? It’s hard to narrow things down to just 2 or 3 reasons - just as it would be absurd to try to sum up the entire complicated and massive issue in just the few lines we have available here. But what is clear is that the biggest problem faced by Italian clubs is the ease in which the youngster can be “attracted” by clubs outside Italy, especially the Premier League (remember Rossi, Lupoli, Macheda, Petrucci, etc.). It’s all down to rules and regulations (and UEFA should really think about adding one or two more rules in a bid to protect clubs a bit more...) but also down to the fact that Italian clubs aren’t allowed to offer young players the same sort of lucrative deals they can sign outside Italy. In recent years, more often than not, many Italian clubs with thriving youth academies (in particular Atalanta) have been begrudgingly forced to accept the compensation that they've been offered for the loss of a player as they stand absolutely no chance of matching the deal the other club can offer the youngster (and perhaps even offer other members of his family...) to make the switch abroad. MENTALITY — The other fundamental issue is the notion of the way football is played in Serie A. And Italian clubs have no good excuse when it comes to defending themselves from criticism. Barcelona play the same way, use the same tactics and the same system, throughout their ranks – from youth team to senior team. Again, they’re the exception to the rule rather than the norm. Indeed, finding another club that has a set-up like that operated at Barça - we can even refer to it as “the Barça model"... - is extremely difficult indeed, even though many clubs in Europe focus on developing players through their youth systems – players who will eventually play for the senior side. Its easier developing youngsters and bringing them through the ranks until, at the age of 20, they're ready to stake a claim for a regular place in the 1st team than to try to buy someone who will “fit into the club", fit into "the Juve style" or “the AC Milan style” or “the Inter style”. Players who are ready to fit seamlessly into the way the side is playing - and who are capable of making a difference to the team. Players who can be considered ‘good enough’ for the 1st team without the need for the club to dip into the transfer market. Youngsters who can come through the ranks, who know the systems, the ‘feeling’ and ‘spirit’ at the club. Youngsters who deserve to be shown faith by the clubs - clubs who gave them their chance in football many years earlier... - and to be part of a mid-to-long-term plan. Perhaps we’re still a long way from achieving that in Italy, but if in Italy we don’t start now, we never will... Stefano Cantalupi © RIPRODUZIONE RISERVATA
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krones3
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Pistola
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All I can say is that we here in Australia are miles behind, we have no structure whatsoever and the constant changes FNSW makes are real worrying, clubs are no different no one cares for no one, clubs change players at a drop of a hat, eg: The club wins the grand final next season the whole team is gone I mean coach included , is this the best way to develop or nature our youth the answer is no. gallop must do something quick with our youth, we are spending to much time on our senior players that ate probably to old to play at a higher level.
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dirk vanadidas
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Talent Identification HOW TO IDENTIFY TALENT Rasmus Ankersen is an ex-footballer, a bestselling author, a speaker on performance development and a respected advisor to businesses and athletes around the world. You'll never find him in one place for more than a few days - he is always on the move, flying from city to city to do new research, advise major companies or address sold-out audiences. Well that's what his website says! NCFA armed Paul Cooper with some crayons and paper to take down the great Dane's answers to some searching questions fired with love. While trying to trackdown the globe trotting Rasmus we hasten to add that no-one was hurt during this interview! Paul Cooper (PC) Thank you for doing this interview for the National Children's Football Alliance newsletter Rasmus. Where did your incredible journey start? Rasmus Ankersen (RA). I had particularly one experience which led me on the high performance track. In 2004 I helped establish Scandinavia's first football academy. We had to struggle to attract players for the academy's first intake. Because we were the new boy in business we were the last to pick players and had to take what was left over when the other clubs had made their choices. One of the candidates we considered was a fifteen-year-old boy from a town 50 kilometres from the academy. His name was Simon Kjaer and we only accepted him because we couldn't get anyone better. However, three years later we ended up selling Simon Kjaer for 3.3 million pounds when he was just eighteen years old. He has since been named at the footballer of the year in Denmark as one of the youngest ever and he is today perceived as one of the biggest football talents in Europe. The interesting part of this story is that six months after Simon Kjaer had joined the academy all the coaches including me wrote down the names of the five players from the academy we thought would go furthest in five years, in order of priority. At that time we had sixteen players to choose from. Five years later, just after Kjaer was sold for 3.3 million pounds, we reviewed our lists and out of eight coaches no one turned out to have Simon Kjaer's name on their list. Everyday ever since I've obviously asked myself: How could we have been so mistaken? What exactly did we overlook? And my belief is that all coaches, managers, parents and teachers, in any field whatsoever, all have to deal with their own Simon Kjaer problem, because he confronts us all with numerous questions, which need to be addressed regardless of what industry you work in or where in the world you find yourself. What is talent? Do we actually know what the word means? Do we even know what we are looking for? How can we identify talent? How is it grown? And how can we grow it more effectively? It was these questions that drove me to discover the gold mines of talent. (PC) In the quest to understand high performance you actually lived and trained with some of the best athletes and sportspeople in the world - was there any one experience that stood out for you? (RA)Visiting MVP Track & Field Club (the world's most successful sprint club) in Kingston, Jamaica made a big impression on me. We seem to believe groomed fields, top-level technology and comfortable surroundings are necessary prerequisites for success. We would tend to use poor, overcrowded facilities as an excuse for not achieving better results. My experiences in Kingston and in many of the other gold mines I visited really challenged these beliefs. Nowhere I saw these kind of great facilities. First and foremost because people in the gold mines know that luxurious surroundings often diminish effort, because they leave people with a feeling that nobody striving for top performance should ever have: that of already having arrived. A performance environment should not be designed for comfort but for hard work. It has to show people that the road to success is long and uncomfortable. On the bottom line success comes down to mindset and who wants it most - much more than it is about fancy facilities. (PC). In your new book The Gold Mine Effect you look at the business world as well as sport - can you please tell us a bit about the book? (RA) No matter if you are a coach in sports or a business leader in business you tend to ask yourself the same questions: How do I attract the best talent? And how do I build an environment where talent flourishes? The general debate on talent development is full of misunderstandings, cliches, romanticised conceptions, guesswork and outdated knowledge. My aim in this book is to deliver a fresh, highly practical perspective on the subject - not by doing the research back from my desk, but actually to learn by literally living and training with the worlds best athletes and their coaches. I believe that my conclusions can be adapted to any field. (PC). I guess all of the great sports people started their potential careers as children. How important is 'play' in achieving high performance? (RA)Practice is the mother of all world-class performance. When you think you see god-given talent in a business leader, a musician or an athlete, what you really see might is likely to be somebody who consciously or unconsciously practiced a lot in at an early age. At an early stage practice is play. Brazilian boys play in the streets every day and without even realizing it they've reached their 10.000 hours of practice when they are 13. A British boy who doesn't play but just practice at his club three times a week will reach his 10,000 hours of practice when he is in his late twenties. The spontaneous and free play is critical at an early stage not only to get enough practice hours under your skin but also to boost motivation. This is why researchers not only talk about deliberate practice, but also about deliberate play. (PC) In football children used to learn by playing in the streets, playgrounds and parks - different terrains, formats, ages, abilities and without adult coaches. This has been overtaken in many cases by club systems and at the higher end academies. Is there a danger that this can stifle creativity and children are told what to do rather than finding out for themselves? 'The biggest mistake we make in Europe is being too well organised'. (RA) I think there is. Just a look at the Brazilian top players in football. It's the same story with Pele, Ronaldinho, Robinho, Ronaldo, Zico and all the others grew up in poverty playing on the streets every day. Very little of their training was done in clubs. They practised on their own. The top players we see today in the major international football arenas were not trained in an established system; they are the direct products of unorganised football on the streets. The biggest mistake we make in Europe is being too well organised. Brazilian footballers are not a product of organised talent development. The secret is spontaneous, unorganised football. (PC) What is the best environment to achieve high performance? (RA) It's an environment full of great role models. Look at the running epi center in Iten, Kenya. If you go jogging for 30 minutes as the sun rises, meeting four world champions on the way is not an exceptional event. In Iten the superstars train side-by-side with the young hopefuls. Imagine what that means. Every morning, the novices get to see how the world's best do their training. They see that elite runners also suffer when the going gets tough; that they are not always at their best either - they see that they are humans too. But they also see what price they are willing to pay and how hard they push themselves. They witness what it takes to success at close quarters. (PC) Who are your role models and heroes? (RA) I admire people who have the courage to do the unexpected and leave their comfort zones. People who are driven by inner curiosity and a willingness to learn rather that the need to look good and to maintain a certain image of how other people perceive them. (PC) How important is the childhood aspect that provides the foundation for world class athletes to develop, focus and remain ultra competitive? (RA) It's ultra important. If you want to be really good at what you do you'll have to start practicing at an early age and you have to understand that very often it is the perseverance that builds the passion, not the other way around. That perseverance will have to be nurtured by a great support system; parents, coaches etc. You will not make international top class if you're just on your own. For more information regarding Rasmus Ankersen's work contact:www.thegoldmineeffect.com http://www.childrensfootballalliance.com/How_to_Identify_Talent.html
Europe is funding the war not Chelsea football club
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neverwozza
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Thanks for the great reads Arthur.
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Arthur
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Arthur
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Arthur
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[youtube]3f9mUlG6Nvs[/youtube]
FC Barcelona - Els 10 millors gols del planter (23 de gener de 2013)
Top 10 Goals from Barcelona's juniors.
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