Building a House without Foundations

This is a short blog that I hope will be useful to coaches in grassroots along with those working with the younger age groups in Academies and Centres of Excellence.


I recently attended the Premier Skills Academy Coaches Course and the course tutor John Cartwright's introduction gave a simple and clear Playing Vision that should be used consistently throughout.  The key to it being that Individualism, continuity, progression and patience/possession should be emphasised throughout.


John's argument is that the building of the foundations is often missed in the hastened move to competitive 'winning at all costs' attitudes.  In his words, the roof is put on before the foundations have been laid correctly.

Playing Vision

15+ Mixing the Game Styles                             Throughout this vision

13/14 Learning through the thirds                   Individualism, Continuity

11/12 Introduction to the senior game            Progression and Patience in

9/10} Building the                                           Possession should be advocated

6/8 } Foundations

Extracts from Football for the Brave
A national playing style 'template' would allow the building blocks for progress to be clearly set out.  Important foundations could be prioritised and effected to provide the game with the strong supports it needs to eliminate mistakes and create and maintain success at club and international levels.


A pre-occupation with 'tidy practice' and over organisation has strangled realism, spontaneity and individualism amongst our coaches and players.  The importance of decision-making on time and space in both practising and playing has been largely ignored by the coaching fraternity.  Too much emphasis has been given to 'choreographed' and 'regimented' practice to produce technical ability.  We have not understood that football is not played with technique but with skill.  Skill demands decisions on time and space as they affect both the attacking and defending situations of the game.  Our coaching methods have not produced ideas or methods for practices in which kids can develop skills realistically for easy transfer into competitive match-play.


Evidence of Missing Foundations?
It is evident when looking at the England national team that many of the squad are good footballers but are they complete footballers?  Some examples I can think of:


Goalkeepers
England have a fine tradition of excellent shot stopping goalkeepers who are comfortable in the set position but since the introduction of the pass back rule can you name a goalkeeper that is as comfortable on the ball as Victor Valdes or Edwin van de Sar when the defenders in front use them to recycle play across the back line? Most passes back are met with a long clearance up the field rather than a touch to the other foot and short pass to switch the play.


Defenders
Why people say Ashley Cole is one of the best left backs in the world is beyond me!  Yes he looks good going forward, is fast in recovery and can hold up play & win possession back but get him on his right foot and his game disintegrates.  In the 2010 World Cup go back and have a look at the amount of times (especially against Germany) where he was forced back inside on to his right foot and looked lost.  On his right foot there is no patience or individualism and he passes the buck not the ball.
John Terry is a great example of where a player has been honed in the art of playing as a stopper rather than an all round skillful footballer.  He rarely advances beyond the middle of the defensive third with the ball at his feet and when he does the pass will be forced or long.  Look at Lucio and Gerard Pique for defenders who are as comfortable with the ball as they are at defending without it.


Midfielders
Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard and Michael Carrick all fall under the category of good footballers, but, again will they go down in history as 'great' footballers or 'legends'? Can you say that they are confident and comfortable in tight areas, under pressure and have the ability to retain possession of the ball in these situations?  Whenever I watch England this is where we struggle big time and is a fundamental part of the modern game.  Xavi, Iniesta, Fabregas constantly scan before receiving, they know where they are in relation to team-mates, where the space is, shield the ball, keep the ball and then play to maintain possession constantly.  I hope Jack Wilshere is going to be the norm rather than the exception as he has similar skills to the spanish trio shown above and looks comfortable in tight areas whilst maintaining possession very well.


Strikers
Rooney is undoubtedly an excellent footballer but his game is affected by those around him at international level.  The game against Algeria in last year's World Cup is the best example of how he can disappear in a game when not supported by a team that can maintain possession, be patient and be innovative.  It is these kind of games where a team that can move the ball from back to front, maintain possession, recycle the ball by switching play whilst being patient to look for the moment to penetrate will be the team in which Rooney can shine.  The use of long passes to break down a stubborn defence, overweighted passes from midfield to the forwards and lack of clever, imaginative and positive running with the ball will mean Rooney will resort to dropping back closer and closer to his own half simply to get involved in the game.  In some respects the same happens to Messi when playing for Argentina but I believe he is more accomplished at running at the opposition to create chances for himself or others.


Summary
I am sure that this will come across as being negative about the English game.  I always ask myself this.  But really it is frustration rather than negativity.  I think what these players would be like and what the team would be like if the foundations had been built (completely) before putting the roof on.

Are you a Coaching Socialist or Coaching Capitalist?

Over the years football coaching has seen many changes and for some the creation of a lucrative business.  Some may argue that the larger coaching companies were started to 'fill a gap in the market'.  Those that concentrate on the development of technical skills argue that the players developed through the traditional route of schools, clubs and latterly academies and centres of excellence (using standard FA coaching techniques) did not have the sufficient technical, one v one and attacking skills in comparison to young players from countries such as Brazil, Holland and Spain.


Its easy to see why there was a gap in the market, England has not been producing the number of skilful footballers that should be expected of a nation who's national game is football and the fault for this could arguably be aimed at the problems with football governance in England, particularly since the introduction of the Premier League.  However, the attempt to fill this gap seems to have created a business centred, profit motivated approach in some coaching organisations. I am sure that these organisations have a player centred approach in its core ethos but arguably this has been overridden by the need to make money and maximise exposure of the 'brand'.


Of course there isn't anything wrong with earning a living from coaching, we all need to. Indeed many individuals have set up small scale coaching schools that operate in the local education system where, quite frankly the government have forced teachers not to be involved in PE and school sport and created a need for qualified coaches who in effect replace the now almost defunct primary school PE teacher.  I do question the ultimate commitment of the larger coaching organisations that are effectively a brand just as McDonald's and Subway is.  They even operate the same business model in the form of selling the brand in the form of a franchise.


My concern is when commercial organisations use their methodology as THE answer and THE solution to the perceived weakness in the skill of English footballers.  Don't get me wrong, there is the need to improve on skill acquisition but how this is done, how it is charged for and who provides it is the key to the development of players.  In a perfect world all coaches from grassroots to elite will have been educated using the same methodology producing excellence throughout. The FA would be responsible for the hiring and deployment of coaches to spread the word in a coherent and consistent way. The reality of course is very different which is why parents and players will seek (quite rightly) all alternatives to learn and improve.


I have always had a strong belief that ALL methods of coaching should be considered and even then, just around the corner there will be a new coach with new ideas, a new method and progression in research and best practice to help improve the coaching of youth football in England.  We can't stand still, rely on what has always been done or stick to one particular style because it is perceived to be THE best option for youth development.  Stagnation in ideas, governance and leadership is the reason why football and the skill of players in this country has resulted in the problems we have today.


Football practice in general and the amount and quality is the key to excellence, but I don't believe that some forms of isolated technical based training advocated by the franchise model are as effective as a game centred programme.  Game intelligence skills such as the awareness of time and space, keeping possession and playing through the thirds, overloading to gain advantage and recognising what to do in transition are key to indicators of skill in the elite footballer and cannot be replicated in isolated skills based practice. 
Some isolated skills training ideas can be less effective and are based on the creators intuition, tradition and the ethos created by the organisation rather than quality, evidence based research.


Research by Liverpool John Moores University has shown that practice conditions scientifically shown to facilitate skill acquisition include:

• Random practice in which a number of different football skills are performed in a random order (the opposite being blocked practice where one skill is performed repetitively).
• Variable practice in which there are a variety of skill outcomes such as distance, speed and direction (the opposite being constant practice where the same skill outcome occurs on each attempt at the skill).
• Transfer appropriate processing occurs in practices that cause the players themselves to make decisions that match those made in the environment where the skill is to be performed.  In a football match, players must make decisions based on the actions of the opposition.

Some of the 'game intelligence' or 'game reading' skills that develop as a function of extended exposure to scientific evidence based practice:

• Visual search skill is the ability of players to use their eyes to extract important information from the playing environment (eg, player about to receive a pass looks around searching for positioning of team-mates and opponents).
• Anticipation skill is the ability of players to anticipate another player's action.  Anticipation is guided by visual search, but is also guided by skilled players' ability to: (i) recognise advance postural cues prior to another player's action; and (ii) recognise meaningful structure within an emerging pattern of play.
• Decision making skill is the ability of players to decide which action to pursue in any given situation (ie, if X event occurs, then I performs Y action).

Sink or Swim
Because the FA have a comprehensive plan in place in the form of the Future Game publications along with the Young Player Development Review and the Premier League's Elite Player Performance Plan all coaches including commercial organisations will need to evaluate their current methodology and ask themselves is it 'fit for purpose', does it include best practice based on evidence based research and more importantly is it right for youth footballers today and producing the footballer of the future?


Summary

Skills training as advocated by commercial coaching organisations should be seen as a valuable contribution to football development where players can use them positively to improve skill and technique.  However, they should not be seen as an all encompassing method of producing excellent footballers.  Players will not be successful simply by learning certain skills based moves in isolation.  They need to know how these moves are best used when playing football and being exposed to a variety of game realistic football scenarios in their training.  Heading the ball is a good example of a crucial game specific skill that is rarely seen in certain coaching methods.

So, if your son or daughter is involved with training with a commercial (lets not forget these companies are there to make a profit) coaching company see it as a positive contribution to the development of youth footballers but not the solution to the development of excellent footballers.  This takes exposure to a range of coaching and self training, along with playing the game, learning about the game, learning to love the game and all aspects of the 'four corners' for football.

Players will need to have acquired fundamental movement skills and ball familiarity and basic technique before more complicated skill based moves are introduced.  Also, players need to know why they are performing a certain skill, where it can be used, when it should be used and how to use it in a game of football.  Arguably they need to understand the basics of the game first, simple ideas such as keeping the ball away from an opponent, moving the ball from one end to the other with the aim of scoring, stopping their opponents from getting the ball and stopping opponents from scoring.

Finally, to answer the question, do you provide coaching on behalf of the footballer or do you provide coaching for the purpose of making profit regardless of the quality and relevance of the organisations product?  Are you a coaching socialist or a coaching capitalist?

Positive Influence in Football

When I did my UEFA B licence, part of the portfolio work was on "Positive Working Relationships in Football".  This covers areas such as coaching philosophy, psychological factors associated with player performance and consideration of how players learn.


I have revisited my notes and found some interesting things that were not all included in my final portfolio and link nicely with "The Archery Story".  This story comes from an organisation called FISH! who advocate a certain philosophy in work and day to day life.


The Archery Story

A nine-year-old boy, shopping with his father, approached the counter of the archery department at a large sporting goods retailer. He proclaimed to the salesman standing behind the counter, “I want to shoot bows and arrows.”

The salesman, who had been talking with a co-worker, glanced over his shoulder at the boy and said in an annoyed tone, “Come back when you’re a little older and I’ll show you some bows.” He turned back to his colleague and resumed their conversation.

Later that same day the boy and his father were at another sporting goods store. Undaunted by his earlier exchange, the boy approached a salesman standing near the archery equipment and again said, “I want to shoot bows and arrows.”

The salesman got down on one knee. His eyes lit up as he said to the boy, “I was about your age when I got my first bow!” He told the boy the story of his first bull’s eye while shooting targets with his Dad in their back yard. He let the boy feel the weight of an adult-sized bow in his hands and invited him to take some shots with a youth bow on their indoor target range. The boy’s father purchased the youth bow and some targets.

The first salesman saw the boy as a kid interrupting his work. The second salesman saw him as a boy with a dream to shoot “bows and arrows.” 

The simple moral of this story is how easy it could be to have a negative influence on a child's wish to be involved in any sport and I am sure many can identify this to football.  The constant shouting from the sidelines, telling players what not to do rather than what they have done well, the over-bearing parent or coach.  There are many negative actions or comments that are made that young footballers may hear and may be undaunted by as shown above.  But, what if these are constant?  I'm sure many players disappear from the game because of this kind of negative barrage.  All it takes is the parent or coach to remind their players why they loved to play football when they were 9 or 10, scoring goals and experiencing this with friends, trying new skills, playing in or out of goal and just enjoying the game, maybe it was just the fact they could join up with a group of friends and get covered in mud at the local park.

As part of the process of developing a coaching philosophy my notes show the following points.  I am sure many will agree that these are not 'rocket science' but they should be something that we as coaches, managers, parents and supporters of youth footballers maybe take a look at once in a while and ask ourselves is this something we do consistently?

• Supportive
• Encouragement
• Approachable
• Friendly
• Knowledgeable
• Fun 
• Positive
• Enabling
• Consistent
• Motivational

Something I think is useful to remember when coaching is to always think the opposite whenever I hear a negative comment or indeed if I have my own negative thought:

Rather than "Pass it" - "Can we keep the ball?"

Rather than "If in doubt, Away and Row Z" - "Can we keep the ball?"

Rather than "No, not there" - "Can you go past him?"

Rather than "Get back, recover" - "Can we slow them down?"

Rather than "Don't do that" - "Can we try this?"

Rather than "Get stuck in" - "Can I nick the ball?"

US Soccer Curriculum - Style and Principles of Play

The US Soccer Federation have recently published what I would call their coaching philosophy.  In their words "The curriculum is designed to improve development of players in the organized player base in the United States, concentrating on  creating more organized, age-appropriate training sessions, developing coaching practices and creating an environment that is fun for the players."

This blog is about the first part - Style and Principles of Play and is my personal view after reading this document and it should be noted that I have not read through all of the other parts of the curriculum yet.

Firstly, it must be said that any football association or federation that outlines their countries football philosophy should be commended.  The US and New Zealand are the most recent I have seen.  The Football Associations equivalent guide to young player development is 'The Future Game' document for elite and grass-roots respectively.

Any document like this is valuable to all coaches, players, parents, and others involved in football and can act as a positive template to refer to.  This is the key however.  I believe it should be referred to and not act as some kind of 'bible' to be adhered to without using your own individualism and innovation.  In the rest of the blog I hope this makes sense as I have attempted to review the Style and Principles of Play from an independent point of view.  Text shown in red is lifted directly from the US Soccer Curriculum.

Style of Play:General

Offensive style

All teams will be encouraged to display an offensive style of play based on keeping possession and quick movement of the ball.

This is a positive statement for the general style of play and is good to see in a national federation/association 'vision' document.

Quick transitions and finishing

Speed of play, avoiding over-dribbling, looking for an organized and quick movement of the ball and finishing will be encouraged in all age groups.

Unfortunately, I can see this comment being used by some as a way of preventing dribbling and running with the ball.  The intention is obviously to advise when to hold and when to release the ball to retain possession but using the word 'over-dribbling' has negative connotations and could potentially stifle experimentation and innovation in younger players.   Far too often in youth football, particularly at the 'grassroots' level I hear the words. "pass it, get rid, don't be too flash."  The encouragement of creativity and expression is crucial.

Position specific

A team must be organized defensively, keeping their specific positions in the formation. However, players will look for spaces and movements to support forward when attacking by moving away from their original positions.

Not sure about defenders being required to keep specific positions in defence and only encourage movement in the support of forward play?

I think the wording would be better if it said - "A team must be organised defensively, with  the ability and willingness to rotate positions when necessary.  When attacking, defenders should be able to overload into forward positions to gain advantage knowing that cover will be provided by defensive and attacking colleagues where appropriate".


Formations

4-3-3 formation

Teams will use the 4-3-3 formation, either in its 4-2-3-1 or 4-1-2-3 variations. Teams in the advanced stage (U15 onwards) can also use a 4-4-2 formation with a diamond in the middle. This system(4-4-2 diamond) provides more space in the wide areas of the field for the outside backs to move forward and join the attack
Again, whilst being commendable that US Soccer want to create a template for coaches to follow and a number of options are given, I feel that the above could potentially restrict innovative thinking.  Rather than 'will use' why not just say the US national team will use this system?  Teams, particularly in the development phase should not be restricted by 4 formations.  Instead adding something like "Teams should use a flexible 4-3-3 formation with its relevant variations and have the capacity to switch to other playing systems such as 4-4-2 with a diamond in the middle.  Degrees of flexibility will always be needed depending on circumstances, the players available and the opposition the team are facing.

Back 4

All formations used by the teams in 11-a-side games must keep a back 4 line. The back 4 provides consistency in defence and allows space for the outside backs to move forward when attacking.

Again it is around the word 'must' in this instance regarding a flat back four.  In most european competition the centre backs are seen as the defensive pillars. Rarely lured out of position, the general tendency is for them to appear in attacking areas exclusively for set plays and full backs to be the one to advance in attacking areas. However, I believe they should not be restricted from doing so. As mentioned previously as long as relevant rotation, cover/balance is encouraged and provided by colleagues.  If the team are losing it might be necessary to have the two full backs attacking and a holding midfielder covering in a back line of 3.

9v9
Teams playing 9v9 soccer are strongly encouraged to use the 3-2-3 formation. This formation helps players express the principles of play specified in this document. This system allows for better adaptation to a 4-3-3 formation as the players progress to 11v11.
This is a far more positive statement as it states that teams are 'strongly encouraged' rather than 'must' and it will help younger players adapt to the 11v11 version of the game.

Style of Play:Specific
In this section US Soccer describe their equivalent of the '4 Corner' model and how the style of play fits into the Technical, Tactical, Physical and Psychosocial.  This section includes a number of good points, the majority of which are used by most football associations that have produced this kind of document.  A couple of points I did notice are on the Physical section and is probably not surprising considering the US approach in the past and the undoubted physical competence of US footballers.  The US are well known for the conditioning and fitness of athletes but I feel should be careful when applying these specific aspects to the younger players.

Endurance - Individual players and teams will train to be resilient to high-intensity action. Strength & power - Strong players develop their speed more quickly, prevent injuries and are more competitive in games.

Having these statements in the core element of the specific style of play could potentially be misinterpreted by some coaches providing justification for athletic conditioning at the wrong time and worryingly at the wrong age.  Agility, balance and co-ordination for the youngest, yes, but endurance, strength and power should be sidelined until players are at the appropriate level of maturity and certainly not at the expense of technical and skill development in the youngest footballers.  I would have some kind of age appropriate element to this section which provides what proportion of time should be allocated to the relevant part of the four key components.  An example could be that at the youngest age it is 'weighted' towards the technical and psychosocial aspects and at the older ages to the tactical and physical aspects.

Principles of Play

For the coach, for the player and for the team

1.  1,2 or 3 touch maximum:Minimizing the number of touches improves the speed of play.

For me, this is controversial as I don't think this should be in the document as such a bold statement.  It completely dismisses the use of other methods of moving the ball to penetrate effectively.  It is far too one dimensional to recommend this and have it as the first point in the principles of play.

2. Keep the game simple: Do not force situations, over-dribble or be careless with the ball.

I would refer back to my point earlier regarding over-dribbling, otherwise the point is spot on.

3. Keep the ball on the ground: A ball on the ground is easier to control and can be moved more efficiently by the team.

Taken on face value I am sure most people would not have a problem with this principle, but, again it is the fact that this could potentially limit other options that must be considered when playing football.  Nobody wants to see the long ball kick and rush game but there are times when an effective pass in the air is the right option and should not simply be ignored.

4. Accuracy and quality of the pass: Passing must be firm and accurate, 

with the proper weight.

I will refer to a point that an excellent exponent of coaching, John Cartwright, has used before with regard to passing who said - "As with everything we do in the game, passes are made ‘aggressively’ not ‘sympathetically’". So yes it should be accurate and weighted but not necessarily firm.  There are times when a pass could be soft or firm.

The remainder of the Principles of Play are outlined below and include some good positive points around risk, awareness and innovation.

5.  First touch: Make a clean, controlled first touch without stopping the ball.

Take the touch away from pressure and into free space.

6. Perception and awareness: All players with or without the ball should constantly

scan the field.

7. 1v1 situations: Encourage determination to regain control of the ball in defense and keep it simple in attack by taking a touch to the side, at speed, to beat the defender.

8. Individual transition: Players must react quickly when possession change

from offense to defense and vice-versa.

9. Shooting: Always keep an eye on the goal. All players are encouraged to shoot.

10. Take risks: Soccer is an error prone sport and mistakes are part of the game

and learning process. Players are encouraged to take risks in training session

to increase the speed of play.

Summary

In summary a good read.  It is refreshing to see national associations producing a 'blueprint' for their style of play and general philosophy on the game.  US Soccer as the national federation have appropriately laid down a vision for the game in the US.  My main point would be that those involved in football should always have in mind that the information should be seen as guidance and not the complete answer.  It should help them with their coaching but not restrict them from being innovative and devising their own coaching programme based on their own players needs whilst being true to the overall aim outlined in the Style and Principles of Play.