When the going gets tough and results aren’t going as first envisaged, there could be the temptation to quash all your previous work and go back to ‘basics’. At this moment in time, there is a well known Premier League outfit that hasn’t had the best start to their campaign. The media are now asking lots of questions, with one being about the system that the manager is using. Here we will discuss the pro’s and con’s, that face this manager and the processes he may have to take, to implement change…..
At the start of pre-season a new manager can come into a club and can start getting to grips with the culture of the workplace, as well as exploring what ideas may/may not work. Previously, we have discussed the importance of taking your players abilities as a starting point, before applying tactical principles and formations.
Once the manager in question is underway with his new team, he will of course start conveying a message about ‘how’ he wishes to set up his team and their intentions when playing. Pre-season usually compromises of a programme that lasts around 6-8 weeks and varies massively, depending on what club you are at. (Why it varies is due to the application of each manager and with most, their subjective application coming first – “we need to run 60km this week to get top fit!?”)
For this example let’s say that the manager wants to play a certain style of football and is working around the clock to implement his ideas. Days and training sessions pass, with around 6 games taking place to improve football fitness. During this time of the season, there should be a clear idea of the objective(s) you wish to achieve and how you intend to reach these.
Throughout pre-season there maybe some ‘surprise’ performances where your team may not perform as well as you wanted, or there was a negative match result. Either way, there isn’t usually much attention given, as it’s just ‘pre-season’ and the players are getting ‘minutes’.
These excuses are often heard and while there is no real impact from match results, the process (how) you set out for the game, should be regarded highly. These matches are ‘experiments’ and allow you to test certain hypothesis, while evaluating after to see if you set up correctly or not.
Regardless of the evaluation process (if you do this or not), the start of the season will arrive and the games begin. No matter how much work you do in pre-season, there are no guarantees that you will win. There is of course a higher chance of achieving success, if you have planned logically and have prepared your players for the unpredictability, that they are about to experience.
Fast forward to match day number 5 and to date you are yet to register a single point on the board. In professional football, the pressure would of course be building and there would be a lot of media attention. Most of the reports would no doubt be negative and as you can probably imagine, there would be talk of the manager getting removed from his position.
Onto the next game and the hope of achieving the first 3 points of the season. While the manager may not bring attention to this fact, we know that the fans will be asking if today is the day!
Before this game is due to be played, the manager will have to decide on what his intentions are for the next game and how he’ll achieve these. Work will of course been applied on the training pitch and the players would (hopefully) know. what their requirements will be to be victorious.
The question now is, does the manager stick to the exact process he has applied previously – but lost all 4 games? Or, do they abandon these principles and start a new process? The pro’s and con’s of this are explained below;
Pro’s
Players responsibility – The responsibility of the players is removed and the manager is now signalling, that it is very much his problem and is now attempting to fix it
Manager acknowledging that change maybe needed – By changing the way things are being done, this would signal that the manager identifies that something hasn’t worked and is now intending to change it
Con’s
Team communication – This takes a lot of time to build and the longer that the process is given to improve, the higher chance of it getting better. Changing something at the first sign of a struggle, will effect the communication across the field
Loss of trust – By changing what the manager initially conveyed, he/she could be showing signs of not believing in the initial process, which then effects the trust. If the manager doesn’t believe, then how would you expect the players too?
Listening to all of the ‘noise’ – Outside of the football club, the media have been applying a lot of external attention on what is happening on the pitch. By changing things, it could show that these outlets are now causing discomfort and the manager is losing control
A sign of pressure – The first sign of pressure building and acknowledging that things are now getting tough, is changing principles amongst all of the negative attention. This could look like a ‘reaction’ to what has been caused…..
While there could be a lot more to add to both of these lists, upon reflection it’s clear to see that the con’s of changing amongst a negative period, outweigh the pro’s.
The manager should revaluate the players abilities, adapt his tactical principles and maybe consider a change in formation. By doing this, the initial hypotheses could still be used, but it has been adapted to cope with the challenges, that have already been faced.
Maybe, in this situation the manager has to stick firmly to his beliefs, even though it could cost him his job……
The moment arrives just before the game, or even during it, where you as a coach or manager have to provide some sort of information for your players. Every team will have these talks (or we can call them meetings), to deliver, discuss and feedback on certain events.
At any level of football, there has to be some sort of guidance that the players must understand. To summarise on how you could possibly structure your talks and maximise this opportunity, I’ve listed some areas, for you to consider;
Intentions – Before any meeting, you should have an idea of what the outcomes are, that you wish to achieve. If these aren’t clear, then you’re simply guiding your players into a random direction with no clear end goal.
Having the outcomes set, will allow you to describe the process that you may wish to use to get there. These intentions (what) should align with your end goal and the behaviours (how) of your players should contribute.
Structure – The structure of your information should be planned, with considerations on how much you will provide, within a certain situation. If you are working with under 7 players, this will differ to that of senior players. Why? The attention span of a child and adult is obviously huge and the information (verbal/non-verbal) that you provide, could easily overload someones brain. The consequence of this, is that the unconscious brain will go to sleep and the players are consciously questioning what you’re saying.
When planning what you wish to say, maybe consider how much of this is relevant, needed and how many words you use to get the message across. Keep it simple!
Language – It’s half time and your team is losing 2-0. While some players haven’t performed badly, there are 4 or 5 players that need to perform better football actions, to contribute to the team intentions. How do you address this problem within the group? Do you speak to the team first and look at the communication between players, or do you immediately zoom into the players, that in your eyes, aren’t performing well?
While learning more about how you could structure your talks, the language that you use to convey this message, is vitally important.
If you use non-contextual language, then you won’t be describing any of the potential problems that may have been identified, which then leads you into further problems.
Example – If you address the changing room and tell the team that they aren’t sharp enough, then you aren’t describing anything within a football context or even explaining what happened. The consequence here is, that you could have 16 players with 16 interpretations, of what you wanted to convey.
The solution, say what you see and use universal football language. The receiver will then be able to visualise clearly what you’re saying and get closer to executing your request.
Overload – This occurs when there is so much external stimuli, the brain will feel like it can’t cope. What would you do in this situation? Allow your attention to drift away – think about what you’re having for dinner or what you have planned for work next week?
While these suggestions are only a myth, this could well happen in your team talks on a regular basis. The consequence here, could be that your players ‘fall asleep’ and you are merely just talking without saying anything!
As mentioned above, keep the information clear, short and concise. This will allow your players to digest the information, visualise and then, the opportunity to execute what is needed.
Emotions – Everyone has and will have, different emotional responses to situations. This is a type of human behaviour and can often display how someone maybe feeling non-verbally.
You may have heard of a term such as, “in the heat of the moment”, meaning at that given time, things may have got out of control and something happened that wasn’t planned.
Using this term, doesn’t excuse someone from behaving inappropriately and obviously, all actions have a consequence.
If you weren’t happy with a decision, or a behaviour that your players were or are displaying, consider the impact it has on your team intentions and if you can help them align with this. There is no need to shout, swear or even get angry with players, as this then gets personal and massively detracts from what you want to achieve.
To summarise, the conversations I’ve had about team talks in the past, have all been varied. This is your subjective application (how) of the objective reference of what you wish to achieve. Consider what your intentions are and how your going to get there. Structure, language and behaviour can have a huge impact on your messages!
During your training sessions you will use a variety of different practices, in order to reach your objective (that should be the plan anyway!). While considering what you want to use, in order to execute a given intention, it’s important for you to analyse the variables;
What size area do I need?
What part of the field does this practice take place in?
How many players take part?
What are the rules and are there any conditions?
How long are you going to plan for ball rolling time?
While taking the objectivity of football as a starting point and then considering external factors, you will undergo the planning phase of your ‘experiment’.
Along with designing ‘what’ you want to achieve, you also have to consider ‘how’ you’ll do it.
While this is completely open to the coach in question, there should be some consideration given and a possible framework that you work to, when deciding a certain format or workload (periodisation).
There could be occasions when you are concerned that something could be too easy or alternatively too hard? How would you know this and find it out as a coach?
Obviously, trial and error contributes to this and you’ll only know of something, if you plan, execute and evaluate accordingly.
On this occasion let’s say that your players are showing signs that a practice is too easy. The body language of the players isn’t showing signs of distress, success is frequent and visible, with the intensity of the practice dropping, as the players are finding it too easy.
When you evaluate, all of these notes have to be recorded to ensure that in future training sessions, the players are challenged.
The following week arrives and you change the format of the session, to manipulate what both teams can/can’t do. On this occasion the players show many signs of distress because they are challenged, more than last week. The question now is, where is the point in which players can gradually feel uncomfortable, while being challenged? You don’t want to move from one extreme to the other, so ensuring that learning is a gradual process, there has to be logical steps that you can take as a coach.
This is where, the zero point measurement comes into practice. This is an extremely useful tool and one that you can use, to ensure that learning can take place.
An example here is;
Step 1 – If you used a kicking practice that was 6 v 0 and was extremely easy and the players showed signs of accelerated learning, then you would have to make this more challenging.
Step 2 – You wouldn’t then add a player to make 7 v 0, but instead add some contextual interference to make it 6 v 1. This is now a passing exercise as there is communication, decision making and execution of decisions taking place. Once the players have experienced this, you could then assess whether it is again too easy or too hard. On this occasion, it is too easy…
Step 3 – We then move to 5 v 2 and notice that again, the players are getting success, so we quickly decide to move to a 4 v 3. Here we now encounter some challenges…
Once the signs of challenge are seen and the previous step was easy, this now is called your zero point measurement, in the context of team formats. 5 v 2 was easier, but 4 v 3 is too challenging. In future training sessions, you can now save time, as you know where your group needs to be challenged from a starting point.
As well as team formats, the zero point measurement can also apply for the timings that the players participate in and also the size of the area, that could be used.
Planning ahead for the new season will always bring new challenges, so why not start using this method to record where your players need to be challenged? It will save you time and also allow for learning to take place, in a gradual format.
We’re now entering the summer months here in the UK, which means the start of pre-season is on the horizon. Some clubs will be starting their preparation soon, where others may wait a little longer. One thing for sure is, that come the second week of July, all clubs will be back into training and at work.
While pre-season leads to high levels of anticipation and excitement for all involved, it should be a time for you to rehearse what you want, come the first game of the season. Problems arise when the manager/coach, doesn’t understand the science behind the preparation for the upcoming season, so reverts to what he/she only knows. This could be from previous management set ups, playing days or even scrolling through social media.
Most recently, I’ve been browsing the social media channels and have seen a number of football clubs start their pre-season programme. Some of the experiences I’ve had, have involved;
Hill running
Beach sprints
Circuits
Bleep tests
Long distance running
Sadly, there hasn’t been too many footballs in sight, which suggests to me that some managers/coaches, are wasting time in their preparations.
While I don’t know all the answers to pre-season preparation, I would be confident in falsifying the above methods and concluding that they would have negative effects on the playing squad. Some things that you can consider, when planning for your pre-season preparation could be;
Periodising the work load of your squad and ensuring this is recorded
Have clear principles of WHAT you want to achieve
Have your intentions set from day 1 and how these will be met
Take the ability of your players as the starting point
Understand that, to improve your football playing style, you have to be playing football
From the above 5 points, you could disagree with me on 1 or all, but what is clear in these statements, is that they are objective and will help your players. To elaborate further;
Periodising the work load of your squad and ensuring this is recorded – By doing this, you will be able to see where the progress of your players is going. Is there some injuries occurring in the squad? Can you recognise any patterns within this? Are your training sessions breaking down at any point, due to fatigue taking over?
Have clear principles of WHAT you want to achieve – Without a clear end goal, how do you know what you are working towards? Without these, you are simply walking blindfolded in a dark room.
Have your intentions set from day 1 and how these will be met – At the end of pre-season, you should be fully prepared for that first game of the season. Do the players understand exactly what the manager/coach wants them to do? If they don’t, it would be a simple question of asking, why? There has been more than enough time to prepare.
Take the ability of your players as the starting point – With everything in your planning, you should take the players as the starting point. Without this, you are again going off a subjective foundation, that could lead to a random end goal.
Understand that, to improve your football playing style, you have to be playing football – It may seem like logic and common sense, but there will be many managers/coaches who don’t take football as a starting point. By taking running as a starting point, you will only get fit and better at running. Do you want to get better at football?
Too often, managers/coaches up and down the country, take subjective starting points which can lead them into limbo. The players are none the wiser, as they’ve been told to ‘run’ or to ‘keep putting it in’. Can you image how much more successful you might possibly be, if all of your squad were fit at the beginning of the season and knew exactly what they were supposed to do? Again, this seems like logic, but we all know that this isn’t necessarily the case.
Pre-season is an ideal time to get coaching and really get the information across to the players and into their brains. Ensure you utilise this time and don’t let it slip away, by just doing sessions based around ‘hard work’. Remember, you really want to be training, like the way you wish to play!
The last few weeks have been rather busy, with our May football course, Jubilee celebrations and a couple of our new projects in the closing stages of being released! The coaching blogs haven’t stopped and will be returning next week!
During your session planning design, how much consideration do you give to the direction of the practice or how many defenders you have? What moment of the game do you want to focus on, within your training structure? Your players currently take part in the game on a regular basis and will know that there is always 2 goals used, for the game to be universally correct. There are also opponents present, lines on the field and 1 ball used.
On the training pitch, coaches all over the world will be planning lots of different practices with a huge variety of outcomes. If you were to view another coach at work, you would probably see something, from the list below;
Children in lines – Players lining up with/without a football, waiting for their turn to have a go at a certain exercise, possibly kicking the ball at the goal.
1 ball, 1 player – Typical on the continent and with many academy set ups in the UK. Players might move around with the ball, executing a given movement with a certain name. The ‘Maradona’ turn or the ‘Ronaldo’ chop for example.
Kicking exercise – This is usually at the discretion of the coach and he/she would intrust the players where they need to kick the ball. There would also be no opposition in this exercise, meaning you would just be kicking and not passing.
Passing exercise – In this exercise you would be passing the ball to a team mate, with opposition players in close proximity. This could look like a typical typical, ‘Rondo’.
Position game – The position exercise is an opportunity for players to execute actions, that could be familiarised with that certain role. Using this practice would have goals in play, meaning it is directional.
Possession game – In this exercise you would use no goals, so beware of the behaviour you will be conditioning. The objective would just be about keeping possession of the ball as an individual or team.
Tactical game – This would be used for the largest format you would have available and be best fit, in order to refine the communication of the team. Goals would be needed as you would be replicating the closest part of the game.
While there could be another method that a coach could use, the above summarises a number of exercises that could quite possibly be seen.
Now, within each session there has to be some kind of objective that you wish to achieve. Using different exercises is merely a tool, to help you the coach and your players, in understanding where competencies lie.
If you use the small steps listed below, you will see that you can identify the key areas that you may need, in order to reach success.
Football – 11 v 11, 9 v 9, 7 v 7 or 5 v 5
Team function – Attacking, transitioning (to defence), defending & transitioning (to attack)
Team task – Building up, creating goalscoring opportunities, disrupting the build up & preventing goalscoring opportunities
Football actions – Passing, pressing, running with the ball and intercepting etc….
You have the game and the format that your players compete in
There will be a certain function that you wish to focus on. This will be dictated by the ball and which moment of the game that it is
When you have/don’t have the ball, you will then be participating in a certain task
Finally, there will be football actions to execute the above intentions
The power of zooming out completely and looking at the game as a starting point, could help you in identifying exactly what you want to work on. Zooming in and specifically looking at a player first, will lead you down a pathway that maybe be confusing, as you won’t be coaching a specific part of the game, more what a player may do.
Next week, we will look at tools you could use, when zooming into the training session structure.
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