The Build-Up Game Style – A “New” Way..

The Build-Up Game Style – A “New” Way..

There has been a wave of recent appreciation for the style with which some teams have been playing football, here in “England”.

Swansea City, Reading and Brighton & Hove Albion, to name but a few, have caught the eye along with Arsenal and Barcelona, who have been recognised for a longer period, for trying to play with a possession based approach to the game.

Barcelona is even being described by professional observers as, possibly, the greatest side in the world, EVER.

I believe I have detected a groundswell of opinion towards this style of play even at the grassroots of the game and which is, for me, a movement towards something more beneficial for the development of the game, as a whole, in this country.

I believe a different approach is both important and necessary for youth players, especially at the Grassroots of the game.

WHY DO WE NEED A DIFFERENT APPROACH?

At present, I am told, we (England) have the HIGHEST drop out of young players between 14 and 19 IN EUROPE.

Now, why might that be, do you think? Too much organised (for organised read “League” football) too young? Too much pressure from parents (and coaches/managers) that this is a “must-win game” (at U11??!?! I kid you not), too little fun (I prefer the term “enjoyment”) from the game, too much abuse from the side lines (sad but true occurrences at a lot of games I am told) and so on.

Possibly a combination of some of these things but probably the key is the lack of enjoyment taken from the game.

So how can we help put the fun back into the game?

The youngest children always enjoy playing with a ball – possibly the best toy ever invented. So let us start at the youngest ages by teaching them to love the ball. Let’s teach them that it is clever to be able to manipulate the ball and to keep it away from an opponent (not “get rid” of it anytime anyone comes near).

We must learn how to enthuse young players to WANT to be two footed – they will need to practice away from clubs on their own to perfect this – it won’t happen purely on an hour and a half practice session (and can we all start to call it ‘practice’ instead of ‘training’ please?) at the club, so personal practice is essential.

Why should we teach young players to be so individually skilful with a ball, after all, it’s a team game where passing is the key, surely?

VISIONARY COACH

Well, I know a highly respected and VISIONARY coach who states, categorically, that football is an INDIVIDUAL game but that those individuals should combine (pass, link-up) when necessary.

Just think about this statement/view for a moment….


If a chain is only as strong as its weakest link, surely the same is true of a team. And if INDIVIDUAL skill is the key to both technical ability (ball control and manipulation) and game understanding (‘reading’ the game) we MUST get our young players to be individually good on the ball and at resolving football problems, first and foremost.

A build up game style involves players running or dribbling with the ball to create and/or exploit space and to combine with team-mates, when appropriate, to advance the ball around and up the pitch in order to create goal scoring opportunities.

Sounds great; but, in a game, there is an opponent trying to take the ball from you. Playing in a style as described (simplistically) above WILL lead to a lot of mistakes, especially by young players as they learn the game. The likely consequence of playing this way is that goals will be conceded and games will be lost.

RISKY BUSINESS

So adopting a build-up game style is risky and takes a long time (think YEARS not weeks) to develop. We may lose a lot of games whilst teaching it….

It is, actually, a lot more detailed and complex to teach than Route 1 fight-ball (incidentally, not, in my humble opinion, an invention of the much maligned Charles Hughes – see another post for a view of that).
Evidence seemingly points to the English style having been built upon power, strength, running, “fight”, “passion” and “desire” since the early days of professional football with the much more considered and skilful approach of, variously, The Scottish, The Austrians, The Hungarians, The Brazilians, The Dutch and, latterly, The Spanish having been “for the foreigners”.

So with all this, WHY should we teach this style of play to our kids?

Well, because it is the ELEMENT of the game. Football, not KICK ball.

Kids love to play WITH the ball, so why not show them HOW to play WITH the ball?

What about losing too many games? Well, certainly at the younger levels, children are not obsessed with winning trophies and leagues – these are adult perceptions of what children want from the game. They will TRY to win the game; (most) children are naturally competitive, but shortly after the game has ended, their attention has been attracted to something else.

Now, if EVERY team tries to work with a build-up game style and doesn’t rely on the “big, strong, quick kids” to overpower teams to win trophies and leagues at young ages, the benefit will be seen throughout the game.

If you are a real coach, please take the time to teach players THE GAME.

JOSE MOURINHO

Jose Mourinho famously offered this comment in the last few years:

“In England you teach your kids how to win. In Spain and Portugal, they teach their kids how to play.”

Insightful …….

Now, here’s the paradox; we teach our kids to win from a ridiculously early age. We teach effort and fight and desire and kick long and run hard, whilst all the time the continentals are teaching their kids the nuances of the game. How to use space, how to find it (not just RUNNING to find it, mind you – jogging, walking, “drifting” into space and sometimes even STANDING STILL until the space of the game finds you !) how to keep the ball as individuals (on the “safe side”) and as a team with a view to creating forward play and goal scoring opportunities.

And then, when winning REALLY matters, at the top end of the pro-game on the international stage we have won, almost, nothing. One World Cup in ’66, a World Cup semi-final in 1990 (over 21 years ago) and a semi-final in Euro 96 (I may be missing another Euro semi-final before they played in “Finals Tournaments” but you get the picture!) Not much of a record to speak about in almost 130 years (count ‘em and weep)of professional football, is it?

So, we simply MUST take the lead from some of our more established European footballing neighbours.

THE DUTCH

The Dutch, for example….

Why are we bothered by the Dutch – they’ve only won one Euros, is that so much better than us?
Well, England has a population of around 52 Million. The Dutch have a population of around 17 Million, just about a third of ours and have been to 3 World Cup Finals since 1966 AND export their players, and coaches, around the world. The Dutch playing and coaching philosophy of Rinus Michels and Ajax of the late 1960s and early 1970s is being played out, in an evolved form, on Sky Sports every weekend (almost) in the current guise of Barcelona.


THE GERMANS

If you aren’t convinced by the Dutch argument, how about the Germans?
3 Euros, 3 World Cups, 3 Euro Finals Runners-up (they are not “losers”, trust me), 4 World Cup Runners-up, plus 5 other World Cup Semi-finals and another semi-final at the Euros

So, if we want real and sustained success on the international stage we simply HAVE to improve the way we teach young players to play the game at the absolute base level – grassroots.


GRASSROOTS? - INTERNATIONAL TEAM? WHAT’S THE CONNECTION?

Where is the connection between grassroots U9s (or U8s or U12s, for that matter) and the England team? Well, the England team players will ALL have started their careers at grassroots junior football. The majority of players (at LEAST 99%) will play all their careers in grassroots football. So, why not teach them a game style that is both entertaining to watch and in which to play?

If we can improve, en masse, the base of the pyramid, surely that positively affects the apex (the England team – sorry if you are from one of the other Home Nations, but the PRINCIPLE applies).

WHY GAME-STYLE IS IMPORTANT

I believe it will keep young players in the game – if they are BETTER at what they do and it makes it more ENJOYABLE surely they will wish to stay in the game.

As a coach, if you can raise the technical proficiency and game understanding of the players under your tutelage, then the few that are selected to play at a higher level (C of E / Academy) then you will have done them a massive service by better preparing them for that technical environment (interestingly, Centres and Academies are MORE concerned with individual player development and LESS with results than the average Grassroots team – think about that. TEAMS don’t become professional, individuals do.)

If we, as coaches, can encourage a more expansive game style I believe children will play and enjoy the game better and will stay with the clubs at which we coach because it’s good fun.

We can use some principles to help build this Game-Style and some ways to do so are:

Make practices game-like (no “line drills”) See Premier Skills or The FA Future Game document

Use the STEPs Principle to build success including using overloads (e.g. 5v2) – Overloads for the less experienced coaches are those practices where there is a numerical advantage to the side you wish to demonstrate(and build success of) the principles of the practice (you switch the payers around so they all get a chance to be the “advantaged” group)

Include defending and attacking in practice with some form of opposition, even if limited (see 5v2 above)

Encourage young players to play out FROM the back. Not play AT the back like we do currently. (For the difference, think about Puyol or Pique for Barcelona vs Terry for England - English teams tend to play from side to side across the back before sending a long, lofted pass down the "channels" whereas Pique regularly took the option to run the ball out of defence, in last week's game against Athletic Bilbao, for example, as spaces were created in midfield for him to do so by more advanced players.)


THE “PAYING CUSTOMERS”

It is REALLY important that, as coaches, we influence the watching appreciation of the game by spectators (at Grassroots that includes the parents).

For Donkey’s Years, we have been taught that robust fight-ball and the desire to “get it forward” is the best way to play. As mentioned, and illustrated, above, it has not been.

BUT if we are to educate the players then, at the Grassroots, we simply MUST educate the paying spectators (the parents) that what we are doing is for the Long Term Development of the players (“Google” FA Long Term Player Development model) we coach.

Premier Skills, developed by Visionary coaches John Cartwright and Roger Wilkinson, has its own blog where, it states, that to improve the playing style of the game in this country we MUST improve the understanding of the watching public (parents/paying spectators – it’s all the same !)

Have a look at this blog post (it may be uncomfortable for those who recognise themselves in the descriptions) where Premier Skills talks about teaching the spectators to appreciate the game.

So, maybe a “New” way for the game to be played and, at least as importantly, watched and appreciated, for the English perhaps, but we will only be starting to catch up with the rest of the leading footballing nations.


Please feel free to leave comments / observations / feedback

The Professionalisation of Coaching

The Football Association is trying to raise the bar by having qualified coaches register for the new FA Licensed Coaches Club and insisting that coaches, even grassroots coaches, embark on some form of CPD (Continual Professional Development). This CPD will be for a minimum of 3 hours each year (5 hours if you are a Level 2 Coach or above) – this in an effort to try to professionalise coaching, raise standards and achieve recognition for its members.

“IN DATE AND UP TO DATE”

Be “In Date and Up To Date” is the mantra.
The principle being that, if you wish to be recognised as a coach you should approach the role as professionally as possible. Update your knowledge, expand your horizons and try to take on new ideas.

After all, most professional bodies will expect its members to undertake some form of self-development through training whether it is through a higher level of knowledge or to refresh what you perhaps already knew or had been taught.

I have to say, in principle, I fundamentally agree with the idea and approach. Don’t stand still, don’t “sit” on a qualification – be progressive and develop yourself.

“VOLUNTEERS” ?

One of the issues, I feel, will be that the majority of grassroots coaches are volunteers.
Those volunteer coaches will be well meaning parents of players who have been recruited by the club to be a coach of a team, usually the team in which either their daughter or son plays.


Now it may well be that at least some of those volunteers will have been looking for an opportunity to get involved or, after having become involved, find they really enjoy the role.

They get bitten by the bug and now want to become the best they can be spending time and effort and money gaining more qualifications or attending County FA in-service workshops to improve their knowledge. For these coaches, I don’t think the requirement for a few hours CPD each year will be any kind of an issue.

BURDEN

However, for a great deal of others, this may become a burden; becoming onerous to find the time and money to attend courses, having to take time off work which can impact both family budget and valuable holiday time.

Now I know that there are a great number of clubs which support their coaches with development. Some pay for courses up front and others agree to either pay a portion up front with the balance paid once the coach has completed a number of hours or a season of volunteering.

But, for a lot of volunteers the question has to be asked; did they truly volunteer or were they “press ganged” as the club need someone to manage / run / coach a side? If they were a reluctant volunteer, will those people be as committed to self-development as other more intentional coaches?
If they aren’t as concerned with learning more, I think it is likely that those reluctant volunteers may just do the minimum required - such as get a Level 1 Coaching Certificate, perhaps because the club needs it for their Charter Standard status?

VALUE FOR MONEY

But if the club isn’t getting someone who is determined to be more ‘professional’, will the club actually get value for the money they may spend on the coaching course? If they then ‘send’ coaches on further courses, again perhaps because the club needs someone to do the course for its Charter Standard status, is it getting value and will the coach actually take on board all the learning offered?

What then happens to those coaches as time moves on? Either they get disillusioned or, perhaps, because they were recruited to coach because their child is at the club, if the child leaves, the coach gives up. Sometimes it may be a year or two – so did the club get value for money?

I know that some coaches follow their youngsters for a year or two and then feel that the child needs something extra that they can’t offer as the child moves up the age bands and, again, they drop out. That’s fine and understandable, but really, clubs need to do all they can to ‘re-cycle’ the coaches.

Moving theses re-cycled coaches back to the younger age groups, where they now have at least some experience, can benefit the new players and, potentially, remove the need to ‘persuade’ a new parent that they want to be a coach!

As a nation, we cannot really afford to lose volunteers who are often lost to the game through scenarios mentioned above as well as a host of other reasons.

So clubs spend lots of funds in getting people through courses only to see a good deal of those volunteers give up.

“INTENTIONAL” COACHES

Is it now time, even at the grassroots level, to truly professionalise coaching?

By that, I mean having a proper coaching hierarchy at grassroots clubs with a remunerated workforce, albeit it maybe only on a part-time basis.

Having a well-qualified and experienced Director of Coaching, with age specific coaches ‘reporting’ to the DoC, I feel, is definitely a way forward.
I would envisage the age group coaches being qualified and by that I mean being at least a Level 2 Coach with, preferably, a Youth Award Module 1 and 2 certificates as well.

QUALIFIED COACHES

Did you know that, officially, a Level 1 Certificate in Coaching Football only certifies someone as an Assistant Coach?

That being the case, whilst some people will undertake the course to expand their knowledge and try to better serve the players they coach and, perhaps, go on to take other courses and learn about the art of coaching (I think it is more of an art than a science), some will only do so because they ‘need’ to do it for the club to ensure they achieve criteria needed for the Charter Standard Status.

Nevertheless, is it correct that, at the MOST important ages that we are trying to teach children the game the LEAST experienced coaches are the ones trying to do that?

Now, I am not for one moment suggesting that the novice coaches are somehow at fault for this state of affairs, but is it right that it should continue that way?

Would it not be better for a club to formally recruit a coach with some years of experience and at least holding a Level 2 Coaching Certificate before they could be a Coach of an age group?
The Level 1 coach (whether or not a parent volunteer) can then work with the Level 2( or above) coach to build their knowledge, confidence and experience as well as accelerating their development rather than being left to their own devices as, I suspect, is the case in a lot of instances at the moment.

FORMAL STRUCTURE

Having a Director of Coaching with a UEFA B Licence, or above – responsible for part-time coaches and volunteers, defining a Vision and Philosophy and probably defining a development programme across the club would surely set a basis for the professionalisation of coaching in this country.

But now I’m talking about remunerating coaches for their time. Probably not a full time job, but paying a fee for hours committed. This allows the coach to pay for further development via attending courses and makes sure they aren’t out of pocket for travel and other costs (insurance etc.)

But where will the funding come from?

Well, there is lots of expense for some clubs keep sending volunteers on courses which they maybe don’t want to do and then they leave after a year or two.

How much do clubs spend on trophies for everyone at end of season presentation evenings? Wouldn’t we be better investing in true expertise to develop our young players?

Working to develop players who understand the game based upon expertise rather than well -intentioned but perhaps, sometimes misplaced ideas?

BACK IN THE USA

The framework of a DoC with assistant part time paid coaches works quite well in the USA where they value accrued knowledge, experience, formal qualifications and expertise. A similar model works in some European Countries where a similar structure works with a qualified Director of Youth overseeing the coaches and programme of development for the younger ages.

If facilities can be found to split practice times and/or days, it would be relatively straightforward to have a qualified coach in control of the development needs of several age groups. There may be some challenges around viewing all games but, possibly by delegating game day organisation to an assistant coach, we can still plan properly for the development of young players.



WHAT DO YOU THINK?

Can it work here in the UK? I understand that there is some movement towards this idea with a club not too far away from where I coach. An independent soccer school also provides coaches to the club from which their soccer students come and, I understand from the internet, that they are not the only ones to begin to work in this way.

After all, if you send your child to swimming lessons, gymnastics, golf or even piano – you expect that the coach or tutor should be paid for their time.

So why is it different for football?