Formations or principles?
Hi Everyone, thanks for joining me on another edition of Top Ten of The Week! How’s the preparation going for when you start your sessions again. Like me, you’ve probably got a million ideas from the extra reading and time you’ve had to adjust and adapt your principles. I know I said it last week but I’ll reiterate, that the first session should be about fun and building that love for the game and ball again. Imagine you haven’t seen your partner in over 6 months and the first thing they ask you is to do some chores, you wouldn’t be impressed, would you? I was never one to be great at analogies!
The titles this week speaks to something we’ve gone through before, but, is being expressed more and more by coaches at the top of the game. So if you think that the formation of your team or opposition is the factor being performance, you may have to think again and look a little deeper. Anyway on to the top ten…
I've seen this said a lot by top coaches, I think it was a few issues ago when it was Jose Mourinho talking through the same principle. This time it's Chelsea Head Coach Thomas Tuchel speaking to Rio Ferdinand about the fact that the most important part of the team is not the formation.
Again building on that theme of the formation isn't the most important thing. Ben Mackriell outlining through data what he believes matters more.
Some really interesting analysis goals and what leads to goals. Teams who are best at progressive passes (vertical passes) have shots that score more often. this is compared to basic passes, set pieces pass, individual play, and set-piece free-kick. How are you coaching your players to find players in good shooting positions?
Roberto Mancini's Thesis for his Uefa pro. A long read but an interesting one. Great to get into the mind of a serial-winning coach. Does this read like the teams you've seen him create at Juve, Chelsea, and now Inter?
robertomancini.com/en/calciatore-… Found this by accident. Extract from Mancini's masters, and a really nice write up as to what defines a trequartista. Interesting read with some lovely visualisations.
Like this visual representation of over and underlapping by Eric. can be such a powerful tool for creating space or creating an opportunity to set up a shot.
Those in England will know well, that a few years back the FA introduced its all-game plan with the England teams having clear principles that would run through each age group. Here is a good video explaining what is out of possession.
Another Video from the FA. This time on receiving skills. Something that every player should be adept at. if you can't control your body, space, and/or opponent you're going to struggle to enjoy the game or spend large amounts of time without the ball as you'll only be wanting the ball when you're free, have time and are facing in the direction you want. Which rarely happens in a competitive game.
Hold up play. I believe this is one of the most under-coached skills, especially in strikers. lots of coaching on movement, getting into shooting positions, and shotting technique, but what about the part of the game that opens up the game for your team. a couple of hold-up play techniques highlighted here from Marc Penrose
Are you critical of backwards passing? Once I read this article from the Training Ground Guru. I questioned myself. I'm not against backward passing, as shown through this article, it brings massive advantages when played correctly. I'm just not a fan of breakthrough a press or block with a progressive pass only to see the receiving player, give it backward. it's so frustrating!!! you've just done the hard part getting into that part of the pitch and now you have to start again when a bit more bravery on the ball could have taken you into a dangerous position.
Pav Funball academies "principles of coaching children" do you agree with this? is there anything you would add or don't feel is as important?
That wraps up another week, thanks for reading through what I’ve seen and found most interesting. If you have any feedback or would like to discuss any of the topics you can either reply to this email (if you get this in your inbox) or come find me on Twitter here https://twitter.com/ACharlesFoster. Have a great weekend and week.