To evaluate a performance, we must first know what a good performance looks like, and why. A good performance for one team does not always look like a good performance for another. As the previous module reviewed, this goes much further and deeper than the result.
It’s now very common for clubs to have a defined playing philosophy which outlines the way they want to play the game. One team may look to press and turn the ball over high with a game based on transition, while others may want to be more methodical and possesses the ball as much as possible.
In this example, the things may value and want to analyze will differ significantly.
Pochettino is also featured in this article on Southampton during his time as their Head Coach
Brenden Rogers also discussed the difference between formations and playing philosophy
American Soccer Analysis is a website dedicated to providing an analytical perspective on Major League Soccer and Jarred Young found teams with a well-defined style of play generally had more success than those who didn’t.
Evaluating Team Styles – Proactive Score
A successful philosophy for weaker teams may be to rely on being defensively strong, and Twenty First Group, who were featured in the previous module, wrote about this. Almost everybody expected Sheffield United to be relegated from the Premier League following their promotion in 2019, but they predicted United would finish the highest of the promoted teams that year, thanks to their defensive strength. They eventually finished 9th.
The Biggest Bang For Your Buck
Oliver Gage presented the benefits of a well-defined playing style at a UEFA A-Licence course and gave some working examples to us when we spoke with him.
Lucy Rushton offered us some of her thoughts on why it’s so important for a club or team to have a well defined playing philosophy. Lucy interviewed for the APFA shortly before being hired as Sporting Director for DC United in Major League Soccer. We also spoke to Mike Rigg who was Technical Director at Man City for many years before joining Burnley, where the team significantly over-achieved in the Premier League.
Please move on to the next module, where we will look more closely at some very well-run football clubs and hear from the Coaches who work for them.
Data and experience both indicate that teams and clubs which harness a strong identity and remain committed to it over many years with many different players, coaches, staff, etc. tend to be much more successful than teams which do not have a cohesive methodology and ideology of how their teams should play. Creating a consistent playing model through the academy, first team, player recruitment, and coach recruitment is the path to success as a club.
At Idaho Rush Soccer Club we have a playing philosophy, that coaches within the club are expected to follow. We are a large club within our mid-size city, that competes on a regional level but still have the challenges of achieving the vision of our playing philosophy with all teams in all age groups. The background of each individual coach has a lot to do with the style of play to try and achieve the club philosophy.
Our goal as a club is to play an attacking possession based brand of soccer in possession and pressing and quick repossessing of the ball when defending. We want to achieve a high speed of play in possession to create a high number of attacking opportunities through creative individual play in the final 3rd.
There is not a lot of effort to strictly enforce this club philosophy from the technical staff, as they have stated, it is important to play under different coaches with different styles in order to be a well rounded player. Which for our size of club has led to continued success within our state but has not produced any top level players who have played at the highest level.
Columbus Crew have a club-wide playing philosophy set by our Technical Director and our Academy Director. Our aim is to develop players who are comfortable on the ball, and comfortable in 1v1 situations out of possession. We also have player profiles we look to develop for each position within the academy.
As a team Some of the key things we try to focus on are:
Play out from the back on the floor whenever possible, retain our structure when possible
Create overloads and positional advantages in key areas of the pitch. Keep the momentum when we have gained an advantage.
Be patient in waiting for the best shooting opportunity when we look to score. Be ready to deny/delay a counter if we lose possession
Regain our pressing structure as fast as possible-The opponent does not cross the halfway line.
Prevent box entries-Look to force the opposition backwards.
Make good decisions in attacking transition of when we can go to goal or when we can keep the ball.
Some considerations when devising a philosophy for an academy is to make sure that it has focus on individual development, rather than purely focusing on the team. You also want to make sure that you are not rejecting lots of good footballers just because they don’t fit your style as an academy.
As our club is a grassroots club, we have different development level of teams. That is why it hard to implement one football philosophy for each club. So for this moment, we have several principles among all teams ( these are not technical or tactical principles, but in my opinion, they are still worth to be mentioned:
Respect: everyone respects everyone.
Desire to learn: it is important for both players and coaches to improve knowledge and help each other to develop themselves.
Inclusivity: we try to help anyone who comes to us, and it doesn’t matter what level of the player.
We always encourage to play bravely, creative and forward. Also we encourage to think on the football field and don’t just hit the ball without purposelessly.
like a football technical director, we have to define a clear way for all coaches and football staff about our:
1-Coaching style
2-Coaching the team
3-Coaching the player
For example for teams U13-U14-U15- U17 and U19.
-Learn the fundamental technic and tactic
Work under pressure and in a specific position
-Each player training in one or two positions U17-U19
-Appeal to the intellectual capacity to resolve the problem game
-Increase the individual and the specific working time by position
-How to play against different system
-Each player training in one or two positions (VERSATILE PLAYERS)
My club has a club-wide playing philosophy set by our Management Team. The club’s aim is to develop players who are comfortable on the ball and dictate play. We want our players to be able to identify numerical overloads, play in to space, show determination in attack/defensive transitions and enjoy their football, all whilst being the fittest club in the league.
As we are a top division, full time professional club, some of our players struggle to adapt to a full-time schedule. We also play in a unique manner to the rest of the league; thus some players find it difficult to implement the style we want to impose as a club, which can be frustrating. Some of the key things we try to focus on are:
1.Play out from the back on the floor whenever possible but feel comfortable enough to break the press with long passes/goal kicks if needed.
2.Push our wing back’s high up the pitch to create width and assist with the build into the 2nd/3rd phase.
3.Encourage 3rd man runs in to the attack to create overloads and surprise the opposition.
4.Good delivery into the box, with plenty of players in the box to respond.
5.Press high whenever we can and try to win the ball back quickly. Failing that, delay play to allow team mates to reset.
6.Maintain a solid defensive shape, especially with our rest defense.