Diving. Professional fouls. Time wasting. These are extremely divisive things in the world of football. Why is it so? Shouldn’t we applaud players who manage to deceive referees? After all, isn’t this simply “winning at all costs” – a foundational idiom in today’s sporting environments? Aren’t “noble” players…
Clubs and Academies
Insights from tops clubs and academies, focussing on how they develop players and the environments they create.
PDP Editor Dave Wright provides his report from the 2015 Norwegian Coaching Convention in Oslo. Known as the Cupfinalseminaret, this is one of the largest gathering of coaches in Europe and an event PDP highly recommends. The Cupfinalseminaret 2015 got into full swing on Friday afternoon. After the opening ceremony where a number of domestic coaches were given awards for their service to Norwegian football, the main hall of the Ullevaal Business Centre was full of coaches who were waiting in anticipation for the arrival…
PDP Editor Dave Wright provides his report from the 2015 Norwegian Coaching Convention in Oslo. Known as the Cupfinalseminaret, this is one of the largest gathering of coaches in Europe and an event PDP highly recommends. After a day of presentations from the likes of Bob Bradley, Flemming Berg & Chris Sulley, a night of conversation around all things football and player development continued in the bar of the Ullevaal Stadium in Oslo on Thursday. The one thing that was common in all of the…
It was 1993 and a 15-year-old Harry Kewell had just arrived at London Heathrow Airport with his friend, Brett Emerton. Little did they know at this stage that both would go on to have highly successful football careers and be regarded as two of the finest players to come out of Australia.
Dan Senda is an example of someone who has always worked exceptionally hard for everything he has achieved. Desire and determination are traits that you easily identify in the man when you spend time with him. He hasn’t played in a World Cup, and he hasn’t played in the Champions League, but he personifies classic British hard-graft. What Dan Senda has done in his time in football is persist, and with that he’s managed to achieve what few do – sustain a long career as…
This blog is an excerpt from the ebook, Performance Soccer Coach: A Guide to Positive Player Development by PDP Editor, Dave Wright. Click here to download your copy. Find Dave on Twitter @davewright07. Chapter 2: The Best in the Business “I’ve never played for a draw in my life.” – Sir Alex Ferguson If you examine some of the great coaches in sporting history, the likes of Vince Lombardi, Pep Guardiola, Jose Mourinho, Sir Alex Ferguson, and Sir Graham Henry, all of these men are…
In this Live Webinar replay, Founder of Changing the Game Project & TEDx Speaker, John O’Sullivan & Former US U17 Assistant Coach & Men’s International, Erik Imler join us to talk Player Development in the USA. PDP Editor, Dave Wright & PDP Co-Founder, Adam Wright host a discussion with John & Erik on how we can change player development for the better with a particular focus on the challenges that parents, coaches and players have in the USA. We discuss a range of topics including: Positive…
The Portuguese Primeira Liga does not generate enough revenue for its clubs to compete with the ‘big boys’ of Europe. Despite this, however, 27-times Primeira Liga winners FC Porto regularly compete in the highest reaches of European football and produce a seemingly inexhaustible supply of talented players. So what’s their secret? Portugal’s three major clubs are Sporting Lisbon, Benfica and FC Porto – three big fish in a relatively small pond. Of these, FC Porto is the most intriguing, consistently ‘punching above their weight’ in the…
The road to success in football is not always straightforward. Now regarded a Premier League stalwart, West Bromwich Albion were a club once derided as the ‘Boing Boing Baggies’ for their succession of relegations and promotions in the early 2000s. Now a stable club under the guidance of Tony Pulis, the club’s academy are producing some exciting young footballers. PDP Editor, Dave Wright spoke to Jimmy Shan, the Under-21 coach at The Hawthorns, about his career and got an insider’s look at the WBA Academy….
Regular PDP Contributor and Founder of TOVO Institute, Todd Beane explains the importance of a ‘less is more’ approach to communicating with players on the pitch and asks: Are you at peace on the sidelines? Johan Cruyff changed the way FC Barcelona played football back in the early 1990s. He did so in the same Camp Nou stadium that people travel from around the world to visit and in which some of the best football on the planet has been played since that time….
After their dominant performance at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, including the 7-1 demolition of the host nation, the football world is wanted to understand how Germany transformed their broken team of Euro 2000 into a world-beating machine. PDP Editor, Dave Wright examines the resurrection of German Football. Time for Change It is well documented that after the team crashed out in the first round of Euro 2000, Germany took drastic action. Working from the bottom up, they underwent a total restructure of how they went…
We discuss coach innovation and development philosophy with Stuart English, Head of Coaching at the Brentford FC Academy, and one of most exciting young coaches in the game. PDP: Why is it important that long-term player development programmes have a clear philosophy? SE: A clear philosophy is of paramount importance within a long-term development programme because it allows the players, parents and coaches to have a shared understanding of the planned pathway ahead. It makes sure that everybody involved is aware of the demands and…
Throughout his tenure as head coach of FC Barcelona, Pep Guardiola prioritised one message above all others, a message that built a dynasty, defined a generation and changed a game. PDP Lead Researcher James Vaughan discusses the value of a style of play and how Pep Guardiola has influenced a generation of coaches and players. The message was simple: ‘The target is not to win titles; the target is to achieve a unique style of play.’ The simplicity and eloquence of this message are as profound…
Former New Zealand footballer, Cameron Knowles may not be a household name but is journey is one of challenge and adaptation. From the bumpy fields of Auckland’s North Shore to the stadiums of MLS and defending against the likes of David Beckham and Landon Donovan, Cameron was somewhat of a late bloomer – working hard to overcome his lack of technical development through persistence, effort and intelligence. With four years of college football at the University of Akron (including two MAC Conference Championships) and…
A trend can be seen in the top echelon of the European transfer market, with hundreds of millions of pounds (and euros) spent on players from South America. But what do these South American footballers have that others don’t? Flair? Creativity? Arguably yes, but then why are these attributes developed so successfully in South America, or is it more important to ask why isn’t creativity developed in other cultures around the world? Sir Ken Robinson’s TED Talk ‘How schools kill creativity’ gives a unique insight into this…
The life of a modern, top flight football manager can be short lived. With club and supporter expectations bordering on perfection, for a manager to successfully negotiate the gauntlet of public pressure requires skill, knowledge and perhaps above all, luck. Sean Douglas, Football Federation Australia’s Advanced Coaching Manager, explores the criteria most often used to judge coach success, and offers a new context with which to assess performance. “Half the season gone, half the coaches gone; forget the Tasmanian devil – the A-League coach is…
FC Barcelona’s Xavi Hernandez is seen by many as the Einstein of Football. His vision and awareness provide the perfect example for young players who aspire to develop a deep understanding of the game. These skills, combined with a level of technical ability rarely surpassed, have led to Xavi engineering some of the most unique, creative and exciting goals in world football. “When you arrive at Barcelona the first thing they teach you is: think. Think, think, and think quickly. Lift your head up, move your head, see, and think. Look…
Many players battle with the idea of acceptance by those closest to them, and approval from those who can define their next footballing move. But at what cost does this approval come? Many of these young players sacrifice creativity, problem solving skills, and even their own identity, in search of praise which is often misinformed. The cultural ‘noise’ surrounding player development environments is killing players’ creativity. In football (and other sports) this ‘noise’ – be it comments from the sideline, praise/ criticism from coaches or parents, or constant instruction…