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 as the motivational consequences. In one sentence Guardiola had redefined success; shifting the goal posts, he placed success in the hands of his players and the control of his staff.
Winning is never within anyone’s control of course, and this is the beauty of football. The referee, the weather, the opposition and injuries are just some of the many external factors that can frustrate, alienate and dramatise the beautiful game. No matter how hard players, coaches and staff prepare during the week, winning is never guaranteed.
Even worse, the focus on winning can have destructive consequences for players’ motivation. Forty years of evolving motivational research – pioneered by psychologists Edward Deci and Richard Ryan and compiled under the umbrella of the Self- Determination Theory (SDT) – have shown that success defined by such elusive external acclaim, be it winning trophies, money or gaining social status, actually shifts our naturally occurring intrinsic motivation towards an extrinsic focus. Let me explain the difference, using some of my own experiences.
Intrinsic motivation is curiosity-based and innate. It’s the default setting that inspires learning, growth and creativity. When players want to play football their motivation comes from within, and they’re immersed in the game. Fully engaged, players develop cognitive resources, subconsciously refining their decision-making, perceptual intake and creative endeavours. Not that they’re thinking about or even aware of this, of course, they simply play – nothing else matters.
The target is not to win titles, the target is to achieve a unique style of play.
At 11 years old I would play anywhere and everywhere – nothing else mattered. At 12 years old I signed my first 12-month contract to ‘play’ for Notts County and ‘train’ in their centre for excellence. My mindset changed, my intrinsic motivation was tainted and my innocence gone. I thought less about playing and more about signing my next contract – I wanted to turn pro, so even when I didn’t want to, I felt that I had to play and that I had to perform. The long-term development of my perceptual skills, decision- making and creativity were sacrificed for short-term performance: I had to get another contract and to do this I couldn’t make mistakes.
Creativity expert Sir Ken Robinson highlights the flaws in such a mindset: ‘If you’re not prepared to be wrong you’ll never come up with anything original.’ And I didn’t. At a critical age my skillset didn’t diversify and I became a one-dimensional central midfielder: tackle, pass, two-touch football.
When the ‘why’ of what we do transforms from ‘I want to’ into ‘I have to’, we’re experiencing extrinsic motivation. We’re controlled by an intangible external pressure; a pressure to think, feel and behave in certain ways. We perceive the environment as controlling. We don’t have the freedom to think for ourselves, experiment and learn. We play from a script. In my case, my script was simple: tackle, pass, two-touch football. The script is often determined by our enculturation and acculturation within football: in other words, our cultural upbringing and conditioning.
“The target is not to win titles, the target is to achieve a unique style of play.”
With this simple message, Pep Guardiola started to reverse both society’s cultural conditioning and its emphasis on extrinsic rewards. He did this by focusing his players on an intrinsic goal – the mastery of their playing style. This focus makes playing style the destination and the compass for long-term player development (LTPD). Setting the course for our journey, it also represents an evolving yardstick by which to measure progress.
Recent SDT research shows that we all possess innate desires to de-value extrinsic goals and replace them
with intrinsic goals. This has powerful implications for teams* and individuals, especially providing and creating the opportunity to feel autonomy. One of three fundamental motivational building blocks, autonomy can be described as the feeling of freedom to act from within, the expression of self and the ability to make meaningful choices. Therefore, the realisation that we can choose our playing style is potentially revolutionary within football.
Rather than being defined by our cultural conditioning – which can shape who we are and how we play
– we can choose our own playing style and shape our identity. Playing style becomes the dream goal, the destination on our long-term player development journey, the challenge we choose, accept and engage in. We visualise the role models (or mentors) we want to emulate. We reflect on who we want to play like (Messi, Pirlo, Pogba, Neymar) and choose the aspects of those mentors’ games that we want to develop.
As players we reflect on our play, study the players we identify with and take control of our destiny. This is the goal of the Player Development Project and in particular our first major project, the PDP App. Here are a few examples of world-class players and coaches who recognise the importance of role models and the influence they can have on player development.
‘My role-model? In the club, I have Thiago Motta. I also like to watch Andrea Pirlo. He is a very intelligent player. He won’t tackle everywhere and make a lot of fouls, but he is intelligent in his positioning. I have been lucky to see Claude Makelele very regularly at PSG and he has given me several pieces of advice. He told me for players of our size, it is about the movement, having to anticipate a lot, and always run. I like that position as a defensive midfielder.’
– Yohan Cabaye, French international.
It is our ability to identify with our mentors, in the way that Cabaye identifies with Makelele, that inspires us to reflect on their performance, study and emulate them. Coaches can also play a role in citing role models.
‘Tactically, once [Steven Gerrard] does more work on when to become the third man dropping in or pushing on, he’s got a great chance of playing that role to the level of a Pirlo or a [Javier] Zanetti. They did it until late in their 30s.’ – Brendan Rodgers, Liverpool head coach.
The Player Development Project aims to provide young players with an engaging framework in which to choose their style of play. Learning from role models and each other, players will push the boundaries of creative play.
As a 28 year-old International futsal player, I’m still coming to grips with who I am as a player, and still reconciling how I want to play versus how I’m actually able to play. As a young player I never had the choice, never had a framework to design my playing style and never developed the cognitive skills required. Signing a contract at 11 started a motivational trend that led to less play, less learning, no freedom to experiment, no skill diversification and no creativity.
Rather than being defined by our cultural conditioning – which can shape who we are and how we play – we can choose our own playing style and shape our identity.
‘The target is not to win titles [or sign a contract]; the target is to achieve a unique style of play’
Playing style is the destination and the compass in players’ long-term development.
*in later editions Pep’s re-creation of a motivational climate aligned to that of La Masia is discussed, as is a playing style’s ability to shape a shared understanding and facilitate collective creation, buy-in and decision making of tactical frameworks (based on the research of Pam Richardson).
Cover Image:
Pep Guardiola during his time at FC Barcelona. Photo:David Barker
