It is difficult to overstate just how much of an influence Dutch football legend Johan Cruyff has had on the sport. From his time on the pitch, starring for Ajax, Barcelona and the Dutch national side, to his time in management at the same institutions, Cruyff has always been at the cutting edge of football development. Player Development Project spoke to Cruyff in 2015 about his coaching philosophy and more. Winner of the Ballon d’Or an incredible three times, Cruyff started his footballing career at…
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The psychological components of coaching have a huge impact on the development of our players — both on and off the pitch. As coaches, we have a responsibility to understand these components, in order to provide supportive and constructive learning environments for the kids we work with. In this article, Dr. Suzanne Brown, Clinical Psychologist and Lead Psychologist at Sunderland AFC, explores some of the most important aspects of psychology in football, as she discusses emotional control, how to develop positive attitudes to mistakes, and…
Over the course of his career, Tommy Smith has been an ever-present figure in the Championship, played over 300 games in England’s professional leagues and the MLS, and won 50 caps for the All Whites. Below, the MK Dons defender reflects on his journey to senior football, and the qualities that have helped him to thrive in an array of professional environments. In This Article The Drive to Succeed The challenges of professional football are huge, yet most players never even make it that far….
The psychological component of football underpins everything that a player does. But mindset and other mental skills can be the hardest attributes for children (and professional athletes) to develop. In this article, A-League winner Stefan Mauk discusses his path to building a positive and constructive mentality, and how a focus on processes, not outcomes, helps him to perform at his best in the professional game. In This Article Coping with Pressure Within the context of professional football, pressure comes from many sources; crowds, coaches, teammates,…
Safety may not be the first characteristic we associate with exceptional coaching environments, but, for our players, a sense of security is essential to being able to learn effectively. Below, we draw upon the knowledge of several experts as we explain why safe coaching environments are so important, and how we can engender a culture of trust, security, and enjoyment within our teams and clubs. ] In This Article The Importance of Safe Environments If we’re to give kids the best chance of enjoying football…
Individual duels comprise a large part of any football match. So it’s vital that our players feel comfortable beating defenders and facing opponents one-on-one. Below, we examine why 1v1s are so important, discuss the different skills that can help players to be 1v1 dominant, and present some practical examples of exercises to help players improve their dribbling, ball retention, and composure in 1v1 situations. In This Article The Importance of 1v1s The ability to beat opponents is a vital skill. Football matches are often a…
Resident positive psychology expert, Lara Mossman discusses how to create positive sports environments for developing players. In this challenging article Lara discusses what role coaches can play in trying to apply positive psychology to their approach and whether traditional coach education has done enough to arm coaches with the right skills to do so. Does positive youth development have a place in football coaching? From coaching, parenting and players there is a growing interest in bringing learnings from positive psychology to the sports field. Before…
Ego. Why does it dominate coaching? Player Development Project Editor & academy coach, Dave Wright challenges the place of ego in coaching questioning where it comes from, the difficulty of removing it and accepting that as a coach, you may not have all the answers. “The kumara (sweet potato) does not need to say how sweet he is.” It’s game day. A cold winter’s morning, you look outside, it’s gloomy, but there’s no rain. Game on. You’ve planned and prepared for weeks through a gruelling pre-season….
This paper outlines the connections between three problems which are deeply interlinked, growing in influence, and shaping many aspects of social and cultural life, including football: The paper argues that these problems are each made worse by the commodification of young football players within an overly competitive and individualistic football culture. It points to opportunities to change club structures and coaching practice, highlighting these as important steps in changing wider football culture, and it argues that changing football culture would, in turn, create widespread social…
Self-organisation was a key process discussed at the Complex Systems in Sports Congress at Camp Nou in Barcelona. PDP co-founder James Vaughan discusses the importance of understanding and observing self-organisation with video and reflections from Barcelona and Sweden. It was the end of the day and that meant free play. However, this freedom felt very restricted, very one-directional, very narrow. It was almost as if the players had blinkers on; constrained to only see forwards. Dribble forward, tackle, loose ball, transition! Dribble forward, tackle, loose ball, transition! Dribble…
PDP Lead Researcher James Vaughan poses the question to coaches: are we competing or are we collaborating? In this article, James discusses the concept of ‘water’ and its implications on an individual’s approach to coaching. One of the most important questions you can ask as a coach is: Are we competing or are we collaborating? In fact, it’s one of the most important questions you can ask any group of people intending, attempting or pretending to work together. I’ll admit this is a strange statement…
UEFA A licensed coach & PDP Editor, Dave Wright discusses why an individual approach to player development is crucial after recently presenting at a conference in Australia. The presentation was based on his philosophy, PDP research and experience from his time at Fulham FC. Recently, I was fortunate enough to be invited by Football Federation Victoria (the state governing body for football in Victoria) to present at their State Coaching Conference in Melbourne. I was given freedom to choose a topic, but encouraged to…
Luca Oppici; Derek Panchuk; Fabio R. Serpiello; and Damian Farrow The Big Idea If this study does nothing else, it should reinforce a couple of useful ideas hovering over our sporting life. First, there is inherent relevance for the power of field research to inform our sports practices. Second, we are learning that our sporting practices, where possible, need to be as game-specific as we can make them. This study is field-based in both its design and technical sophistication; it is not simulation, but fact-based…
Jon de Souza was appointed Academy Manager at Colchester United in July 2016, after a coaching career that has taken him from club he joined as a schoolboy, Luton Town, to a coach education role at the Football Association and Brentford FC. PDP spoke to Jon about his career, and discussed the importance of coaching the individual. Jon de Souza began his footballing journey at Luton Town, signing for the Hatters as an under-14 player. Despite their fairly lowly status, Luton Town are a…
How important is self-awareness in athlete performance? John Haime cites examples from both golf & football, discussing the potentially hazardous ‘blind spots’ in an athletes development, how to look out for them and how coaches can support athletes in navigating around these challenging issues. I was inspired to write this article by a quote I come across from a friend of mine, Melinda Harrison, a former Olympic swimmer who specialises in helping athletes transition from the world of sport to their next great venture. “If…
Jonathon Headrick, Keith Davids, Ian Renshaw, Duarte Araújo, Pedro Passos, and Orlando Fernandes The Big Idea The time and path of a major storm ravaging parts of Europe can be influenced by the flapping wings of a butterfly in the Amazonian jungle (“the butterfly effect”). So too can small changes in the sub-phases of a non-linear dynamic system of a football game have big later-consequences on the outcome of the game. In other words, small causes may have larger, later effects. In this research paper,…
Hugo Sarmento, Antonio Pereira, Maria T. Anguera, Jorge Canpanico, and Jose Leitao The Big Idea What separates this research paper on coaching football from so many coming before it is the decision of method. If you are looking for yet another theoretical and quantitatively-driven model of how coaches should coach football, keep looking. In this paper, the reader will certainly find a suggested model; but it is one that doesn’t depend on theory-building or statistics. Instead it is derived from the practices and reflective voices…
Head Coach of Auckland City FC in New Zealand’s National League, Jose Manuel Figueira discusses the core principles around his methodology. Jose outlines ideas as to how you can create high quality practices that are demanding for your players and ensure a positive learning environment. Recently I have gone through a major development in terms of my coaching philosophy and also in the way I plan, develop and deliver my coaching sessions. With all the fantastic resources accessible to us and the community of forward…