Tommy Smith has played in multiple continents, made hundreds of professional appearances, and earned 50 caps for the New Zealand national team. In this article, Smith, no stranger to the demands of the biggest stages, discusses the challenges of pressure, coping with expectation, and his experiences playing at the World Cup and Olympic Games. In This Article Coping with Pressure Playing professional football can carry a lot of pressure — from fans, coaches, and even players’ own personal standards. But learning how to cope with…
world cup
Pressure is part of sport. So how can coaches help players embrace or reduce this significant psychological factor to enhance creativity and freedom when performing? Psychologist and Lecturer at Staffordshire University, Dr. Martin J. Turner shares examples and research in this area. Prior to the 2018 World Cup, Jurgen Klopp, the coach of Liverpool FC, suggested that the media could help the England’s men’s football team by reducing the pressure “a notch or two”. He told journalists to “maybe take the numbers 1966 [when England last…
Football is a game of speed, whether it’s quick thinking, or quick movement. PDP Editor & UEFA A licensed coach, Dave Wright & Tottenham Hotspur first team analyst, Zaheer Shah examine some clips and stats from the 2018 World Cup, sharing thoughts on some of the trends to emerge at the tournament and whether they have implications in youth development. The 2018 World Cup has seen the importance of combination play, transition, quick counter attack, 1 v 1 attributes and game changing individual brilliance as key…
Amidst the clamour and glamour of a fantastic World Cup in Russia, the ugly spectre of play-acting and simulation was always lurking. PDP Assistant Editor, Jon Hoggard, considers the impact of cheating on such a big stage, and uses observational learning theory to highlight the importance of removing it from the game. It’s the 17th minute of the World Cup Final. You’re dribbling at an angle towards the opposition box, with their well-drilled defensive line alert and ready, and your strikers are marked. You…
VAR technology has already had a monumental impact on football at the highest level, including the World Cup Final. PDP Technical Advisor, Dan Wright examines the impact of VAR, the potential risks and some of the subsequent trends emerging in the beautiful game. Since its inception football has had many innovations that have shaped the way we play and view the modern game. These changes have come in various forms. There have been large fundamental changes such as the introduction of offsides, the use…
Argentina were eliminated from the World Cup in the Round of 16 by eventual winners, France. PDP Lead Researcher, James Vaughan examines some of the cultural questions we’re left with on the back of a disappointing campaign from a traditional football heavyweight. While Phil Neville’s mansplaining was trending on Twitter and Neymar’s spaghetti haircut was splattered all over Facebook, there were some World Cup stories unearthing deeper questions. Deep questions with hidden connections. Wading through the catchphrase cliché’s provided by many pundits, moments of insightful questioning caught the eye…
Player Development Project Assistant Editor, Jon Hoggard asks when is creativity deemed disrespectful? Do coaches have double standards or show bias depending on who is brave enough to take the risks that lead to some of the great moments in football. Twitter went mad. Opinions flew all over social media. Newspaper columns were written, some praising, some condemning. Readers commented back and forth, for and against. What caused the furore? Barcelona scored a penalty in a run-of-the-mill 6–1 win against Celta Vigo. It was 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.
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…
Manager of the New Zealand National Women’s Team, the Football Ferns, Tony Readings has come up against some giants of the women’s world game. Taking on the likes of the USA (#1) , China (#14) and Brazil (#6), the Ferns have performed well beyond expectations. Tony and his team have created a truely unique team culture, which seems to be the key ingredient in the Ferns’ ability to consistently produce world class results. PDP: How would you describe the culture of the Football Ferns? TR:…
Anthony Hudson has travelled the world on a mission to develop himself as a coach. He is a thoughtful character who is tasked with taking one of the world’s smaller footballing nations, New Zealand, to Russia in 2018. We caught up with Anthony in Auckland to discuss his story, his philosophy, his mentors and how he went from West Ham Academy player to New Zealand Men’s coach via the Middle East and picked up the UEFA Pro License along the way. It’s a warm, sunny…
Interest in women’s football is at an all-time high and on the surface it appears to be flourishing. Coverage of the Women’s World Canada 2015 is a testament to this. However, as a parent of both male and female youth players, it is evident that the gap between the women’s and men’s game is huge; a gap that exists from grassroots right through to the top level. At youth level, I see coaches with higher qualifications assigned to boys’ teams and parent coaches allocated…