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Re: Lessons the WC Taught me: A new theory of the game!

Posted: Tue Mar 11, 2014 1:48 pm
by txj
"Modern football goes all about rhythm, timing, spacing and exceptional technical and mental skills. The CogiTraining Method allows initially “normal” players to internalize the essential ingredient of modern football, that is: speed of vision, speed of decision-making, speed of execution. SenseBall is one specific tool of the CogiTraining Method, which guarantees the individual technical development."


http://www.cogitraining.com/en/

Re: Lessons the WC Taught me: A new theory of the game!

Posted: Tue Mar 11, 2014 3:09 pm
by Ugbowo
txj wrote:1. Football is a simple game. But most of all, football is an unselfish game

2. It begins with the individual recognizing that it is first and foremost not about him; that his talent is not for his benefit nor does it belong to him.

3. More importantly that the best expression of his talent is achieved by placing it at the service of the team.

4. But ultimately every player stands first on his unique individuality.

5. Reconciling these two seemingly diametrically opposed concepts is the ultimate challenge of the modern game.

6. In Nigeria, kids grow to become footballers on the strength of their individuality. They are self taught and self made, sometimes fully formed in their understanding of the game ever before their first contact with formal coaching.

7. This is why I have often thought, like Forrest Gump, that working with homebased players is like getting a box of chocolates, you never know what you're gonna get!

8. The real challenge of working with them is not their talent or lack thereof, but the ability to get each one to subordinate themselves by completely buying into the concept of the team game. In the process, placing their individual skills at the service of the team.
Txj my man,

Did u have Mikel in mind when u wrote this? :taunt: :taunt:

Re: Lessons the WC Taught me: A new theory of the game!

Posted: Tue Mar 11, 2014 4:38 pm
by Bigpokey24
Ugbowo wrote:
txj wrote:1. Football is a simple game. But most of all, football is an unselfish game

2. It begins with the individual recognizing that it is first and foremost not about him; that his talent is not for his benefit nor does it belong to him.

3. More importantly that the best expression of his talent is achieved by placing it at the service of the team.

4. But ultimately every player stands first on his unique individuality.

5. Reconciling these two seemingly diametrically opposed concepts is the ultimate challenge of the modern game.

6. In Nigeria, kids grow to become footballers on the strength of their individuality. They are self taught and self made, sometimes fully formed in their understanding of the game ever before their first contact with formal coaching.

7. This is why I have often thought, like Forrest Gump, that working with homebased players is like getting a box of chocolates, you never know what you're gonna get!

8. The real challenge of working with them is not their talent or lack thereof, but the ability to get each one to subordinate themselves by completely buying into the concept of the team game. In the process, placing their individual skills at the service of the team.
Txj my man,

Did u have Mikel in mind when u wrote this? :taunt: :taunt:
:rotf: :rotf: :rotf: bobo just shrinned Mikel without even knowing it..

Re: Lessons the WC Taught me: A new theory of the game!

Posted: Tue Mar 11, 2014 4:50 pm
by txj
Ugbowo wrote:
txj wrote:1. Football is a simple game. But most of all, football is an unselfish game

2. It begins with the individual recognizing that it is first and foremost not about him; that his talent is not for his benefit nor does it belong to him.

3. More importantly that the best expression of his talent is achieved by placing it at the service of the team.

4. But ultimately every player stands first on his unique individuality.

5. Reconciling these two seemingly diametrically opposed concepts is the ultimate challenge of the modern game.

6. In Nigeria, kids grow to become footballers on the strength of their individuality. They are self taught and self made, sometimes fully formed in their understanding of the game ever before their first contact with formal coaching.

7. This is why I have often thought, like Forrest Gump, that working with homebased players is like getting a box of chocolates, you never know what you're gonna get!

8. The real challenge of working with them is not their talent or lack thereof, but the ability to get each one to subordinate themselves by completely buying into the concept of the team game. In the process, placing their individual skills at the service of the team.
Txj my man,

Did u have Mikel in mind when u wrote this? :taunt: :taunt:

Mikel is a team player at Chelsea, albeit in a very narrow role, but one who lacks personal ambition to maximize his abilities.

You can maximize ur abilities within the team game.

Your problem is, u only seem capable of thinking in one direction at a time!

The fact ur takeaway from the article is the above is quite sad....

I give up on CE!

Re: Lessons the WC Taught me: A new theory of the game!

Posted: Tue Mar 11, 2014 5:07 pm
by Bigpokey24
txj wrote:
Ugbowo wrote:
txj wrote:1. Football is a simple game. But most of all, football is an unselfish game

2. It begins with the individual recognizing that it is first and foremost not about him; that his talent is not for his benefit nor does it belong to him.

3. More importantly that the best expression of his talent is achieved by placing it at the service of the team.

4. But ultimately every player stands first on his unique individuality.

5. Reconciling these two seemingly diametrically opposed concepts is the ultimate challenge of the modern game.

6. In Nigeria, kids grow to become footballers on the strength of their individuality. They are self taught and self made, sometimes fully formed in their understanding of the game ever before their first contact with formal coaching.

7. This is why I have often thought, like Forrest Gump, that working with homebased players is like getting a box of chocolates, you never know what you're gonna get!

8. The real challenge of working with them is not their talent or lack thereof, but the ability to get each one to subordinate themselves by completely buying into the concept of the team game. In the process, placing their individual skills at the service of the team.
Txj my man,

Did u have Mikel in mind when u wrote this? :taunt: :taunt:

Mikel is a team player at Chelsea, albeit in a very narrow role, but one who lacks personal ambition to maximize his abilities.

You can maximize ur abilities within the team game.

Your problem is, u only seem capable of thinking in one direction at a time!

The fact ur takeaway from the article is the above is quite sad....

I give up on CE!
please do, while you are it, make sure you carry mary poppings with you

Re: Lessons the WC Taught me: A new theory of the game!

Posted: Tue Mar 11, 2014 5:15 pm
by maceo4
Txj, you cant look at the game so individualistically, you must also take into account the decision making of the other team mates which will end up determining/providing the options from which the individual has to choose from and make his split second decision...

Re: Lessons the WC Taught me: A new theory of the game!

Posted: Tue Mar 11, 2014 5:32 pm
by txj
maceo4 wrote:Txj, you cant look at the game so individualistically, you must also take into account the decision making of the other team mates which will end up determining/providing the options from which the individual has to choose from and make his split second decision...
Not the game. The development of the player.

But the goal is to equip him with the tools to make the best decision in aid of the team game.

Re: Lessons the WC Taught me: A new theory of the game!

Posted: Tue Mar 11, 2014 8:42 pm
by nanijoe
Apparently (from the OT), the most important aspect of football is decision making...

Re: Lessons the WC Taught me: A new theory of the game!

Posted: Tue Mar 11, 2014 11:56 pm
by txj
nanijoe wrote:Apparently (from the OT), the most important aspect of football is decision making...
On the pitch, on game day, that's what it basically comes down to.

Re: Lessons the WC Taught me: A new theory of the game!

Posted: Thu Mar 13, 2014 12:14 pm
by Kabalega
TXJ Missed the whole idea.

Soccer like life, is a team sport. Sure you can go it alone, but friends and real meaningful connections get the most out of each individual. It is why txj logs-in to CE, when he otherwise you would have stuck to his blog. Friendlies are supposed to help coaches build on this team concept where players learn to trust each other and fight for each other like real life brothers.

For example, If the team lacks an ideal RB, they learn to compensate and collectively work with whom they have in that position. If a player gets lost with the ball, his band of brothers will correct him and lead him to the right decision, if he trusts in them. The individual player is not alone and does not operate in a vacuum.

A team is not just a collection of individuals, but a tight knit group of individuals who work together for a common good. The best teams like the Germans look like well oiled efficiency machines.

Re: Lessons the WC Taught me: A new theory of the game!

Posted: Thu Mar 13, 2014 12:46 pm
by txj
Kabalega wrote:TXJ Missed the whole idea.

Soccer like life, is a team sport. Sure you can go it alone, but friends and real meaningful connections get the most out of each individual. It is why txj logs-in to CE, when he otherwise you would have stuck to his blog. Friendlies are supposed to help coaches build on this team concept where players learn to trust each other and fight for each other like real life brothers.

For example, If the team lacks an ideal RB, they learn to compensate and collectively work with whom they have in that position. If a player gets lost with the ball, his band of brothers will correct him and lead him to the right decision, if he trusts in them. The individual player is not alone and does not operate in a vacuum.

A team is not just a collection of individuals, but a tight knit group of individuals who work together for a common good. The best teams like the Germans look like well oiled efficiency machines.

No you totally missed my point.

The concept of the team game is enhanced by equipping each individual player with the tools to make the best possible decision, within the constraints of time and space, to benefit the team game. Not himself, but the team.

In otherwords, the team grows, to the extent that individuals within it grow, by the factor of their ability to make good decisions.

Re: Lessons the WC Taught me: A new theory of the game!

Posted: Thu Mar 13, 2014 7:25 pm
by Kabalega
txj wrote:
Kabalega wrote:TXJ Missed the whole idea.

Soccer like life, is a team sport. Sure you can go it alone, but friends and real meaningful connections get the most out of each individual. It is why txj logs-in to CE, when he otherwise you would have stuck to his blog. Friendlies are supposed to help coaches build on this team concept where players learn to trust each other and fight for each other like real life brothers.

For example, If the team lacks an ideal RB, they learn to compensate and collectively work with whom they have in that position. If a player gets lost with the ball, his band of brothers will correct him and lead him to the right decision, if he trusts in them. The individual player is not alone and does not operate in a vacuum.

A team is not just a collection of individuals, but a tight knit group of individuals who work together for a common good. The best teams like the Germans look like well oiled efficiency machines.

No you totally missed my point.

The concept of the team game is enhanced by equipping each individual player with the tools to make the best possible decision, within the constraints of time and space, to benefit the team game. Not himself, but the team.

In otherwords, the team grows, to the extent that individuals within it grow, by the factor of their ability to make good decisions.
No I did not miss your point but you missed mine. You are approaching the idea from the wrong side of things.

You are putting the cart before the horse.

For an individual player to make the "right" decision, they have to buy into the team plan and that decision has to be for the good of the team. The team comes first but there will be a few rebels and that is OK. Every team needs a few of them.

For example in SA 2010, 9ja vs Argentina, Osaze should have passed to Obagoal who was in a better position to score. He ended up dribbling the ball out for a goal kick. On the surface of it, this incident might support your idea, but if Osaze had bought into the ethos of the team, he would not even have thought twice. He would have found a way to make the cross to Obagoal who was in a better position. It's kind of the chicken and egg thing but in this case the team comes first. Unprepared teams have lots of individuals making the wrong decisions.

Re: Lessons the WC Taught me: A new theory of the game!

Posted: Fri Mar 14, 2014 3:06 am
by txj
Kabalega wrote:
txj wrote:
Kabalega wrote:TXJ Missed the whole idea.

Soccer like life, is a team sport. Sure you can go it alone, but friends and real meaningful connections get the most out of each individual. It is why txj logs-in to CE, when he otherwise you would have stuck to his blog. Friendlies are supposed to help coaches build on this team concept where players learn to trust each other and fight for each other like real life brothers.

For example, If the team lacks an ideal RB, they learn to compensate and collectively work with whom they have in that position. If a player gets lost with the ball, his band of brothers will correct him and lead him to the right decision, if he trusts in them. The individual player is not alone and does not operate in a vacuum.

A team is not just a collection of individuals, but a tight knit group of individuals who work together for a common good. The best teams like the Germans look like well oiled efficiency machines.

No you totally missed my point.

The concept of the team game is enhanced by equipping each individual player with the tools to make the best possible decision, within the constraints of time and space, to benefit the team game. Not himself, but the team.

In otherwords, the team grows, to the extent that individuals within it grow, by the factor of their ability to make good decisions.
No I did not miss your point but you missed mine. You are approaching the idea from the wrong side of things.

You are putting the cart before the horse.

For an individual player to make the "right" decision, they have to buy into the team plan and that decision has to be for the good of the team. The team comes first but there will be a few rebels and that is OK. Every team needs a few of them.

For example in SA 2010, 9ja vs Argentina, Osaze should have passed to Obagoal who was in a better position to score. He ended up dribbling the ball out for a goal kick. On the surface of it, this incident might support your idea, but if Osaze had bought into the ethos of the team, he would not even have thought twice. He would have found a way to make the cross to Obagoal who was in a better position. It's kind of the chicken and egg thing but in this case the team comes first. Unprepared teams have lots of individuals making the wrong decisions.

The highlighted section of my earlier post addresses the issue. I think it is simple and clear enough...

Re: Lessons the WC Taught me: A new theory of the game!

Posted: Fri Mar 14, 2014 8:24 am
by Kabalega
TXJ, we are on the same page but with a slight subtlety.

Try this on for size......

Keshi's team has a weakness at RB. Efe Ambrose, is a poor tackler, and likes to bomb forward but rarely makes that killer cross when he does so. I think he is more of a natural defensive MF but some would prefer him as a CB. He has other qualities too.

According to your theory, Keshi and Celtic would have to equip Efe Ambrose, with tools that would make him a better tackler and crosser of the ball. Of course within the context of either team. Fair enough. However, Efe Ambrose, might not improve in those areas, might somewhat improve or eventually - with time- become good. In the meantime, the rest of the team (that word again) would have to adjust accordingly in order to win.

If Efe Ambrose, does not improve in these areas what then? Blame the coaches? Heck, even Jesus lost one disciple. If Efe is not going to put the fear of God in an opponent with a good tackle, someone else will have to step up and do it. When they do so, Efe would have to cover them up somehow. If he does so perfectly, then there would be less need to equip him with tools to improve his individual tackling and crossing skills. BTW, Ambrose is a decent reader of the game, that is why he does not rely on tackles so much. But it is a necessary skill for a defender.
That synergy is way more powerful than equipping individual players with better tools on the green grass.

Ever heard of a story where a dozen people were invited to a very good banquet. The food was over the top. Unfortunately, everybody's elbow was turned inside out. When they all sat at a table, they couldn't feed themselves unless they ate like dogs which would ruin the whole experience. Guess what they did to enjoy the banquet? :D

Re:

Posted: Sat Mar 15, 2014 3:50 pm
by txj
@ Kabalega: See below. It begins with the choice of players.

txj wrote:A critical aspect which is not in the version I posted would naturally be player selection.

This approach would require the recruitment of quick witted players, with great adaptability, versatility, balance, speed and impeccable ball control skills.

As I see it currently, about half of the players in the SE team would not qualify for call up.

Re: Lessons the WC Taught me: A new theory of the game!

Posted: Sat Mar 15, 2014 5:04 pm
by Coach
Brethren, let it be known that, BeniTx builds his philosophy from the bob, weave, shoulder roll and jab of fabulous Floyd Mayweather. There are those who may argue, Michael Katsidis or Carl Froch, would be a worthier approach. Neither boasts the invincibility of the former, but battle scarred, bloody nosed and at times, unconscious, they have fought the fight men dream of, a slugfest, no guard, haymakers and grey matter clobbered to functional irrelevance. Get shhhstuck in derrrr, avsummadaaaaaaaat! Which leads to the inevitable, big Bobby Huth, huge fifty:fifty, studs up, eyes on the man alone, huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuge Ryan Shawcross, man to man for the corners, handful of shirt, Greg Cameron up for it, Charlie Adam, low blows aplenty, talk less of the weather...could he do it?

Re: Re:

Posted: Sun Mar 16, 2014 4:48 am
by Kabalega
txj wrote:@ Kabalega: See below. It begins with the choice of players.

txj wrote:A critical aspect which is not in the version I posted would naturally be player selection.

This approach would require the recruitment of quick witted players, with great adaptability, versatility, balance, speed and impeccable ball control skills.

As I see it currently, about half of the players in the SE team would not qualify for call up.
You forgot the locker room.

Just ask Keshi, Osaze, Ike Uche, Fergie/Roy Keane, .....

Give a good coach time with a group of hey yous who get along very well and you will have a team that will beat your team full of individually skilled players. It is a team sport and there is more to a good omelet than good eggs.

BTW, did you find the solution to the banquet full of disabled people who could not feed themselves?

Re: Lessons the WC Taught me: A new theory of the game!

Posted: Fri Jun 29, 2018 2:31 pm
by txj
Brilliant piece by Jorge Valdano..

Let’s not allow the uncertainty of results, the patriotic feeling football provokes or the increasing money generated by this fantastic industry to distract us from the evolution of the game itself, the play. Regressive tactics advance at greater speed than creative ones and the obsession with statistics contributes to that.

At this World Cup, more than ever before, we want to know everything with mathematical precision, even though football is beautiful when two and two don’t make four. Or when South Korea beat Germany, say.

We want calculations to be proven correct before the game has even started. Big data and mathematical projections are making their way on to the field of play to tell us things I don’t want to know. We love football for its imprecision, its moments of genius and its mistakes, when the ball bounces badly and the left-back plays terribly because he’s had a fight with his girlfriend before the game. And there’s no equation that can explain that.

Of course the data helps but in the world of play, like in art, we have to put a limit on it because these are realms of freedom. The big problem is that with every step we take towards “scientific certainties”, players lose a little more freedom. Freedom for what? To think. There’s a reason they’re the protagonists.

It’s worth clarifying, so that you know who’s talking to you here, that I love football more than I love a team, that I admire any given player more than the greatest manager, that the ball fascinates me as much as the “science” of the game. In fact, I think football is the opposite of technology precisely because of its exaggeratedly human condition: contradictory, primitive, emotional. So you’ll understand that I see VAR as an aberration, for example. If we want justice, let’s fight for it – but in real life, not on a football pitch. Football is a child of its time, of a moment, and that identity as a primitive game exempts it from the need to be all modern and cutting edge. Yes, I know: it’s a losing battle.

The big problem is that with every step we take towards “scientific certainties”, players lose a little more freedom
Anyway, let’s continue. For some time now, a silent battle has been fought between those who know about football because they played it and that taught them endless things – lots of ex-players don’t even know all that they know – and those who, while they know less, explain it better because university gave them knowledge and the tools of persuasion.

When football club directors are in a bind all they want is someone to lie to them offering a version of events that is optimistic and irrefutable, based on “scientific” evidence. (Speech marks are vitally important every time the word science is used applied to football.) The battle is being won by the educated. But a word of warning: we are underestimating, and risk losing, the huge amount of wisdom that exists on the side of those who don’t even know all that they know.

Johan Cruyff understood that well and always mistrusted intruders. I’m not talking about coaches who never played – there are too many brilliant cases for that – but the army of people getting close to the game with sophisticated ideas that appear to have the solution to every problem. Some are obsessed with the mind, others the body, still more with tactics. They forget that players are people who play. It’s very useful to integrate every element, but the main one continues to reside somewhere in their instinct.


An example: there are “revolutionary” advances (more speech marks) like using drones to film and analyse training sessions, allowing you to see what is happening from above. Daft and pointless, whichever way you look at it. But, careful, here’s the thing: the coach that doesn’t have a drone gets labelled old-fashioned even by the players themselves and that’s terrible if they want to stay in a job.

We know a lot. Like the fact that a player ran 12.345 kilometres. It’s an admirable figure, in athletic terms. But, did he run to help? To get in the way? To give the ball to a team-mate? Or to an opponent? To bring order? Chaos? As he ran, did he think? We need the context. If not, let’s leave the numbers for something else.

As I always liked this game when the ball is at a player’s feet, let’s analyse another stat: the one that says a player touched the ball 100 times and did so with a 95% success rate. Javier Mascherano was the player who touched the ball more times in a single game than anyone else in the group phase – more than 140 touches against Iceland. Did Mascherano play well? That’s another story. Because the players with the second- and third-most touches in that game were Argentina’s two centre-backs, a sign that the passes were routine, inoffensive, without purpose. They didn’t threaten the opponent, they didn’t break through lines. They didn’t fulfil the first rule of any attacking move: eliminate opponents. But analysing football through numbers rather than letters seems to comfort specialists, as if it offered incontestable evidence and thus certainty. There are players who are unmarked but keep running, presumably so that the kilometre count doesn’t make them look bad.

And where do the players stand in this evolution of the game? With every step, they become just another piece in the machinery. That requites discipline, responsibility, solidarity, sacrifice – all virtues found in a good citizen. As we continue on this path, intensity defeats the ability to pause, to slow down; passing defeats dribbling; predictability defeats trickery ... and on it goes. The coach wants control and that’s easier to achieve without the ball than with it, working on defensive movements rather than offensive ones, the ball stopped rather than in motion. As Antoine Griezmann said after the sad draw between France and Denmark: this is just the way it is.
https://www.theguardian.com/football/20 ... of-science

Re: Lessons the WC Taught me: A new theory of the game!

Posted: Thu Nov 24, 2022 3:16 pm
by txj
Coach wrote: Thu Nov 24, 2022 1:09 pm
txj wrote: Thu Nov 24, 2022 1:06 pmThis was always a poor Cameroonian team. The teams that didn't qualify are even poorer
African football has plateaued. Considerably. The paradox remains, why do these players, some not all, employ cortical activity at club level, yet cometh the call to represent the nation, no brain activity whatsoever.

IMO Africa cannot win the WC within the framework in which football football is defined and practiced today.

I have watched a lot of football over the years. I have especially watched young Nigerian players and tried to see the game through their eyes- how they see the game originally, without the coaching, the referee, the rules; without all the the 'intermediaries' and 'encumberances'.

In terms of how the game is defined and played today, African players will never reach the full bloom of their original promise. It wont stop them from being top, top players like a Jon Mikel Obi, but only in the context of the dominant, reductionist concept of the game.

Re: Lessons the WC Taught me: A new theory of the game!

Posted: Thu Nov 24, 2022 5:52 pm
by Robotnik
Yep. There is a science to it, but if players cannot trap ball there is only so far they can go.

Re: Lessons the WC Taught me: A new theory of the game!

Posted: Fri Nov 25, 2022 2:07 am
by Eaglezbeak
It’s only the first round of games.

Re: Lessons the WC Taught me: A new theory of the game!

Posted: Wed Nov 01, 2023 5:28 pm
by txj
txj wrote: Wed Jul 19, 2006 2:59 pm The WC has come and gone leaving one with abiding memories of a football feast. As in most WCs held in Europe, defense again dominated; the difference here being that focus on defense has been in MF.

The dominant concept of the game remained European. At the core of this concept is a cynical reductionist philosophy where the primary goal of each team is the minimization of mistakes, and the maximization of other's mistakes (including instigated 'mistakes' thru simulation). Football literarily becomes a waiting game...And as soon as one side takes advantage of an error and scores, it goes into a safety- first mode, with options for the counterattack.

The result was that in Germany, spontaneity took flight; initiative cowered into a dense corner, with creativity reduced to a random event to be switched on and off in the hands of the likes of Carlos Perreira…

Surprisingly, the abiding lesson of the WC was to emerged from the bold play of Germany and Klinsmann. Beyond the fervor that often propels the home team, Klinsmann’s Germany effectively proved that technical skill is not an exclusive natural endowment.

It is from this that I have come to develop a new theory of the game: ‘The Army of One’….(don’t laugh!)


A New Theory of the Game

IMO, the single most significant element of the game, on-field is decision-making. After all the tactics, the Xs and the Os may have been defined, football comes down to a decision level: to make a pass or to hold the ball; tackle, run, shoot, etc, ultimately by one man- the individual player. Football may be the ultimate in team sport, but the individual player remains its defining factor.

The core element of this theory, therefore, like in the US Army, is the single line, optimal development of the individual player, within the framework of the team. Under this concept, the star is no longer the team, but is instead made to return to the individual player. The team thus grows from the increasing sum of its parts.

The target specific development of the individual player therefore becomes the primary object of coaching. This development would necessarily be reduced to micro components, encompassing such elements as nutrition, physiotherapy, fitness and conditioning, motivation and spiritualism, individual technique and skills development. It is based on the assumption that given all necessary equipment, that the player so endowed will make the best possible decision at the shortest possible time, to enhance the team’s objective.

Under this regime, the concept of the Manger is redefined to be a CEO, coordinating across several sectors and elements, and especially, laying out the broad guiding framework (including tactics), upon which everything is made to revolve.

In play, formations become secondary, with primary emphasis placed on speed of thought- decisions, spontaneity, dynamism, fluidity and mobility.

I hold the view that such an approach will produce a new generation of players with enough tools to transform the game and free it from a concept that is dominated by fear rather than initiative. While elements of this approach are already evident in such clubs as Arsenal, Barcelona, Ajax, it is as yet to be implemented in holistic manner.

For African players, nay Nigeria, this approach will enhance their real strength- spontaneous creativity and unpredictability, while emphasizing fitness, mobility and concentration.

I welcome discussions on this topic and will provide more details for aspiring coaches on this site who may be interested.


It seems Brazilian coach Fernando Diniz secretly visited CE to steal my ideas :winking: :winking:

https://www.skysports.com/football/news ... otball-too

Re: Lessons the WC Taught me: A new theory of the game!

Posted: Wed Nov 01, 2023 5:30 pm
by txj
The Copa Libertadores final pits Fluminense against Boca Juniors in the Maracana on Saturday. It is a huge moment for Flu, the Brazilian giants who are trying to win the competition for the first time. But the game has wider significance because of their team’s tactics.

The football of Fernando Diniz has become a fascination. It is possessional play reimagined. The opposite of Pep Guardiola, according to Diniz himself. To some, it is new. To others, it is the restoration of jogo bonito, the beautiful game.

Brazil as it would like to see itself.

Coach Fernando Diniz of Brazil's Fluminense looks on prior to a Copa Libertadores semifinal second leg soccer match against Brazil's Internacional at Beira Rio stadium in Porto Alegre, Brazil, Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2023. (AP Photo/Andre Penner)
Image:
Fernando Diniz has guided Fluminense to the final of the Copa Libertadores
Leaning on ideas from futsal, this is football as free expression with players no longer shackled to a zone but encouraged to interact, rotate and create. "The way Pep likes having possession is the opposite of mine. His style is positional, mine is anti-positional."

To European eyes, these overloads, these lopsided formations, they challenge established wisdom. Carlos Carvalhal, the experienced Portuguese coach, calls it "a kind of chaos" - contorting his face in such a way that suggests both wonder and bemusement.

Pivetti worked in Europe as a young coach, studying the positional game in Portugal. "That is the European culture of football. What we are taught by that European school is that positional play is the best way because it gives you width and depth," he tells Sky Sports.

"All the players stay in their position and that means that when a player loses possession it is easier to be organised defensively because all the players are already located in their position. It makes it easier to press, easier to drop back into a defensive shape."

His two-and-a-half years with Diniz at Audax, listening and learning, changed how he saw the game. "When I started to work with Fernando, a lot of these paradigms broke down," says Pivetti. "I realised that there are a thousand ways to play football."

Pivetti is keen to stress that there is more to Diniz's management than tactics. "He graduated in psychology. He is very clever. He has a particular way of managing and motivating players. It is very interesting." But it is the Diniz game model that makes him unique.

"It is very particular. From the first phase of the build-up, he wants this very intensive rotation of his players. He tries to get the most technical players involved in that first phase to help the goalkeeper keep the ball and then progress up the field from there.

"The full-backs come inside and play between the lines and this causes confusion for the opposition in terms of how they defend. It creates a dilemma for them. They do not know if they should press or stay to protect the zone because all the players are rotating.

"The wingers do not always stay wide. They come inside. All the players play together so the player on the ball always has three or four passing options close by. It is very difficult to defend against Diniz's idea because there are so many offensive options."

When Pivetti talks of possession, he says: "His basic principle is to keep the ball." When he refers to pressing, he adds: "The players react fast to put pressure on the ball. It is very aggressive and when he regains the ball, all the players are close together."

In these moments, to the uninitiated, those of us outside coaching circles, these just seem like variations on a theme. The similarities to the approach now popularised in the Premier League are obvious. But inside the game, they recognise profound differences too.

It has sparked a debate about the merits of positionism and this so-called relationism. A discussion that is taking place in Brazil's national academy. "We get together as coaches to speak about his ideas. A lot of coaches want to understand the way of Fernando."

And that has now spread beyond South America.

Rene Maric has long been at the vanguard of tactics, blogging on the subject before finding success as a coach with Borussia Dortmund. "There is this discussion about relationism versus positionism but for me these words are not important," Maric tells Sky Sports.

What matters is the idea. The similarities and the differences.

"The focus is on having the ball and make something happen in possession just like Robert De Zerbi and Pep Guardiola. But with Fluminense, where you have these extreme overloads, they want to keep the ball but they are less focused on the spatial aspect."

Imagine Jack Grealish drifting inside to play closer to Phil Foden. For Guardiola, this would just congest the space. Precisely what he does not want to happen. For Diniz, this would create an overload, increasing the likelihood of a give-and-go to unlock the defence.

Maric points to the role of Paulo Henrique Ganso at Fluminense. An elegant playmaker, now 34, his time in Europe was only brief but he has been pivotal for Diniz, moving deep to collect the ball. "It is not like Ganso is aimlessly making combinations," Maric explains.

"He is allowed to roam but he is still following similar principles to De Zerbi's centre-backs. He is keeping the ball, luring them out, attracting them, creating space. But instead of doing it all over the pitch with a good distribution, they do it in one part of the pitch."

It demands a lot of Diniz's players because it is "more about timing than space" as rondos and tabelas, a constant whirl of one-twos, are required to move the team up the pitch. But when it works, as it has so spectacularly with Fluminense, it can be beautiful.

Maric recognises similar patterns in the work of Rhulani Mokwena at South African club Mamelodi Sundowns and Henrik Rydstrom at Swedish side Malmo. Marti Cifuentes has faced the football of the latter up close as head coach of Hammarby in Sweden.

Like Maric, Cifuentes is reluctant to put a label on this style on the basis that nothing in football is truly new. But he recognises it. "It is true that there is a certain trend with this relationism and Malmo are following some of those principles," he tells Sky Sports.

Cifuentes is diplomatic. He highlights the principles that he agrees with. "I think relationism has some things that are in common with the positional way of playing, which is to create good relations with the players. It is about creating superiorities to help you score."

But as a Catalonian coach in Europe, his own inspirations inform his take on the game. "In my opinion, the ball will always be faster than any player," he explains. "That is why I think having good positioning on the pitch will always allow you to play faster."

What impact does the opinion of the new QPR coach have on Diniz? None, directly. But it is instructive of the thinking across Europe among disciples of Guardiola's approach. That matters when it is the prevailing view among the men who coach Brazil's best players.

Diniz, now 49, has endured a difficult start to life with the national team. A disappointing draw at home to Venezuela in October was followed by a defeat to Uruguay. Argentina await at a time when the European-based players are struggling to adapt to his demands.

Andre player of Fluminense during a match against Santos at the Maracana stadium for the Brazilian championship A 2023.
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In one respect, it should be easier for Diniz to make it work now that he has reached the top. It is a far cry from his time in the second division of the Sao Paulo state competition alongside Pivetti a decade ago. "He is working with the best players now," says Pivetti.

"His ideas are very similar to what they were then but now he is at the top and has the quality to put his ideas into practice. At that time, we were playing on very bad pitches, for example. Now, he has much better conditions to implement his ideas."

On the other hand, his style of play demands more imagination from players. It takes time for relationships to develop. Time that he does not have. "With the national team he only has a few days to prepare the team, just a few training sessions," adds Pivetti.

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As a result, Diniz was left bemoaning after the defeat to Uruguay that "the team did not know how to build and the main responsibility is mine." He remains convinced that his methods can work but he is still fighting against the dominant football culture.

And not just in Europe. The success of Jorge Jesus in winning the Copa Libertadores with Flamengo in 2019 sparked a rush to appoint Portuguese coaches to the biggest jobs in Brazil. In this context, the rise of Diniz can be seen as an attempt to push back.

Abel Ferreira, the Portuguese coach in charge at Palmeiras, has suggested that he himself is fighting against the Brazilian instinct in trying to implement a positional game there. It is a view shared by Pivetti, that Dinizismo is a more natural way for Brazilians to play.

Coach Fernando Diniz of Brazil's Fluminense celebrates with Jhon Arias and German Cano after beating 2-0 Argentina's Argentinos Juniors in a Copa Libertadores round of 16 second leg soccer match at the Maracana stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Tuesday, Aug. 8, 2023. (AP Photo/Bruna Prado)
Image:
Fernando Diniz is playing a style that some think suits South American players
"The players here come from another culture of football so I don't think it is so difficult for Brazilians to adapt to his way of playing because it is similar to what we did in our childhood on the streets of Brazil. I think the essence of Fernando's idea is this street football.

"The players there do not have a fixed position and they rotate all the time. It is very similar in futsal, which plays a big part in the formative years here. You need to press aggressively and rotate. Fernando tries to put these futsal skills into his game idea."

Doing so with Brazil on the international stage would be the ultimate achievement, rekindling the spirit of 1970, showing that the glorious football from 1982 can still work. But winning the Copa Libertadores with Fluminense? That would be a marker too.

It could spark a renaissance for relationism, a different way of seeing the game, a turning point for Brazilian coaching. "Here, coaches are just working to survive," says Pivetti. "But Fernando had the courage to try his ideas. I hope he wins the title." He is not alone.


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