Philosophical Football

It's taken me the best part of 15 years to truly gain clarity as to what my coaching philosophy is, and after much soul searching its only when you evaluate yourself are you able to take control of what it has become. Your philosophy manifests itself in many different areas of your work....how you evaluate players, how you make alterations during a game, what type of practices you run...all are tiny pieces of the puzzle that forms who you are as a trainer. So how then do we evaluate how effective our philosophy is? Game results? How much players enjoy playing for you? Are players performing better? We all set out to prepare well, but are we sometimes too married to the thought of "doing things the right way?" In this piece I intend to explore the notion of what constitutes a coaching Philosophy & how this may be implemented differently throughout the game.

As well as managing the youth program within my Football Club, I also coach our men's team & this past season we recorded our lowest ever finish in my tenure at the club. Entering the season I felt my staff & I had built the squad diligently, forming a mix of young & hungry players with that of those who had been part of a professional environment back in Europe. There is very little time to prepare the team in the USL PDL conference, but our practice schedule started well & I was confident in my ability to imprint my preferred system & style of play upon the team. We started the campaign by winning our 1st league game 3-1, so the garden was well and truly looking rosy. Subsequently we found ourselves embarking upon a 6 game losing streak, which saw us conceding 19 goals & only scoring 6. This was without a doubt the most challenging period of my career thus far. Coming into work every day I had to assume the role of motivator, leader, sounding board, councilor, and all the while staying focused enough to prepare for the next game. Looking back I know now that I was too staunchly devoted to a philosophy that simply didn't work with the group of people I was managing. That specific group of players required me to conform, adapt & almost re-invent what we did each day. As coaches we educate ourselves to expand our mind, take in new concepts & challenge pre-conceived ideas; yet when I was in the midst of a poor run I focused too heavily on where we had to improve, versus extenuating our strengths. Social sciences teach us that 20 people attempting to conform to a single vision is a far greater challenge than a collective group colluding in a shared vision. Therefore taking the time to collaborate with the players was something I should have implemented earlier, which may have lead to a quicker up-turn in form. While I felt that I had failed the players in the early portion of the season, it taught me a valuable lesson in Football: a successful philosophy has to be matched by effective preparation. Looking back on the session plans, video analysis & scouting reports, my work was all of a high standard....but ultimately it didn't conform to what was necessary for that group of players...that's the key here. What we do as coaches may be excellent, the best work we have ever put out there...but it has to remain relevant & form a united vision with your players. Game results may never achieve "invincibles" levels, however if game performances are strong then ultimately your being the best coach you can be, in line with what your team needs.

I'm not the 1st coach nor will I be the last to get consumed by his philosophy, Brendan Rodgers is experiencing a similar sticky patch right now. He is a magnificent coach working with high level players, surely that should marry itself into a winning team? Recent results would suggest otherwise. Having watched all of Liverpool's games this season what strikes me is the amount of structure that Rodgers has imprinted within the team when they have the ball. In virtually every area of the field all players are extremely well versed in how their movement impacts the attack, which lends itself to why Liverpool are so dominant in possession & chance creation. In stark contrast when they lose the ball their ability to re-form into a solid defensive unit is poor, and has served to undermine a lot of excellent play with 1 or 2 moments of frailty that have lead to goals. In the unforgiving world of the Premiership it's these small margins that are the difference between winning & losing. Rodgers remains very resilient that his team's style of play has to remain the same, even in the face of defensive vulnerabilities. In an interview toward the end of last season Rodgers proclaimed "It's easy to coach a team to simply defend" a comment that may come back to haunt him at the end of his career. It's the notion that setting up to "simply defend" is beneath a set of players that will be the downfall of many coaches & teams across the world. There are times where we have to adapt, and in situations where getting a victory is important, we owe it to the player to prepare them for that. I feel Rodgers has set the correct precedent about the type of player & indeed the style of football the club employs, however disregarding defensive responsibilities is something that will inevitably lose him his job.

Someone who has almost perfected the balance between divisive tactical displays & winning football matches is Jose Mourinho. First of all it should be established that Mourinho is a footballing mercenary. There are some core beliefs that he imprints upon his team, however the only true currency that the Portuguese gaffer deals in is winning. Far be it for me to suggest that this does not require hours of planning and meticulous preparation....as clearly his work has proven that it does...however in Jose's eyes an ugly 1-0 win is of far higher importance than drawing 2-2 after an amazing footballing display. Again, it's important to establish that Mourinho's side's are far from poor, as he has managed some of the best players to step foot on a pitch. That said each player he works with has their role within his philosophy & he works tirelessly to ensure they follow that task to a tee. Mourinho strikes me as someone who is on the border of being a sociopath, yet carries the artistic genius of Rembrandt. Winning goes far beyond team competition for him, this stretches into his public performances at press events or even how he conducts himself on the side line....gesticulating after goals are scored...leaving the bench before the whistle is blown...he uses psychology to get at his opponents, mostly in an attempt to gain an advantage or a mental edge. Is this an example of a good coach or someone skilled in manipulation? Whichever way we choose to evaluate Mourinho's qualities it's clear that he is able to establish effective relationships with his players, and in turn maximize the performance potential of his team.

In closing I'd like you to consider for a moment what are the core values of your philosophy. It's not something that we are often asked as coaches, yet we embody traits of it on a daily basis. Perhaps you may have not fully formed what it is yet; conversely you may be acutely aware & swear by its morals. It's a very individual component of a coach, but one that has the potential to hamper success or seriously enhance it. We've saw very successful managers of the 80's & 90's fall away from the game, simply because they couldn't adapt their management style to a new type of professional or adapt their thinking to a changing game. We also see other managers who have zero experience, but totally captivate a group of players & achieve unbelievable levels of success. If we are to be part of a shift in coaching best practices, we have to practice what we preach & seek enlightenment. Writing this blog has proven to be a very cathartic experience for me and in writing this particular piece it's truly challenged me to look at my performance & evaluate my methods. I would implore anyone who reads this piece to do the same, as you may find the results to be truly ground breaking. As we strive to improve our players, enhance our club programs & reach the next level of the game, we owe it to ourselves to evaluate from within & provide our players with the best coach we can be.