PURPOSE DRIVEN
The importance of purpose.
It’s something that I learned when earning my degree in Exercise Science. I was influenced by strength coaches like Michael Boyle, who in his book Functional Training for Sports describes functional strength training as “training with purpose.” He goes on to explain that physical training should be about training for the demands of the game, not lifting to get big for the sake of getting big. It struck a chord with me and I have carried it with me into my soccer coaching.
I am a purpose driven coach. If I cannot explain why I am doing something, I don’t do it. It doesn’t matter if it was my favorite activity, if I can justify it I discard it.
In the same way, I do not coach possession soccer simply because I like it, or because FC Barcelona did it so well from 2008 to 2012. I coach it because it reflects the game as I have always seen it. Also, I believe it is the best tool for developing the types of players I want to develop; technical, intelligent players.
PEP GUARDIOLA – HATER OF TIQUITACA
The most quoted (and probably most misunderstood) line from Marti Perarnau’s new book, Pep Confidential, and is when Pep says, “I loathe all that passing–that Tiquitaca.”
Pep Confidential (kindle edition)
Many have taken that as a sign that Pep is abandoning his possession style and philosophy, when in fact it is really just him bemoaning how badly his style of play has been misunderstood. The term tiquitaca (or Tiki-Taka) was a media created term, not something Pep or anyone at Barca ever used. People began using it to describe stringing together of a bunch of passes in a sequence, even if the passing had no purpose. Passing for the sake of passing. People in turn started talking about “possession without a purpose.” Oof. Without a purpose? I cringe when I hear that phrase.
To Pep, however, not all passing is made equal. Passing, and possession, must always have a purpose. As an attacking strategy it is to disorganize the opponent and as a defensive strategy it is to organize or position your team accordingly, such as the “15 pass rule.”
Yep, that is right. Pep, hater of tiquitaca, has a 15 pass rule. Perarnau describes it as Pep wanting to “use 15 passes to make sure that your team is well positioned and close together at the point with the move might break down, so that it’s easier to press and win the ball back swiftly.” So when Pep’s teams win the ball back outside of their attacking third they try to connect 15 purposeful passes.
This demonstrates another important distinction for us all: It’s about positional play more than it is just about keeping possession. Possession is just a tool; an important tool that allows you to control the game and dominate the opponent.
MEANWHILE, OVER AT SOUTHAMPTON
A recent article about Southampton’s St. Mary’s academy quotes their Technical Director, Martin Hunter, saying of Barcelona, “They are probably more draconian than we are football-wise. It’s ‘No 3 passes to No 6’, ‘No 6 passes to No 7’. Barcelona were very regimented in some of the sessions I saw. We are more fluid than Barcelona.”
What Hunter is describing sounds like rigidity. It sounds robotic. When in fact it is just the foundation of positional play; using choreographed moves to ensure the team is positioned accordingly, so that the team always has numerical superiority and does not get punished if a move breaks down. It gives the Barcelona teams a firm foundation, which then allows their creativity to thrive. More on this in a later post.
COACHING PURPOSEFUL POSSESSION
As a player I despised playing on a team that couldn’t, or didn’t want to, keep the ball. This influenced my priorities as a coach. From day one keeping possession was a must. Unfortunately, just because that is how I played and viewed the game didn’t mean I know anything about coaching it.
Over the past five years I have obsessively studied coaching methods and experimented with my own teams, and my club. I have made a ton of mistakes along the way. In my next several posts I will do my best to address the most common mistakes and misconceptions, while offering solutions and strategies of how to improve your on field product.
Christopher Cramer 