Podcast: #1 – Coaching, Conversing, and Craft Beer with John Pranjic

In this episode I talk to the host of the 3four3 Podcast, John Pranjic (@ThatCroatianGuy).

In this episode I talk to the host of the 3four3 FM Podcast, John Pranjic (@ThatCroatianGuy).

John and I have been friends now for several years.  We met via twitter and bonded over our common interest in soccer, coaching, and youth development.  Over the years we have met up several times for beers and conversation.

When John started his podcast, before it was even titled, I was his first structured interview and guest.  It seemed natural that he would in turn be my first guest.

John is a man of many hats.  He works full-time as a Brewhouse Manager — though I prefer to refer to him as a Craft Beer Specialist!  In addition to his full-time job he also finds time to host the 3four3 Podcast, coach at 3four3 Camps, and coordinate the 3four3 Coaching Summit. He is even an occasional Uber driver.

In this episode I talk to John about how he balances all of those responsibilities and ask him which role he most identifies with.  You might be surprised by his answer.

I specifically ask John to talk to us about his experience as a coach.

You can find John on twitter @ThatCroatianGuy and at his blog http://www.johnpranjic.com/

You can find the #343Podcast at http://343coaching.fm/

Talking with Toph — Podcast Teaser!

 

Hey everyone!  One of my goals for the new year is to record and publish 10 podcast episodes.

I have already recorded four episodes and am recording the fifth today.  I am putting the final touches on what I have done so far and am very close to being ready to publish.

Here is a teaser that I have prepared to get you ready for what is to come.

After listening feel free to leave me a comment about what you hope to hear on the podcast going forward.  You can recommend guests, topics, etc….  I really want to hear from you.

Hope you enjoy!

 

CONTENT OVERLOAD

We used to be held back by a lack of access to information.  We couldn’t develop expertise in certain areas, or even gain a little knowledge in those areas, because we simply did not have access to the resources or people necessary.

Today, it is exactly the opposite.  We have greater access to information than ever before, and yet, it is still holding us back.

Or maybe we’ve just misidentified the problem?

The real issue, it would seem, is our propensity for inaction.

Before, we could claim ignorance.

“I just didn’t know!”

That excuse is no longer valid.  Now you either know, or you should know (or at least, you could know).  But knowing only gets us so far.

The difference between those who know something and those who achieve something has to do with action.  It is about doing.

 

So you just downloaded 150 sessions on defending?

Great, what now?

So you just read three books on tactical periodization?  

Great, what now?

You just had a great chat with the academy director from PSV?  

Fantastic!  But what are you going to do now?

 

I think you can see where I am going with this.  Now let’s say you did all three of those things in the span of a couple of days.  How are you going to synthesize all that information so that they fit together?  Which parts seem great on their own but contradict each other when you try to combine them?  Where does it all fit in your overall vision?

It can be overwhelming.  I know that find myself paralyzed at times due to content overload.

We are no longer interested in what new information or resource you have access to.  We all have folder on our computer with documents, videos, and powerpoints from some of the top coaches and programs in the world.

The novelty has worn off.

We want to know what you are doing.

The rest is just noise.

 

Efficiency Match app for iPad

Many people have written to me to ask which program I use to create my diagrams and animations on the blog.

Well, let me provide yet another example of ways Spain (and more specifically, Catalunya!) wins when it comes to soccer.

After playing around with several other popular programs, none of which really impressed me, I stumbled upon Efficiency Match (www.EffMatch.com).  The app allows you to keep a library of diagrams and animations, maintain a detailed training calendar, manage a database of player and team profiles, and even can be used to keep track of specific details and stats during games.

The app comes in tiered versions: Lite (free), Standard ($99), Pro ($299), Elite (for pro clubs).

I started out with the Lite version, which is pretty limited. You can create diagrams and animations and export them as videos or images, but can only store one on the app at any given time. Every time I got a new idea, even if it was just a new variation of something I had already created once, I had to reinvent that animation all over again. It was a little tedious and time consuming.

I decided I wanted to upgrade so that I could store my exercises and animations to use in my club curriculum documents. Up to this point I had mostly been using Microsoft Word and my diagrams were inconsistent and difficult to manage. I saw Efficiency Match as a better, more user friendly way to keep track of my exercises.

As I began looking into the upgraded versions I found that the app could be used for so much more. I could not only create and store my exercises, but I could keep track of my rosters/players, my team calendars, create session plans, and it even had game day features.  This app is the real deal! With the high school season on the horizon I decided to get the Pro version.

I have been using the Pro version for almost two months and am still learning how to use all the features.  However, the app has played an integral role in how I have prepared for my High School season this Spring.  This Summer I will be pulling back the curtain on everything we have done this High School season, and the features on Efficiency Match will be a big part of what I will be sharing (training plans, exercise diagrams, games notes, etc…).

This app is certainly not cheap, but if you are a serious coach that takes your preparation serious, then it is well worth the investment.

Give it a try and see what you think.  Worth mentioning that you can get it for 20% off through April 7th, 2015.

On Twitter @Effmatch

Follow up thoughts on the “Athlete” debate

Here are some interesting thoughts that contribute to my recent post on the “athlete” debate.  What do you think?

Not familiar with the “athlete” debate?  Check out this 2012 blog post from Yahoo! sportswriter, Jeffrey Eisenband: “What if best U.S. athletes played soccer”

Paul Breitner, former German international footballer and World Cup winner, recently gave his thoughts on the athlete debate:

“The problem is that Americans think that soccer is a sport similar to football, baseball or basketball.  Americans think soccer players are athletes – and, no way. A soccer player is a player and not an athlete. Soccer players are artists.”

– See more at: http://goalnation.com/paul-breitner-needs-change-american-youth-soccer/#sthash.KjT0v2SC.dpuf

David Epstein, author of The Sports Gene, offers some thoughts on “Why athletes are getting faster, better, stronger.”  While not directly related to soccer’s “athlete” debate, I think there are some critical ideas in here to offer important perspective.

The “Athlete” debate

Left to right: Pique (6’4), Messi (5’6), Alves (5’8), Iniesta (5’7), and Xavi (5’7).

I remember attending my first competitive youth soccer tryout a few years back.  One of the club directors was taking me through the plans for the day as I kept glancing over at the group of boys I was about to evaluate.

Sensing my nervousness he said, “Just find the best athletes and we will teach them how to play soccer.”

He was serious too.

And that is how the athlete debate starts.  A coach or director says something like this, and then coaches like myself retort that it isn’t about the best athletes, but rather the best soccer players.  And, yes, I do believe that.

But something gets lost in the debate:

I DO want athletes.  In fact, I need them.  Soccer at the highest level requires an amazing amount of athleticism.

Give me the pick of players who all have comparable touch, control, and soccer IQ and almost guaranteed that I pick the best athletes of the bunch.  However, the higher those other qualities are (touch, control, IQ) and the less athleticism matters.

The issue lies in our idea of what constitutes an “athlete” and where we prioritize athleticism when identifying talent.

For most people, they define athleticism as “bigger, faster, and stronger.”  This is not a great definition, as there is more to it than that.

Many in the US complain that we are losing our best athletes to other sports.  We’ve all heard the typical, “if LeBron James played soccer the US would win a World Cup.”  Really, you could place a dozen names into that sentence and I would give the same response: Ugh.

First of all, in a population of 300 million, I am pretty sure there are plenty of “athletes” to go around.

But let’s probe this one even further.

LeBron James

LeBron James is 6 ft 8 in and 250 lbs.  

Let’s compare LeBron to a list of the world’s best soccer talents:

• Manuel Neuer -Bayern Munich/German GK – 6 ft 4 in and 203 lbs
• Marco Reus – Bayern Munich/German MF – 5 ft 11 in and 148 lbs
• Cristiano Ronaldo – Portugal/Real Madrid Fwd – 6 ft 1 in and 175 lbs
• Angel Di Maria – Man U/Argentine MF – 5 ft 10 in and 154 lbs
• Neymar  – Barcelona/ Brazil Fwd – 5 ft 9 in and 143 lbs

The closest I can come to Lebron James status is:

• Thibaut Courtois – Belguim/Chelsea GK – 6 ft 7 in and 201 lbs

…and LeBron still has him by 50 lbs.

So what about the best player in the world (possibly greatest of all time)?

• Lionel Messi (Barcelona/ Argentina) is 5 ft 6 in and 148 lbs

What about the last two World Cup winning goal scorers (2010 and 2014)?

• Andres Iniesta (Barcelona/ Spain) 5 ft 6 in and 143 lbs 
• Mario Gotze (Baryern Munich/ Germany) 5 ft 9 and 159 lbs

I’ll go out on a limb and say that if Lebron James grew up in Spain, he just might have ended up at a club like FC Barcelona, and he would have still have been a basketball player.  If he did end up playing soccer he probably would have been a goalkeeper, and top notch goalkeepers is not exactly US Soccer’s biggest weakness.

So let’s agree to stop it with the “if LeBron James played soccer” nonsense.

I’m not trying to imply that the craques listed above are not athletes, because they absolutely are.  But would they have stood out on a youth soccer field tryout as a kid if you were looking for the best athlete?

The idea that the US is not producing enough athletes to build a world class soccer team is ludicrous.  In fact, many athletes that choose the other sports in US (Football, Basketball, Baseball) have stats well outside of this 5’6 to 5’9 and 150 lbs range. They are guys like LeBron James.

While the guys listed above ARE in fact great athletes, they were identified for their soccer talents first, not their athleticism, and that is the key.  In the US we filter out the guys with great soccer IQ too early in the process, and this filtration continues through nearly every stage.

Just remember that at the 2014 World Cup this guy…

Thomas Muller

Out performed this guy…

Cristiano Ronaldo

 And these two specimens each scored game willing goals in World Cup finals (2010 and 2014)…

Andres Iniesta (Spain, 2010)

Mario Gotze (Germany, 2014)

And no matter how you shake it, this guy is still a basketball player.

LeBron James

Spectrum of Coaching Styles: The truth about guided discovery

Muska Mosston introduced the Spectrum of Teaching Styles to the field of physical education in 1966.  This was long before these teaching styles were even understood in the area of general education.  He was WAY before his time, but educators paid little to no attention to him because he was talking about Physical Education.

He suggested that there was a spectrum of teaching styles that ranged from teacher-driven to learner-driven.  That is to say that on the far left of our graph (above), is a command-style of teaching where the teacher makes all of the decisions for the pupil.  Somewhere in the middle, where some decisions are shared by the teacher and the pupil, is the style we would call Guided Discovery.  And at the far right would be the style where the learner is making all of the decisions (called Learner-initiated).

So which is the best?!

Many would argue that the best place to reside somewhere from to the middle (guided discovery) to the far right, where the learner is making the decisions.  These are the coaches that advocate for lots of free play, allow players to design their own practices, etc…

However, it is important to note that while Mosston originally advocated for a more learner driven model, he later in his career acknowledged that there are many variables that affect which style is the best at a given moment.  Each style has strengths and weaknesses, but ultimately each one serves a purpose.  Any style used at the wrong time could negatively impact learner development and acquisition of content.

THE TRUTH
Each style is a tool in your tool box.  Experience and expertise helps you decide which style to use. at which time, and why. This is the art of coaching and teaching.

We need to stop thinking the hammer is the best tool, and begin to understand how to use every tool in the tool box.

Possession with a purpose

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.

Teaching tactics to young players

**disclaimer** The following is NOT an official explanation of automatism from an FC Barcelona youth coach.  Also, I am not professing to be an expert on the concept.  This is just my interpretation based on my observations at La Masia and my experiences coaching youth players.

AUTOMATISM vs TACTICS

It is said that FC Barcelona does not directly teach tactics to young players at La Masia, and instead they focus on automatism.  Check out this article for further background on the concept and the context.

Here is a dictionary definition of automatism:

“The performance of actions without conscious thought or intention.”

The take away for many youth soccer “experts” is that FC Barcelona does not teach tactics to young players.  Full stop.  They use this to justify their belief that technique alone should be the primary focus at the young ages.  However, to say that FC Barcelona does not teach tactics does not do the academy, it’s teams, or it’s players justice.

The idea is to design training sessions and exercises that train tactical concepts and patterns so that players are receiving tactical instruction without realizing it.

This is where rondos and positional possession games come into play.  They are used to train players what do when they have the ball, what to do when they don’t have the ball, and how to transition between those two moments.

For those that do not know, a positional possession game places players in specific spaces within the playing area to best replicate the responsibilities and situations they will face in a game.  One of my favorite positional possession games is this 3v3+3 game:

3v3+3

In this game, the blue players are neutrals and are set up by position.  The two on the end line are the center backs, and the one in the middle is a center defensive mid.  The teams in red and yellow are a combination of wing players out wide (wing backs or wingers) and central attacking players up top (either center attacking mids or center forwards).  This game can be used to train several functions.  First, it is training repetitive movement patterns in the CBs and CDM that will translate directly to the game.  It can be used to reinforce how to move the ball along the back four and CDM when playing around the back.  It is also training a transition to defense AND a transition to attack for the non-neutrals.  By manipulating conditions I can use this to train how to use ball circulation for the purpose of disorganizing the opponent in order to find penetrating passes to the CAMs and CFs.  This exercise can be used over and over throughout the entire season to train a variety of concepts.

If we are not direct with the players then yes, this could result in automatism; performance of actions without conscious thought.  Regardless, it is still a form of training tactical patterns.

And best of all?  These games are not devoid of technical training.  It is just training technique within context of the game, another concept entirely, but I will get into that another day.

Another common positional possession game used at La Masia and that Pep Guardiola still consistently uses even at FC Bayern Munich:

4v4+3

 (All animations and images created using Efficiency Match)

How would you use this activity to train automatism in your team?