is not as physically capable as your team, then you may aim to play a physical game in order to use your strength against the other teams weakness. Playing to win means focusing tactics based on opponents and playing a game style that is effective for individual games. On the opposite side of the spectrum, Total Football is a fixed game style. It is rigid in its execution, and relies on the team playing possession based soccer with very little emphasis on the opponents tactics. Total football is soccer at its purest level, it is all about ball retention and the temporization in order to make the best use of the ball.
Let us first look at playing to win. In the good old days of soccer this is all that ever happened, teams went out with one thing on their minds, to win games. There was very little emphasis on tactics or style of play. With the game of soccer coming on leaps and bounds over the previous decades, and the level of professionalism improving tenfold over that same period it has caused developments in not only how the game is played, but also how the game is analyzed. Teams and coaches alike are looking for advantages, and training sessions have transformed more into lab tests than the simple training sessions of old. The modern day playing to win requires much more than that of the past. In this modern era it means creating the right environment for your players to thrive, making sure anyone involved with the team knows each and every responsibility (both team and individual). This style of play also means a lot of work for coaches and/or back room staff. As stated earlier, playing to win means accentuating your teams strengths, and finding the weaknesses of the other team. In order to do this you must firstly know your teams strengths (which is often overlooked), and then you must also find your opponents weaknesses. Analyzing the other team is a difficult task. It can be done with video or in person, but it should be done over several games, and many aspects of the team should be looked at. The analysis should include but is not limited to;
- Strong/weak players
- Teams style of play,
- effectiveness in that style of play
- attacking/defensive organization
- patterns of play
- Set pieces
- attacking/defending
- Goals scored/conceded
- where those goals came from (wide areas, long distance etc)
A great example of this is Stoke City. Definitely not a Total Football side, Stoke always play to their strengths, and especially when playing at home they are resolute in their execution of their game plan. When playing teams such as Manchester United, with whom they tied 1-1 on September 24th, they aim to not allow United the time or space to play. Stoke are a very physical team, especially when playing teams who have more talent such as United. They use there brute strength and height advantage to push, shove, tackle and force opponents to back down. While Stoke’s game plan is fundamentally the same, using physical prowess in defending, and aiming to get the ball to the big powerful forwards as quickly as possible, their game style does change dependent on their opposition. Tony Pulis and his staff put in the work to find the weaknesses of other teams and aim to use their strength (literally) to get the result needed. Now, obviously this is much easier to do at the top level, we can all watch Manchester United or any other top team on TV, and we all know who the best players are and how these teams play. But, it is possible to do at other levels also.
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| Tony Pulis- Always plays to his teams strengths |
Though playing to win at first seems like a simple concept, there is so much that goes into executing this style of play on game day. It takes hours of preparation, studying opponents and training in the build up to the game in order to execute effectively. In order to play this game style you must be relentless in your quest, and every detail must be taken care of.
On the opposite side of the scale you have ‘Total Football’. This approach relies heavily on team chemistry and the fundamental ability to keep the ball for long periods of time. It is soccer in its purest form, and when done effectively there is nothing more beautiful or mesmerizing. Total Football requires a solid philosophy, along with hours of work on the training ground building confidence and structure to the game. The most important factor in order to play this style is practice. Each and every practice must develop the teams ability to move the ball effectively. This means it must revolve around possession and player responsibilities. Total Football is developed through years of practice, and an unrelenting determination to allow your players to play the right way. It starts throughout the youth teams of the worlds greatest clubs and comes to a climax with the best footballing teams in the world. As with playing to win each player must fully understand their responsibility during games. But there is one key difference, when playing to win players are given responsibilities directly related to the team they are playing, Total Football does not focus heavily on the other team. Players are given set structured responsibilities to perform each and every game. Though developing a range of passing skills is vital to Total Football the key ingredient is creating space, and the ability to play in all areas and spaces of the field. The team must create space for themselves and one another in order to be successful in their ball retention. This style also relies heavily on patience. Nothing is ever forced and players must recognize when is the correct time to penetrate, and when is the best time to keep the ball and start again. Total Football is the most difficult style to play, it relies on a coaching staff with a clear philosophy and a high skill set to develop players to play in this way. It relies on players to have determination to fulfill this game plan, to sacrifice their individual talents for the overall benefit of the team. The team always comes first. Everything must be taken care of from a team perspective, and it is a collaborative effort of everyone involved on the footballing side to make sure that this style of play is executed.
At the very highest level there are two coaches that epitomize each of these game styles. Though both have changed tactics slightly this season, their philosophies remain unchanged. Jose Mourinho, Real Madrid’s head coach plays to win, simple as that. While his counterpart at FC Barcelona, Josep Guardiola plays a style of Total Football that even the Dutch are envious of. Both of these coaches are at two of the biggest clubs in the world, and also part of one of the biggest rivalries in the world of soccer.
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| Jose Mourinho- Win or go home |
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| Pep Guardiola- The Michelangelo of Soccer! |
Josep Guardiola, a man of just 41, will go down in the record books as one of the greatest coaches in the history of the game. He is coaching the greatest club team the world has ever seen, and while this was developing before his arrival, he has transformed a team full of very special individuals into the most resplendent Total Football side on the face of the earth. It must be said that Guardiola did not stumble upon Total Football, it was part of his upbringing in the FC Barcelona camp. Total Football was implemented at FC Barcelona by Johan Cruyff, a man who many regard as one of the pioneers of the style. However, not even Cruyff could have imagined the efficiency at which Guardiola has his men play. To watch this brand of football is mesmerizing. It is like looking at the ‘The creation of Adam’ on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, it is art in its purest form. Just like Michelangelo’s work, Guardiola’s art has taken time and a clear vision to complete. FC Barcelona do things right from the very bottom up. The club philosophy is endorsed at every level so that players coming up through the ranks know how to play the FC Barcelona way. Every training session is coordinated with Total Football in mind, from the youngest age group, right through to the first team. All Guardiola’s sessions focus on ball retention, and the ability to play as a team. It is a hope of mine and I’m sure many others that Guardiola will continue for years to come and we can continue to see soccer played in its most beautiful form. Unfortunately, unlike ‘The Creation of Adam’, one day we will lose Guardiola, his brilliance, and the brand he has made his own, and all we will have is our reflection of a time when soccer was a joy to watch, and even occasionally could bring a tear to your eye.
Footnote:
Unfortunately, these games styles are only ever really found at the top level of the game with very little ‘game style’ ever emphasized at the youth level (unless part of a professional youth team). This means that a vast number of players players grow up not really understanding what is expected of them and their positions. In order to play Total Football you have to be very competent on the ball, but you also must have positional discipline in order to play the game effectively. The same with playing to win, you must fully understand your role, and also be rigid in the execution of that role as it may change on a week to week basis. While this is happening in many of the worlds most successful soccer countries, the likes of England and the United States are falling further and further behind. The reason for this is that coaches are not been effectively developed, and coaching as a profession is not been promoted. To look at England we can see that there is something drastically wrong. As of last summer there were only 2,769 English coaches holding Uefa's B, A and Pro badges, while Spain has 23,995, Italy 29,420 and Germany 34,790. I can say no more!
For the full article in relation to these figures please see:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/jun/01/football-coach-shortage-england
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