Vision & philosophy 1

The Mission Making Australia a World Leader in the World Game 2 2

Today s outcomes FFA Vision and philosophy FIFA 2010 World Cup analysis The 4 finalists 2006 to 2010 Proactive playing style? Learning from worlds best practice Coach Education & Youth Development Key to success Examples from WC 2010 Examples from Joeys 2012 3 3

Philosophy A pro-active playing style can be applied in various ways, ranging from possession based Barcelona-style football to taking the shortest route to the opponent s goal.

Philosophy Pro-active Playing Style Possession based: Dominating/controlling the game through effective possession; Getting the ball and our players into goal scoring positions in a controlled manner; Break down compact defences through individual skill and creative combination play; The more we have the ball, the less we have to defend. So, when we lose the ball we try to win it back ASAP through collective coordinated defending. Direct: Putting the opponent under pressure by getting the ball to the strikers as quick as possible; Frequent use of long aerial passes; Aerial/physical power to create scoring opportunities; Strong in defensive duels to win the so-called second balls ; Winning mentality and mental and physical toughness; Traditional Australian way

FIFA 2010 WC analysis The FIFA technical analysis of the 2010 World Cup shows striking similarities between the most successful teams. They all play pro-active, possession based football and all have a number of technically outstanding ( special ) players who can decide games individually. (We prefer to speak about effective possession to make clear that possession is a means to an end and that it s not about possession for the sake of possession)

Spain (1 st ) Holland (2 nd ) Germany (3 rd ) Patient build-up play from the back through the midfield Excellent passing game Influential individual players (INIESTA, XAVI, VILLA) Comfortable in possession when under pressure Disciplined, well-organised defence Immediate pressure after losing possession Winning mentality Good links between the team lines Width of the pitch used well - wingers attack the goal, are able to cut in, good in 1v1 situations Patient build-up play from the back through the midfield Excellent passing game Influential individual players (SNEIJDER, ROBBEN) Disciplined, well-organised defence Dangerous at set pieces Winning mentality Good links between the team lines Width of the pitch used well - wingers attack the goal, are able to cut in, good in 1v1 situations Midfield pressing Immediate pressure after losing possession Patient build-up play from the back through the midfield Excellent passing game - good options for the player in possession Influential individual players (SCHWEINSTEIGER, OEZIL, MUELLER) Disciplined, well-organised defence Dangerous at set pieces Winning mentality Excellent team spirit Width of the pitch used well - wingers attack the goal, are able to cut in, good in 1v1 situations Rapid transition from defence to attack Effective use of full-backs

FIFA 2010 WC analysis Australia (21 st ) Deep defensive block Attacks using the width Immediate pressure after losing possession Strong, hard-working players Determination

Philosophy Of course the strong Australian characteristics must be preserved but if Australia is to one day be competitive enough to challenge the best of the World, changes and improvements are essential!

Uruguay

Germany

Netherlands

Spain

Philosophy From fightball to football; From a direct, physical playing style to technical, possession based football; A fundamental transformation.

Philosophy It is FFA s belief that a pro-active, possession based playing style is how modern successful football should be played.

Philosophy We therefore have to focus on developing players and teams that are able to play this way.

Philosophy What are the (most essential) conditions for a pro-active, possession based playing style?

Philosophy Pro-active possession based style: Dominating/controlling the game through effective possession; Getting the ball and our players into goal scoring positions in a controlled manner; Break down compact defences through individual skill and creative combination play; The more we have the ball, the less we have to defend. So, when we lose the ball we try to win it back ASAP through collective coordinated defending. Conditions: Quality positioning play High technical level (all players must be comfortable on the ball) Special players A suitable playing formation The willingness and ability of all players to immediately switch from BP>BPO and BPO>BP for 90 minutes (= high intensity football) High level of football specific fitness (essence of football conditioning methodology)

Playing style discussion This is how we arrived at a pro-active, possession based playing style using the 1-4-3-3 formation...

Philosophy In most of the World football is being played year round, 24/7. More often than not also the quality and frequency of practice is higher. This means that we have to be very conscientious with what we do with our precious practice time! We cannot afford to waste one minute of valuable training time on non football specific practice without the ball. How else will we ever be able to close the gap?

Philosophy Rest of the World: year round quality football Australia: 6 months other sports Wasted time Non football specific training (beach runs; gym sessions; etc.) Isolated training 6 months football

Philosophy Rest of the World Australia

We now have a compass

Vision How to bring the theory to life?

Vision In the vision of FFA Coach Education and Youth Development are the strategic spearheads to realize the Curriculum s objectives

Vision Fundamental transformation Coach Education Youth Development Strategic spearheads National Football Curriculum

Why Youth Development? Youth development in Australia is all over the place due to the diversity and self interest of clubs; agents; private academies; (sports high) schools; etc. The quality of youth coaching is generally still very poor; The winning at all costs mentality is detrimental for the technical and psychological development of young players and the Relative Age Effect is a major threat.

Why Youth Development? This is why the FFA has taken ownership of the National Talented Player Pathway whereas in most other countries in the World youth development is owned by the clubs; When the competition structures as well as the structure and quality of club youth academies are of the required standard, the clubs should take ownership of youth development again; The implementation of the National Competitions Review initiatives (including A-league academies) is essential as to if/when this will happen.

Youth Development, How? Through the Building Blocks Methodology

The Building Blocks 4 Training BB s 2 Playing BB s 20 20 16 Performance Phase 16 Game Training Phase 11 v 11 13 13 Skill Acquisition Phase 9 5 Discovery Phase Small- Sided Football 9 5

Why Coach Education? The only way to really bring about change and improvement is to better educate coaches, especially the ones that work with youth players: Better Coaches > Better Football Therefore FFA has re-written and re-structured all it s coaching courses (recognized by AFC) A long term process: it will take a couple of generations of coaches going through the new coach education pathways before the effect will become visible

Realistic expectations

Strategic objectives

Formations in pictures 3-4-3 vs 4-1-3-2 4-4-2 Diamond

Formations in pictures

Germany s standard formation

Ozil getting forward v England

Germany BPO

Key to Success Creativity To break down compact defences in modern football, teams are increasingly turning to players who: can dribble can catch opponents off guard and sell dummies excel in one-on-one situations can dribble their way into the opposition penalty area shooting (e.g. David Villa v. Honduras in the group stage) can read the game well to make a darting run or to play a quick pass to bring their team-mates into play

Key to Success Intelligent defending around the team s own penalty area Successful teams try to defend close to their own penalty area without conceding stupid or unnecessary fouls Joachim Löw In the next few weeks, we will train hard to try and make sure we don t give away any unnecessary fouls around our penalty area

Key to Success

Final: Netherlands v. Spain 0-1 a.e.t. Johannesburg-Soccer City Key to Success

Key to Success Technique and aggression flow of play and healthy aggression The teams that were particularly successful were those with excellent technique and passing. They also worked hard to regain possession after losing the ball, showing a high level of controlled aggression

Key to Success The differences between the teams lay in the detail The best teams were able to gain an advantage over their opponents by taking a good first touch These teams boasted players with excellent technique who would always control the ball so that their next touch could be a creative, attacking pass

Key to Success Successful teams operate as a unit all over the pitch. The team works together when on the attack, but they try to stay compact and defend as a unit. Playing in this manner means that players have to have high levels of fitness and stamina

Key to Success Full-backs Have an extremely important role to play in this regard. Not only do they have to operate well in defence, they also have to be able to switch quickly into attacking mode. This position is extremely important in modern football as all successful teams have excellent full-backs or wing-backs

Positive Possession Play Effective use of space Off the ball moving Support from behind and sides Interchanging of positions Everybody gets involved Good assessment of game situation Quality of passing

Key to Success Quick transitions are a key factor in modern football. As soon as they have regained possession, teams try to play the ball forward as quickly as they can as they know that their opponents are still on the front foot and they could be disorganised at the back Accurate and precisely timed passes can therefore catch opponents off guard

Start & chance of a counter The moment of transition - winning the ball Slow reaction by ball losing players Defenders are disorganised and unbalanced Defenders are spread out or outnumbered Defence has pushed up and has to guard a big space

Elements of a quick counter quick transition high speed against unbalanced defense determination high level technique off-the ball movement crossing in front/ running from behind vision final pass finish

Counter attack Germany v England example Joeys example later

Benchmarking

Youth Development

FIFA World Cup 2010

Youth coaches

Japan s development plan

Competition

Long term development

Coaching for youngsters