To plan or not to plan - The gamble with football development

The final whistle blows and the game end’s in defeat. Fortunately for us, we think we were able to identify the exact reason why we lost and this will be used as the starting point for the next training session. The coaching team identified a problem with preventing the opponents passes that progressed beyond our backline, and as a result, the other team took victory.

The following day arrives and our initial observations are confirmed, once we have reviewed the match footage. There was a clear pattern occurring throughout the game with similar scenarios taking place and as a result, we conceded ‘X’ amount of goals and lost.

We are now in a good position as a coaching team, as we have objective evidence that there was a problem with preventing the opponents passes that progressed beyond our backline. The question now is, what do we do with this football problem (evidence) and how do we correct it?

Firstly, all of the coaching staff need to agree that what we saw, actually happened as otherwise there could be a whole host of issues on the horizon. Too often, someone may push ‘their own agenda’ in these situations and believe that what they saw, was 100% truth. The issue then is, someone else then think’s that what they saw was the truth. Before long, the meeting is diverting all over the place and you are no closer to finding a solution. I’ve been in similar situations to this and I’m sure many others have. What do we now do?

One would hope that this team have a set of intentions that have been previously agreed and trained. By using the team intentions as a starting point, you can look through these lenses and view the game. As mentioned our football problem came from preventing the opponents passes that progressed beyond our backline.?

Upon viewing the footage a number of times, the coaching team can of course discuss, but ultimately the ‘leader’ of the meeting has to make the final decision. There can’t be a situation of, “it could’ve been this, or it could’ve been that?!”, as that will provoke more conversation and the diversion from the first question at hand, which was, what do we do with this football problem (evidence) and how do we correct it? By not having a clear diagnosis, we would be no closer in resolving the issue at hand.

Structuring this meeting, is vital in identifying the correct problem and then coming up with the right solution. While discussing with your colleagues, the use of correct football language should be used, as this will lead you to a closer understanding of what really happened. Using non-contextual words, will confuse people and not describe or explain anything. ?

After agreeing on the description (effect) and explanation (cause) of the problem, take a toilet break or grab a coffee. After a couple of minutes, you could then get a new piece of paper (change the flip chart etc) and discuss a possible solution. Why would you host a meeting using this process??

> If in the first instance the description and explanation of the problem isn’t accurate, you would then fall into the trap of coming up with an inaccurate solution.?

> While everyone’s pushing their idea as the ‘best', it only takes one other person to agree with that person and the social default in the brain kicks in. What do you think the outcome could be here? Before you know it, you’ve agreed to something that you don’t really understand. The decision maker feels like they have solved the problem and already has the proposed solution planned.

> Lastly, while conversations take different routes, you don’t want someone to start discussing solutions when the problem is not yet made clear. This type of ‘pollution’ distracts thinking and diverts your attention away from the initial meeting intention. ?

After a number of minutes or even hours, the solution has now been agreed and the coaching team can now formulate a plan for the upcoming training session.

How does this process now progress?

While taking many things into consideration, it would be very wise to predict the outcome that you propose. While the ideal world doesn’t exist and curve balls come out of unpredictable situations, you as a coach can enter the premortem (this term originates from Stoic philosophy) phase, before putting pen to paper and designing that all important training session.?

Using the premortem thought experiment, will allow you to identify all the possible good things that could happen, as well as the bad. Why would this be useful? Anticipating potential problems before they take place will allow for limited damage and enable you to control the situation better (if it arises). No one likes being uncomfortable on the spot, with decisions needing to be made almost immediately, so one would think it would be wise to plan ahead?

With the speed of technology today, you can now;

• See what the proposed weather will be at the time of the training session?
• Speak to your medical department or the player directly, to get an answer as to whether they can train or not
• Know what area you have available to train in
• What equipment you have at your disposal?
• Which players are attending/available?

While all the above seem like realistic suggestions, we all know that some coaches decide not to entertain any of the above by getting this key information. As a consequence, their planning is non-existent, so what could then happen?

• The plan was to speak to the players in question about the recent performance, but it then rained hard, so the conversation never took place
• The coach forgot to contact the injured player and they never turned up to training
• The part of the pitch that you train in is under maintenance and you didn’t read the email about this notification?
• The other coach has the equipment and hasn’t turned up
• Standards are low and 2 players didn’t notify you of their attendance today

You would obviously hope that none of the above would happen in a professional set up, but the point here is, how many coaches plan ahead and anticipate things that could well go wrong?

When things don’t go to plan, it’ll cause unconscious stress and this could deviate your thinking, from where it needs to be.?

Are you able to control your thinking and come to a resolution quickly, or do you blame others? Remember, if you display signs of stress or discomfort, the players will start to question if you really ‘know’ what you’re doing.

If we reflect on the above suggestions, could we come to a conclusion that this coach could’ve planned better and be prepared for those situations, that caused the training not to go to plan??

By performing the premortem effectively, you can then start to formulate some sort of training plan that will hopefully allow you to coach and be prepared. The last word in that sentence is hugely underestimated in football and a lack of it, will always become visible within time.

If you were’t prepared for this upcoming training session, the following could happen;

• The players might not learn
• You deliver an inaccurate message?
• The first problem was never corrected
• You now have another problem starting, that could have a negative effect on the game at the weekend?
• You would be wasting everyones time (yourself included)

Remember back to my earlier comments about the meeting? If you don’t firstly diagnose the exact problem, everything else following this will be wrong and it will then cause another problem that you need to correct.?

From reading about this process between the match day and training, you can see that there is a lot to discuss and plan. Having dialogue with colleagues is vitally important for any team to be successful, but you have to ensure;

- The football problem is described and explained objectively?

- Solutions are discussed separately so conversations don’t blend?

- There is a premortem planned prior to training, in order for you to give yourself the best chance of being successful

There is the famous cliche that everyone will be familiar with, in, “if you fail to plan, you plan to fail”, but with football coaching this should never apply, as coaches are in a position of leadership and are the ones that the players look to for support. Planning is part of the role and arguably the most important part of the process, in improving your team and players.?

It’s now time to reflect and look at the processes you have in place, with your coaching team. Do you try and control your destiny before the next training session or do you regularly play roulette and hope you ‘win’? I know which one I do…….

Spencer Fearn Bart Caubergh Jack Brazil Harrison Gilkes Saban Uzun Shawn Bishop Alexander Flattum Alexandru Bourceanu Alex Stylianou Christos (Chris) Themeliotis Nico Koch Julius Riemann Nikos Giagkou Darren Murray Anshul Kumar Tamta