How to Lose Football Matches - by Billy Ready
How to Lose Football Matches - Seeing the Bigger Picture on Matchdays
“If you do what you have always done, you will get what you have always got.”
Played 24 - Won 0 - Drew 2 - Lost 22… GF 31 GC 155.
Could you tell from this photo?
As we enter the final few weeks of the season, the coaching world is already preparing for the next season. The notebooks are being scribbled all over and the phone service providers are earning their monthly subscriptions. New players are being contacted and sold the club’s game models and aspirations ahead of pre-season. The elite of the elite are about to take part in the World Cup, young people and coaches alike are preparing to be inspired by the very best competing in the pinnacle of the sport.
Whilst we enter the brief moment of pause and detach from the hustle and bustle of the coaching season; this period is an important time to reflect on the previous 12 months and how we as practitioners can develop our players even further going forward.
The season statistics in bold at the top of this post suggest a calamity of a season, preparing your cardboard boxes and packing up your belongings swiftly after the final whistle! I have been inspired to show how coaches and clubs can view this type of season as a success.
This season has been one of the most challenging of my professional life. It has also been the most enjoyable, fulfilling and exciting in the same breath. I have been afforded the opportunity to lead our U12 age group into the UAE National League - the highest level youth league in the United Arab Emirates. This has been a huge mountain to climb for our players, moving from playing in the local grassroots leagues to playing against players who represent UAE at youth national team level. With that being the territory we prepared to enter, we had to manage our (staff, players and parents) expectations quite clearly and transparently.
It is a humbling conversation to have with parents when you have to prepare them to lose a lot of football matches.
A main reflection point of mine throughout this season has been: “how can I support these players to view the outcome of matches in a different way?” Considering how I can maintain competition and a desire to win games, whilst not losing the priority of development along the way when placed against opponents whose focus is to win at all costs.
The main points that surrounded every team talk, in every period of every match were the following:
Building blocks; every period is a new match, the aim is to get progressively better across the match.
The team objective is to limit the opposition to a 2 goal advantage at most per period.
Be the most difficult team the opponent has faced based on effort and desire.
One lesson in the early process is that expectation and reality can be quite different in sport.
Within the first 3 matches in this new environment, we suffered 3 defeats. 2 of which were 0-14 and 0-15 respectively where the players effectively received the most brutal of lessons in ruthlessness at this level. This is where you as the coach need to be at your absolute bravest to stick with what you believe, as an individual and as a club. Showing consistency with your words and actions matter the most when the chips are down and we are suffering. Reminding the players constantly that each period has come and gone, and to reset their thinking and application to go again (it’s still 0-0 lads!...) was very difficult in the early stages. This was a test in my coaching delivery that I had never experienced in youth football. I was fortunate enough to receive some tough lessons working in men’s non-league football 5 years ago, of which we had periods of tough defeats and embarrassing Tuesday evening batterings. The difference with these young players is that we find ourselves facing the possible consequence of putting them off playing football as a whole. With this at the forefront, the focus in intervention hovered around:
Catching players in, rather than out - Find the positive moments and praise constantly, especially regarding attitude, concentration and effort.
Provide support on the player’s decision making by stepping into their shoes - questioning to understand what the players are seeing and experiencing rather than clashing and lambasting mistakes.
Clarity in breaks between periods - providing clear instructions of support in what is a stressful and confusing environment for the players, more so in the early stages.
It is often said but rarely actioned consistently enough, winning and wanting to win is important across any sport at any level, however it should not be an executive decision at the expense of the young person’s experience of the game. Sure, collecting medals and accolades is an enjoyable experience for those who get to live it, but there are far too many occasions where the adults (coaches and parents) are causing more harm than good, albeit with good intentions (and at times not so much). It is imperative that in the pursuit of footballing glory or progress up the coaching ladder that we do not forget why we do what we do, and who we are serving. We stay up late washing bibs and miss important social and family obligations to be the best possible role model for the x amount of children who we see on a weekly basis. This write up hopefully serves as a positive reminder that we hold great responsibility to do right by the children in our care, and to provide the most enjoyable experiences we can, no matter the age and stage.
With that being said, a method to support this during matchday and training that I have found effective is to provide as many new and challenging experiences as possible.
After building blocks, we maintained developmental values in a results environment by continuing to play players in multiple systems and positions throughout the season.
Above shows the different systems and positional examples we encouraged the players to play throughout the season.
Some might say this is too much for players to take in a challenging environment. You wouldn’t be wrong to suggest players need to play in their preferred positions in a consistent system, and granted, it might have yielded better results…
The big question we wanted the players to answer was:
“What does the game require from you?”
To answer this, we felt that the players should view structure less from a positional sense, and more from a principle based lens. We encouraged the players to view their role in the game as recognising and solving problems as they arise using the following main principles (amongst others):
Winning 1v1 duels through effective marking and outplaying your opponent.
Showing courage to be on the ball and to connect with a teammate in every moment.
Recognise the numerical advantages/disadvantages on/around the ball and provide suitable solutions to progress/protect.
Showing creativity and courage to receive the ball under pressure or as a free player.
Adapt to the needs of the game by taking up different roles in different areas.
This view allowed us to relate the game to every part of the pitch, whilst maintaining the player’s perception of the game moments and how they absorb the game environments. It was accepted that this would mean we took the slower route to “perceived success” through results, but that was okay. This season’s success wasn’t through league titles, it was through competing whilst the players impose how we view youth development in a challenging culture.
Players are seen less as “full back” or “number 9” as an 11 year old, we want to develop adaptable, courageous and intelligent young people, who happen to play football well too.
The third and final main essence of managing losing football matches is providing player autonomy.
This journey doesn’t happen without the players, so we made a big deal about making the players lead the journey as the season progressed.
Whilst we wanted to support the player’s aims of winning matches in this setting, the biggest factors of enjoyment came through seeing them celebrate the small wins, through the building blocks and also through achieving their own success criteria.
On a match day, I would provide the skeleton of framing match days as an extension of training through continuing to see success as progress, rather than outcome. We would engage our substitutes by tallying “statistics” in each period. Usually they would be surrounding areas such as: 3+ passing moves, shots on goal, winning the ball in the attacking half, give and go attempts, receiving the ball facing the opponent’s goal, and so on.
This provided two different outcomes; 1. Substitutes noticed specific actions in the game and were clearer in how they can impact the game when they enter. And 2. Players on the pitch had their attention drawn to specific technical/tactical solutions that align to what they have trained, supporting training transfer to matches.
We had one example where we travelled to play against a very challenging opponent, who had given us some tough results. We decided in the changing room to essentially view the match as “us vs us”. Splitting the group into two teams, who would play half the match each, and aim to beat the other team in completing the highest amount of our success criteria as possible. The final score turned out to be our best result against this team.
The consistencies across these approaches in the season were that the players didn’t associate their self worth to the final score. Although we did have 3 or 4 matches where the win was in our grasp but slipped away due to last minute equalisers/winners, which was a kick in the teeth. Generally the players saw through the noise of the results and expectations and accepted that this will be a longer journey towards that perceived outcome. Young people are more resilient and adaptable than adults give them credit for. If shown love, support and consistency in message, they are more than capable of overachieving and expanding their capabilities. As coaches, we can get clouded by results and league title considerations, but youth football is much more impactful than this. Sure, winning is fun at all levels and the validation of winning is great for the ego, but if this is achieved at the detriment of a young person’s experience of the game, the medal isn’t worth the plastic it is made with.
By viewing losing football matches as a tool for growth, and viewing success as steps on the ladder to success, you will begin to foster a hugely fulfilling learning environment. A place where young people are empowered to think bigger, achieve more and reflect much more positively on their journey.
As we reflect on our own practice ahead of next season, maybe we can consider how opening up to dealing with losing might provide us with the power to succeed.
Thank you for reading,
Billy.
X: @ReadyBilly
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