Tuesday 10 March 2009

Mourinho Method

The drills he uses are global drills I work the same way myself although I had to formulate my own.

The drills used iclude-training a tactical factoralways include decision making,have high touches,fitness orientated.

Mourinho uses a series of 42 drills which go from training individual technique to right the way up to whole system, he deos this in a specific sequence and trains possession intensly especially possesion in the opponents half, this is a method from his days under van gaal(another of my role models).
For his training to work he demands a minimum of two pitches side by side.

He works like this:

1-defence>>>>>>>transition to attack>>>>>>>>attack

2-attack>>>>>>>>transition to defence>>>>>>>defence

The next step after the above basic foundation is to condition the box system into the team where he will use a coloured box for certain tactical situations. Its the box colours that are the little bits of paper he gives out.The final step is to have the team recognise when to change the formation and system midmatch by them self, at this point players can seen to counter attacking problems before most can see them. It is at this point that he says that the team knows all that he does.

Mourinho uses guided discovery to educate his players, during the season he tweaks his 42 games so that the factors to be discovered are based on the weakness of the opponent on a tactical and technical level.

He will produce dossiers and dvds of opponents which players memorise.

He will have three team talks before playing the game.He times the above steps to work with the cycle of success, this is about 3 to 5 seasons with his team peaking during this period.

If mourinho thinks any players need improving seperatly he will do individual technique work to mould the player, hence the rapid improvement of joe cole during the first season.

His approach to ball use is based on temperising the opponents midfield(this was used to great effect by the romanian national team in the 80s) and resting on the ball. Temperisation works by holding the ball in midfield to move opponents out of position and then attacking the remaining space, he does this to brake the lines which are apparent in each system. Dragging players out of the lines unbalances the play and creates an attacking chance. Resting on the ball is possesion for the sake of it as mourinho demands intense offensive pressing high up the pitch which is physically demanding, so his players keep the ball to rest while opponent chases.

Mourinho states that the psychological factors are the most important and puts the team above anything else, he likes his players to play with controlled agression and confidence.

His appraoch to youth is simple he uses a small sided games with high touches based on the dutch system but working isolated parts of his tactical system, his condition before any player is promoted to the first team is that they master the colour box and have been through the 42 drills atleast once, otherwise no promotion.

His leadership is charismatic and he uses an attitude of invincibility which seems to rub onto the players, he focuses the media on him in order to remove the attention from the team and in some cases create a negative view to the team before big games which he then uses as a tool to motivate the players.

Mourinho believe in control and his coaching methods focus only on what is in his direct control.

He places the romoval of complacency as a high priority, he keeps concentration in his players high by reinforcing that his opponents are not stupid and can potentially have the same methods producing a need to concentrateIn terms of weakness of the opponents he will practice taking advantage of the individual player factors first such as hieght of players or weak foot.

His first act is to issue a letter the team which reads:"from here on every aspect of your life will be geared to winning the title, whether it social or work based. I do not believe in the word first team, I need all of you and you need each other.We are a TEAM, MOTIVATION+AMBITION+TEAM+SPIRIT=SUCCESS.When mourinho reveals his letter he will have the players lie down in training backs on the floor and abosrb every word as he reads it out.

Other aspects of his man managment iclude a brutal honesty with team members using strict eye to eye contact he does not censor his his word no matter who the player.He works on self image believing even that if his players are the best n the world that is how you view them so to an extent that s how they will view themselves.

He deos not believe attacking or defending styles he believes in balance and if a team is unbalnced in one area in terms of work ethic the a loss will result.When mourinho runs his defensive drills he punishes high rates of scoring and soon his players learn that if the let goals go in training the will in the game as they are not defending properly.

His weekly shedule goes like this:

monday=defending
tuesday=transition to attack and attacking
wednesday=attacking and transition to defence
Thursday=defence and transition from defence to attack
Friday=set peice play

One of his key coaching points during his sessions is to refine play down the channels and between the opposing team lines.

In terms of team building he states that it is not the length of time that players work together but how effectively they communicate together within the system.

He beleives a good coach should know and control all details regarding his players.When training mourinho likes coaching points which mix the best technical feature of the spannish league, the best tactical feature of the italian league and the physicality of the english league believing these to be the most effective aspects of play.

Mourinho uses mental tests in the form of tactical excersises to deduce and predict how each player will think in different situations and plans who can go where and when an what they effect they will have on his coloured box work and guided discovery.

Mourinho keeps strict rules on shin pads as he uses condenced space in alot of his methods believing this to be the first challenge a coach should apply to his team to encourage competitive agression and speed of play and thought in confined defensive situations.

The seven habits of highly effective coaches

The seven habits of highly effective coaches

1-Be proactive

This not just taking initiative this is the first step achieving you goals as a coach/ team. The acknowledgement that as a whole the players and coach are responsible for achieving the goals that have been set. In other words your goals are in your hands and that is the first thing to realise.

Focus only what can be controlled.

There are two aspects to this:
What can you as coach control relating to your own performance?
What aspects of performance can the team control?
Take positive steps to control these aspects and improve them.
You can only improve what you can influence, if you try to influence what you can’t control you create factors which lead to poor performance. The intelligent use of control is a good habit to develop as a coach.
2-Begin with the end in mind.
This is your coaching vision and can be divided into two sections:
What are your values, beliefs and views as a coach? In other words what is your coaching mission statement?
Do you have a clear image of how you want your team to play?
How will your team use the ball?
How will you organise your defence?
Your midfield?
Your attack?
How will these interact?
Which aspect is most important?
How will you organise your set plays?
What qualities are most important to you in a team?
How will you know you have achieved this?
How will you train to achieve it?
3-Put first things first
After one and two you should have a list of controllable factors for both performance as a team and yourself as a coach and a clear vision of your own philosophy towards important aspects of the game.
You have the goal i.e where you want to be and have a list of factors which you can improve to get you there.
This is the part where the coaching and team training habits are acted out on the training ground in step by step way. Ask yourself certain questions.
What will be the goals for each training session?week?month of the season?
What particular aspects will need to be reinforced in relation to the end goal?
Which training methods will effectively achieve my aims? what specific tweaks on these will refine these improvements?
How can I use/improve the squads strengths and weaknesses to bring the achievement of the goal closer?
This the phase where you plan and act out what needs to be done to achieve the overall season goal. The point is not to just to develop positive habits on the training ground it about developing the correct habits in relation to the aims you have set as a coach and team.This is where your season plan is set.
4-Think win/win
constant improvement in certain areas in order maximise potential. The aim is to find the point where the players get the most benefit for themselves and also get the correct results on the pitch=win win
There three aspects to this:
Character
Relationships
Agreements
Ask yourself as a coach:
What qualities will enable the team to get results and enjoy the football they play?and also develop as players?
What positive traits can be reinforced to give the team a strong character?enjoyment,determination?love of hard work?
How can the team be managed in a way in way that brings character into line with the goal?
Relationships this is about finding the win/win balance in management qualities ask yourself questions like.
How can I have discipline without being seen as a bully?
How can I let players get involved in making choices without being seen as week?
How can I can I get my players playing for with out to friendly to the team?
Agreements
This is for aspects for example discipline or goals where the squad will have a say in what goals will need to e set and what goals should be let go.
5-seek first to understand the be understood
This is something the coach must do consistsantly. This focusing on aspects such as understanding the specialist areas which will influence the performance of the team yourself, understanding the players. This should be an attitude of constant learning.
Continuously observe players in different situations
Continue to learn new coaching methods
Be a reflective coach
Before the coach can put the correct message across or train the players in a way they will easily understand the coach must first aim to understand the factors of the game him/herself.
6 -develop synergy
The aim of this habit is for the coach to balance all of the above habits and to constantly refine each one until improvement continues. All factors influence success therefore balance all and aim for a good interaction between all of the parts ask yourself questions like?
How can a balance be created in the teams actions?
How can each area be refined economically?
7-sharpen the saw
This one of the most important, most coaches will work on basics but then alot will move on quickly when they think they have done what is needed. This is wrong the basics are the foundation of all success you can only be as good as your basic factors allow you to be both as a team and as a coach.This means:
Constantly refine the aspects of the coaching process such as observation, communication, planning effective sessions etc
Working hard in the four basic areas of performance-physical,mental, tactical, technical
Constantly sharpen the basic aspects of your own methods play in relation to your vision

An introduction to the Global Method of Coaching Soccer

How do modern coaches such as Mourinho, Wenger,Hiddink and others manage to increase performance of players beyond the normal bounds of todays training limits? Limits such as fitness, tactical limits of players restricted training time etc....the answer is in the use of the Global Method of Coaching.

What is the Global Method of Coaching Soccer?

To first understand this method we need to understand the Principle of Specificity. This priciple states that in order to perform in any sport the training given to a performer must be desinged only for that sport and its given demands, taking this a step further training must be specific to the system which will be played by the team. Now lets take that further, those of us of a soccer coaching or training back ground will understand that there are many methods such as patterns, conditioned games, drills and unopposed drills, speed and agility work and also back ground support such as specialised gyms. Loooking at these try and fit these into a game and you will find that non of these can be isolated or seperated during match performance and also that no specific area is soley the reason for a given result i.e winning is not just down fitness, technique etc.Given this shouldnt our soccer training be conducted in a way that ensures that as many of the areas of performance are worked TOGETHER as possible?

This is what Global Training achieves all four areas of performance i.e mental, physical, technical and tactical are conditioned at the same time, in line with how they would be in a game

The main methods of Global training are small sided transition based games and specific strength, speed and resistance training based on the teams model of play. The aim of this article is to provide with four tools to improve your coaching along the lines of the global method. I will provide examples but the main aim will be to give a format so that you as a coach can use your own imagination this is most important!

This will focus on four areas:

Small sided global games
Adjustments to the games
Adjusting training from the model of play
Effectively ordering the weekly cycle of sessions between games

Small sided global games

Small sided global games are training games which include all four moments of play i.e attacking, defending, transition from attack to defense and transition from defense to attack. Included in these games is technique conditioning, tactical conditoning and decision making ensuring a Global work focus.

In order to do this games should be set out in a specific format as follows:

2v2 -4x2min, 2 min rest,30x20 yard grid(80%HR)
3v3-4x4 mins 30 secs,1 min 30 secs rest,40x25 yard grid(90%-100%HR WITH MAN MARKING)
4x4-4x4mins,2 mins rest,40x30 yard grid(90%HR)
5v5-4x6mins,1min 30secs rest,45x30 yard grid(80%-90%HR)
6v6-3x8mins,1 mins 30 secs rest,50x30 yard grid(80%HR)
8v8-4x8mins,1 mins 30 secs rest,75x45 yard grid(80%HR)

This format for each of the game set ups above will provide a foundation for meeting fitness objectives whether aerobic or anerobic. Even doing a keep ball sessions with this basic format would increase your players fitness beyond traditional methods depending on the intensity of the game set up you choose. But in order to make these games fully effective we need to consider our objectives and the adjustments we can make.

Adjusting the games

The basic format has already been outlined but in order to make these more effective we have to consider fine tuning the conditions.

A note about transition, I have not stated above that each game must have goals as attack and defense are not the only form of transition. The moment of gaining and losing the ball is also a form of transition. So it is this area we will be looking at also within the conditions.

There are three main adjustment areas for the global method:

Adjusting the area size/shape
Adjusting the number of touches on the ball
Numbers up/Numbers down

Why change only these three? This is a good question to ask, the answe is again specificity of training. If you watch any match three aspect will change all of the time 1) the space which can be played in, 2) the number of player at different times of the game both supporting and pressuring the player with the ball,3) as a result of both of the other two changing the number of touches a player can take on the ball in any given space of time will change. During these changes we do notput a limit on which technique must be used during play as the technical solution to each problem players face will not be the same all of the time, we need players that can think and play with a range of technique!

Adjusting the areas size/ shape

Changing the size of the area will adjust the focus onto two main aspects, firstlt the larger the area the more choice of decisions and so tactic which are open to the players, making the area smaller will place the focus on speed of thought and action increasing the skill needed to make a decision and put this into action. This will also increase the number of skill repetitions performed by a player in a space of time giving a more intense individual cardiovascular work out.

The third of the pitch such as defensive,midfield or attacking third will also give the area more effectiveness, for example if the area is the attacking third the tactical focus is attacking. If you keep one goal and change the size you can see how more skill is needed to attack in a smaller area at a faster work rate.

Why no end zones or curved/ daigonal sides? Although usefull to traditonal training methods the use of areas other than tight areas or areas which are not one of the above tactical thirds is counter to what takes place during a game. For example training in a circle is not specific to the game, during one of the games phases the team may be tighly spaced into one of the three thirds but always in the area of the whole rectcangle pitch therefore there is only a need to use variations of square/ rectangle zones, half or full pitches. We can also use three third pitches in line with specificity. The way players think about space in training must be how they think of it during a game.

Adjusting the touches on the ball

Adjusting the touches on the ball is very good condition to adjust, this should be done with the training aim of being able to play skillful soccer with as few touches as possible when needed or to be able to hold the ball 1v1 when needed.

Adjustments to touches should be made as follows in order of priority:

1v1 holding the ball
3 touch
2 touch
1 touch

The rational for this is as follows, before players can hold the ball as a team they need to be able to do so as individuals, before the team can play fast one touch soccer they need to be able to hold the ball as a team playing 3 or 2 touch soccer with good control.

When you add this to different area size and shape/ format as listed above you get a realistic pressure thus giving a realistic tool for adding the global aspect of technique. Thus far we have looked at the main ways to adjust fitness, technique and decision making in a global way but what about tactics?

Numbers up/Numbers down

This is the first of two areas where tactics come into to play the second will be discussed later.
When we adjust this conditon we adjust the tactical problem to be solved, for example take a 6v5 keep away and we have 6 with an advantage conditoning the 6 to solve the problem of how to keep the ball in when they have numbers up, flip this around and we can have five 5 learning to keep when outnumbered. When we add the above adjustments it is possible to adjust our training globally to any situation or principle of play we can think of.

We can also run double themed games, for example we can coach the 5 to press. We can work on how we press? When do we press? The structure of numbered up/numbered down games is best done in the way of tactical problem solving.

Adjusting training games to the model of play

When trining we can make our Games more Globally specific by focusing them onto the model of play.

For example if we play 4 in midfield we can work on varitions of 4v4 using only our midfield players,for example 4v3 in case we come up against a system of 3 midfielders or we could use 4 defenders v 5 attackers. In order to adjust or games for the playing model we need to ask the following basic question what qualities do my players have? I will work through an example using a 4-4-2.

Our model is the 4-4-2, our players are 2 strikers, 4 mids including 2 wingers, and 4 defenders.

With this decided you wil need to discuss how you will defend and you attitue to ball possession and movement. This example lets work on ball orientated defending and mostly 2-1 touch play.

You will then need to define how each segment (def,mid and attack) will play as a unit then in relation to each other. We will go with a back four which plays zonaly and midfield which presses as a 4 infront of the back four when we dont have the ball and when we do have the ball wide players join the attack giving effectively 4 strikers, we will ask for constant movement from our 2 strikers. Thus giving us a basic model which we can use to outline a basic format from the method above. I will outline the example format below.

4-4-2 Example format

Primary training themes
-possesion
-1/2 touch play in small spaces
-shooting
-penetration/width

Secondary themes
- movement of the stikers as a pair
-wing support
-midfield defending
- back four

These are the themes which we would use to develope or global training, we take the above adjustments and decide on a bank of drills which would globally train the above tactical themes with the specific fitness to perform these themes.

A word of warning before you plan this is that when you have developed what you need for your system the drills cant be used or another system as specific needs between systems vary, it is no good trying to globally condition a 4-4-2 then playing a 4-3-3.

Once you have decided the system work backwards from this, this is called reverse performance coaching. You would then work back to create you global games in line with the specific demands.

You would then adjust the above format of games and adjustments to condition the end results as they would be played in a match thus giving you a specific training model, I advice you practice adjusting the principles to the above outline to gain an understanding.

Effectively ordering the weekly cycle

To do this work as follows:

Low to high intensity

As an example lets say you have a game every weekend and train every day you would work as follows:

Game>>>recovery intensity>>>>>low/medium intensity>>>>medium>>>>>high intensity>>>match

Remember that each sessions you are working your primary themes more intense every sessions and working the sub themes on a roation basis.

Once you have done this for pre-season you would then alter your games to globally train your team to play against the weakness of the opponent thu developing a game plan.

I hope this has given you a basic insight into this method or sparked your thinking enough to do more learning.