AS YOU PLAY...

I've said it once, but now I will be more extensive. For a long time, it has been said, and it is said that "as you train, as you play", referring to that, what was worked and how it worked in practices was reflected in the games. Today, for me, the situation is reversed and we have moved to "as you play, as you train".

What does this mean? Well, very simple: If we want our team play in a certain way, we will have to train in a certain way. I mean, why we have to do "Rondos" and "Possession games" when the team plays counter-attack style or a live direct play style? Or, why do we have to practice plays where the full-back passes to the midfielder and this one to the winger to cross, if this will not be done during the game?

A few days ago I read in a blog about the use (and abuse) of the Small Sided Games (SSG). These SSG are the "fashion" now, and you're not a good coach if you do not use them. But, what should we use, if we do? Well, those useful for your way of playing. An exercise with so much pressure when you do not press when you lose the ball makes no sense. An exercise for building up from the back with the ball when then we don’t play this way neither, does not make any sense. An exercise where our striker is heading the cross of the winger, when we do not have this wingers to do the crossing, it makes no sense. And, well, whatever you want.

Any type of exercise or activity that is related to the way we play is good. Any type of exercise or activity that is NOT related to the way we play is bad. Regardless if we talk about SSG, Automatism, Prepared plays, etc. It has nothing to do with that.

The question we must ask ourselves when we prepare our sessions is not what we do?, If not, why do we do it? Why this activity and not that one? Why I use this exercise? Why this one is not useful? Because everything has to be linked to our style of playing. Therefore for this, only, that's enough.

And, the exercises should include, to the extent possible, the 4 moments of the game (Attack, Defense, and the two Transitions). For me, it makes little sense exercises where the attackers have to score a goal and when defenders clear the ball the exercise finishes and we start the attacking move again. But, what about the game? What do we want to be done? Because if what we want is that the defenders just clear the ball, it’s good as we did. But now, if we want to play a counter or we want the defenders to play from the back, we have to make it be present when training, right? And besides, if we want the ball to go to the center or to the flanks, we have to put this "condition" in the exercise. If we have not practiced it before, unlikely we will see it in the matches.

And, all this comes from the same place: to have a clear and defined “style of playing”. To know what we want to do in every moment of the game, with the ball or without it. In our half pitch, or in the opponent’s half. In our box, or in the rival’s. If this is not clear to us, we can hardly prepare our training sessions so that they are in line with our way of playing. The "style of playing" is the starting point of everything. Without "style of playing", there is nothing.

As you play, as you train. If you don’t know how you play, hardly you will know how to train.

Jordi Pascual

You can follow me on Twitter: @JordiPascualP